The last decade has seen increasing levels of pressure, public scrutiny and personal accountability begin to seriously impact on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of our nation’s headteachers and school leaders.
Education commentators have noted how burnout and ‘disappearance’ from the profession are on the rise. Meanwhile, governors are now reporting recruitment has become a “major issue”. Among those who have remained in the profession, feelings of fear, isolation and self-doubt are now widely reported.
Meanwhile, The Key’s recent State of Education Survey Report found that, “86% of school leaders think the perception of the profession has got worse over the past five years and believe this is negatively affecting morale.”
Viv Grant, a former headteacher and Director of Integrity Coaching, who experienced first-hand the cost of school leadership, has been working with school leaders for the last decade as she decided something needs to change.
That’s why, on 19 October 2017, Viv and Integrity Coaching (the company she founded to support school leaders after she left headship) will be hosting a conference called ‘Education for the Soul’, which is designed to help the wellbeing of our school leaders.
The conference, which will take place in Euston, will feature talks and workshops from experts in the fields of emotional resilience, authentic school leadership and wellbeing. For example, psychologist, board member of ‘Action for Happiness’ and author of Ten Keys to Happier Living, Vanessa King and founder of ‘Values Based Education’ Dr Neil Hawkes.
The conference will tackle some of the biggest questions affecting education and the experience of school leaders today, whilst helping headeachers and senior school leaders to improve their schools without having to sacrifice their own wellbeing.
If you would like to attend, Integrity Coaching in partnership with Independent Education Today, are now offering an exclusive 10% discount on all ticket purchases to IET readers.
To redeem this exclusive discount, you can do so using the following discount code: EDU4THESOUL
Viv Grant says:
“Over the past decade, I have witnessed first-hand how high levels of public scrutiny and personal accountability have eroded the profession’s ability to care for and meet the human needs of those who are on the frontline.
“I’ve seen how school leaders are now forced to sacrifice their wellbeing on a daily basis to simply survive in the profession. I’ve coached heads on a brink of a nervous breakdown. I have received desperate pleas from their partners and witnessed the inhumane treatment of those who have been let down by the system.
“I fear more and more for the loss of humanity in our education system. SATs and GCSE results, OFSTED grades and league tables appear to have more importance than the people behind it all. This is not how education should be. This is not how we fulfil society’s hopes and dreams for our children. Things have to change. In October, we hope to set this change in motion by having the key conversations around school leadership, well-being and standards in our schools that can begin to challenge the notion of what it means to be a school leader today. Over the course of the day, we’ll be aiming to find solutions, establish new ways of leading that will transform the daily reality of school leadership.
“Above all, we’ll be giving heads and school leaders the chance to focus on their emotional needs, rather than ignore them. In doing so, we hope that everyone who joins us in October will leave with the realisation that these needs must be addressed if they are to successfully serve the needs of their staff, children and the communities they serve.”
