Prioritising Wellbeing – A Practical Guide For School Leaders
Mike Ion
How can school leaders create a culture where staff feel safe to speak openly about their wellbeing?
Let’s be honest – school leadership is not for the faint-hearted. The job is relentless, the stakes are high, and every day brings fresh challenges. But here’s a truth that’s often brushed aside: no matter how strategic, data-driven, or results-focused a school leader may be, if staff don’t feel psychologically safe to talk about their wellbeing, everything else eventually suffers.
Creating a culture where staff feel safe to speak up about how they’re really doing isn’t about grand gestures or sweeping reforms. It starts with leadership that’s human, with leaders who show they care, who model healthy habits, and who make it okay to say, “I’m not okay today.”
- Start with yourself
Yes, really. The first and most powerful move you can make as a leader is to look after your own wellbeing. It might sound counterintuitive, after all, leaders are meant to serve others, right? But you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Reflecting on my three decades of experience in school leadership, one thing becomes clear: the culture of a school is deeply shaped by what leaders model, not just what they mandate. When you visibly prioritise your own wellbeing – whether it’s taking breaks, setting work boundaries, or simply leaving on time – you’re sending a clear message to your team: your health matters, too.
According to Education Support’s 2023 Wellbeing Report, leaders who practice self-care create a positive ripple effect throughout their schools. When staff see you walking the talk, it gives them permission to care for themselves without guilt. And when wellbeing is normalised, not treated as a luxury, it creates the conditions for open conversations to flourish.
- Open doors and open ears
If you want staff to speak up, make sure they know they’ll be listened to and also heard without judgement.
This doesn’t mean having a formal “wellbeing week” once a term. It means creating a day-to-day culture where check-ins are normal, where people feel they can say, “I’m struggling,” without fear of being seen as weak or incompetent.
Be visible. Walk the school. Ask people how they’re doing and really listen. Ask about their family, what they did at the weekend or what they plan to do during the next half term break. If and when someone opens up then don’t leap straight into fixing mode. Sometimes, just having someone who listens and understands is enough.
Coaching supervision can also be a game-changer. It provides structured reflection and a space for leaders (and potentially middle leaders) to process emotions, decisions, and stress. When leaders engage in this themselves, it sets a tone of openness and professional self-care across the school.
- Get serious about workload (focus on the micro)
Here’s where many leaders get stuck. We all know the macro challenges such as funding, Ofsted, government policy and the challenges of recruitment. But focusing only on what’s outside our control creates a sense of helplessness.
Instead, zoom in. What small, specific things can you do to make workload more manageable?
- Meetings: Streamline them. Only hold them when necessary. Respect people’s time.
- Email culture: Create clear expectations. Consider “email-free” evenings or a no-contact rule after 5:30pm. You’d be surprised how much people appreciate permission to switch off.
- AI and EdTech: Use it smartly. Simple tools that reduce admin such as marking assistance or resource generation can save hours every week. One teacher I know cut her Sunday evening workload in half just by using a planning tool.
- Protected time: Initiatives like “Wellbeing Wednesdays,” where no meetings are scheduled, offer breathing space in a jam-packed week.
You might worry these actions are too small to matter. But remember what Edmund Burke said: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
Do the little. It matters.
- Make kindness the leadership default
Culture isn’t built in staff handbooks or stitched together in a policy document. And it certainly isn’t conjured up on a single INSET day. It’s built in the corridors. In the copy room. In staff briefings and corridor conversations. Culture is created in the everyday moments that show people what your school really values.
And when it comes to shaping a culture of trust, belonging, and openness, one leadership trait stands out above all: kindness. Kindness shows up in the small things that others might overlook. It’s remembering someone’s birthday or taking a moment to ask how a team member’s parent is doing after an operation. It’s knowing when someone’s having a tough week and quietly offering them a lighter duty. It’s noticing when someone’s voice is missing from the conversation and inviting them in.
These may seem like small gestures, but to the person on the receiving end, they can mean everything. They say, “I see you. I care. You matter here.” And that is the foundation of psychological safety, when people feel they can show up as themselves, without fear of judgement.
The real test of leadership is not how you behave when things are easy, but how you respond under pressure. When deadlines loom. When performance slips. When behaviour incidents spike and emotions run high.
In those moments, kindness matters most.
That doesn’t mean avoiding tough conversations. On the contrary, kind leaders lean into them—but they do so with empathy and respect. If a staff member is underperforming, a kind leader doesn’t shame them or make assumptions. They seek to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ They ask questions like, “How are you doing?” before diving into, “Here’s what needs to change.”
This approach builds trust. And trust builds buy-in. Staff are far more likely to engage in improvement when they feel supported rather than judged.
Kindness also means giving people the benefit of the doubt. It means not jumping to conclusions when someone is short in an email or misses a deadline. It’s assuming they’re doing their best with what they’ve got, even if you can’t see the full picture.
In a culture where kindness is the default, people are quicker to offer help than criticism. They pick each other up rather than point fingers. And they show up not just as professionals, but as people.
When leaders lead with kindness, it sets a tone that ripples throughout the organisation. It gives everyone permission to be a little more generous, a little more patient, a little more human.
Simon Sinek hits the nail on the head: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” This isn’t just a nice quote, it’s a call to action.
Ask yourself:
- How do I care for my team—not just professionally, but personally?
- Do my staff feel valued beyond their output?
- Do I create space for kindness to thrive, or do I unknowingly crowd it out with urgency and pressure?
Because here’s the thing: when people feel cared for, they show up more fully. They give more. They stay longer. They trust more deeply. And in schools, where the work is as emotional as it is intellectual, that kind of culture isn’t just nice, it’s necessary.
Final thoughts: brave, kind, real
To create a school culture where staff feel safe to speak about their wellbeing, you have to be real. You have to be brave enough to model self-care. Kind enough to listen without judgement. And strategic enough to make small changes that add up.
Brené Brown says it best: “Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging. To do that, they have to model self-compassion.”
So be a leader who listens. Who cares. Who leaves on time. Who writes the note. Who says, “That sounds really tough, how can I help?”
In doing so, you’ll do more than support your staff, you’ll shape a school culture that thrives.
Mike Ion is a former MAT Education Director and DfE Education Adviser. His new book Values in Action: A Compass for School Leader will be published in September 2025
