Introduction
As a registered education professional, your role can be both impactful and rewarding. However, being an educator can also be challenging and can significantly affect your own wellbeing and that of your colleagues. Prioritising your mental health and wellbeing, as well as supporting those around you, is therefore essential.
This guide provides practical advice on how you can support your mental health and wellbeing, and that of your colleagues, in line with the EWC’s Code of Professional Conduct and Practice (the Code). It has been produced in partnership with colleagues from Education Support, and complements our separate guide on supporting learners and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
About Education Support
Education Support is a registered charity that has been supporting the wellbeing of the education workforce for over 148 years. They have a unique combination of expertise in education and mental health. This gives them a fresh perspective that’s entirely focused on your needs, and informed by the real challenges in Welsh schools. Their remit includes working with education practitioners in schools, colleges and universities.
The Code of Professional Conduct and Practice
As an EWC registrant, you are committed to upholding the six key principles of the Code:
- personal and professional responsibility
- professional integrity
- collaborative working
- leadership
- professional knowledge and understanding
- professional learning
Under the first key principle (personal and professional responsibility), it is stated that registrants should ‘manage their health, safety and personal wellbeing’ and be ‘mindful of colleagues’.
This guide should be read alongside the specific wellbeing policies that will apply within your place of work (including those relating to health and safety, mental health and wellbeing and dignity at work), which you should also be familiar with.
Building blocks of good mental health and wellbeing
Evidence highlights a range of practical steps that can help improve your mental health and wellbeing. We have tried to identify some of the core building blocks that can help you to feel happier and healthier. These building blocks are based around the ‘five ways of wellbeing’, identified by the mental health charity Mind.
- Connect - build strong relationships to support yourself and those around you.
- Make healthy lifestyle choices – prioritise work-life balance, diet, exercise, and rest.
- Take notice - be mindful and reflective.
- Learn – engage in lifelong learning to boost self-esteem and resilience.
- Give - support others to create an open and positive environment.
Connect
Building and nurturing connections with family, friends, and colleagues, strengthens your support network. Being open about your own concerns and vulnerabilities will encourage others to do the same. You should never feel afraid to ask for support, and seeking help as early as possible can help prevent mental health challenges from escalating.
For confidential or specialised support, the final pages of this guide provide links to a range of useful resources.
Make healthy lifestyle choices
A healthy lifestyle is essential to mental wellbeing. Key areas to focus on include:
Work-life balance
A career in education can be demanding, requiring resilience and perseverance to manage challenges and competing priorities. To maintain your wellbeing, it is essential to set clear boundaries and make time for activities that you enjoy. Prioritising self-care can help prevent burnout and ensure that you can continue to make a positive impact at work.
Exercise
Regular exercise helps reduce stress, boost self-esteem and improve sleep quality. Being physically active means something different for everyone and could be as simple as a daily walk or rediscovering an activity that you used to enjoy but haven’t done for a while. Exercising with others can also strengthen social connections and help keep you motivated.
If you have a disability or long-term health condition, tailored support is available to help you with getting active.
Eating well
Good nutrition can improve energy levels, boost concentration, and help you to sleep well. A healthy, well-balanced diet can also assist in preventing and easing symptoms of mental illness, as well as improving your physical health.
Tips for eating well
- Plan your meals
Set aside time each week for meal planning, to ensure you have a variety of quick and easy options available on days when you may feel tired. Preparing food in advance can also help reduce stress, save time, and support healthy eating.
- Stay hydrated
Ensure that you drink regularly throughout the day. The NHS recommends consuming 6-8 glasses or cups of liquid (including water, lower-fat milk, sugar-free drinks, tea, and coffee) every day.
- Eat a balanced diet
A diet that embraces a variety of food groups will boost your nutrition. The UK Government’s Eatwell Guide shows how to achieve a healthy, balanced diet through eating a variety of different foods.
- Eat regularly
Skipping meals can disrupt your blood sugar levels, leading to mood swings, fatigue and cravings. Eating small, balanced meals or healthy snacks throughout the day helps maintain energy levels, and supports overall wellbeing.
- Enjoy eating with others
Use meal times as an opportunity to connect. It doesn’t have to be every day, but sitting down with friends, family or colleagues, even if it’s just once a week, can help boost your mood.
- Seek help if you think you might have a problem with food
If you rely on food, or the control and restriction of food, as a coping mechanism, you may have an eating disorder. If you are concerned, consult your GP for support.
Healthy sleep patterns
The NHS recommends that adults need between 7 and 9 hours’ sleep every night. Our colleagues at Education Support have put together a helpful guide that explains why sleep is so important, and outlines nine practical steps to improve our sleeping patterns.
Take a break
Taking breaks boosts mental health, enhances creativity and reduces stress. Education Support have produced a useful resource on how to re-charge in 3 minutes or less which provides some great ideas on how to use breaks to support your wellbeing.
Take notice
Pay attention to what is going on around you, your surroundings, your responses, and how different experiences impact your wellbeing. Meditation and mindfulness, including techniques such as visualisation, can support you in processing your thoughts and maintaining balance. Education Support have produced a helpful guide outlining a range of meditation techniques.
You may also wish to use your Professional Learning Passport (PLP) to reflect on how your mental health and wellbeing influence your practice and professional learning. This can support deeper self-awareness and contribute to your ongoing development as a reflective practitioner.
Learn
Learning something new, whether professionally or personally, boosts self-esteem, engagement, and resilience. Absorbing fresh information and developing new skills can be empowering, thereby impacting positively on mental health and wellbeing.
Give
Taking time to understand and support the mental health and wellbeing of others is essential in order to create an open, safe, and productive learning environment, where people feel comfortable speaking about their mental health. Be guided by your organisation’s policies in identifying the most appropriate way to support colleagues, including anyone you think may be struggling with their mental health and wellbeing.
Further help is available through Education support
Education Support works with Welsh Government to improve school staff wellbeing across Wales, offering the following services:
Staff wellbeing service: Providing school leaders and wellbeing leads with access to free expert advice on approaches to staff mental health and wellbeing, from a Staff Wellbeing Advisor.
Wellbeing advisory service: Funded for schools across Wales and providing practical resources and expert guidance to help you prioritise staff mental health and wellbeing in your school.
Professional supervision for school leaders: Supervision has a professional focus and is totally confidential. It is time dedicated to your role as an education leader, and will help you to improve your wellbeing.
The Education Support website hosts a wealth of information and helpful advice to support your mental health and wellbeing with useful resources for leaders, including bringing wellbeing into the everyday, and a staff wellbeing audit tool.
If you need to talk…
Education Support also provide a dedicated helpline for staff working in any kind of educational institution in England, Wales, and Scotland, allowing you to talk to a qualified counsellor who can offer you immediate, confidential emotional support. You can call the helpline for free on 08000 562561
Other useful links and resources
Health and Safety Executive - Talking Toolkit. Preventing work-related stress
MindOUT - LGBTQ+ mental health information
Welsh Government - Framework on embedding a whole school approach emotional and mental wellbeing