Haslingden High School and Sixth Form: showing their commitment to staff wellbeing

Haslingden High School and Sixth Form is a high performing 11-18 school in the beautiful Rossendale Valley in Lancashire. They decided to subscribe to our Employee Assistance Programme after the pandemic, having worked with us before. Karen Powell, Assistant Headteacher, tells us what drove the decision.

“As a school, we had previously worked with Education Support when they helped us to carry out a staff wellbeing survey. The support and guidance we received during this process was excellent. We continued to raise awareness regarding the services offered by Education Support around school, as part of our broader wellbeing offer in school, for example your 24-7 confidential helpline. Buying into the full Employee Assistance Programme felt like the next logical step in supporting staff, particularly due to the challenges posed by the Covid 19 pandemic.

Education Support have always communicated in a clear and professional manner. Their experience within education specifically, ensure that the advice, guidance and support they offer are relevant to all staff in schools. Regular updates of usage of the programme are provided to us.

Ensuring the wellbeing of staff within the education sector has perhaps never been as important as it is now. The pressures created by the Covid 19 pandemic, the return to school and wider difficulties such as the rising cost of living means that demands on all staff in school are higher than they have ever been.

In the midst of a recruitment and retention crisis within education, all schools must put the wellbeing of staff at the forefront of their thinking. The services offered by the Education Support Employee Assistance Programme are relevant, accessible and above all demonstrate the commitment of a school to staff wellbeing.

The Employee Assistance programme has also proved invaluable when used as a resource alongside back to work meetings; helping the school to offer ongoing support within the workplace following staff absence. We would certainly recommend the programme to other schools.“