When schools talk about wellbeing, the conversation often starts with what’s going wrong.
Staff are tired. Students are anxious. Attendance is fragile. Pressure feels constant.
Those realities matter of course, but a whole-school wellbeing strategy can’t be built on crisis response alone. To last, it needs something deeper and steadier at its core.
In my work with schools and colleges, I see the same truth again and again:
Sustainable wellbeing isn’t created through isolated initiatives.
It’s built through culture, consistency and leadership alignment.
Wellbeing is not an add-on
One of the biggest misconceptions about wellbeing is that it sits alongside “real work”.
A yoga session here.
A mindfulness app there.
A wellbeing day once a year.
While these things can be supportive, they don’t constitute a strategy.
A whole-school wellbeing strategy recognises that wellbeing underpins everything else:
- how people think and make decisions
- how they respond under pressure
- how they relate to each other
- how effectively teaching and learning can actually happen.
When wellbeing is treated as an add-on, it tends to disappear when pressure rises. When it’s embedded, it becomes the thing that holds the school steady when things are hard.
Start with how stress actually works
Lasting wellbeing strategies are grounded in understanding, not assumption.
Stress doesn’t just make people uncomfortable – it changes how they function. Under sustained pressure:
- thinking becomes narrower
- emotions are harder to regulate
- patience shortens
- reactivity increases
- energy and motivation drop.
This is true for staff and students alike.
A strong wellbeing strategy starts by acknowledging this reality, without judgement. It moves away from “coping better” and towards helping people understand what’s happening in their nervous system, and how to respond early, rather than waiting for a crisis.
Culture is shaped from the top
Whether intentionally or not, leadership sets the emotional tone of a school.
Staff take cues from what leaders do, not just what they say:
- Is rest respected or quietly discouraged?
- Are boundaries modelled or constantly overridden?
- Is regulation valued, or is constant urgency the norm?
This isn’t about leaders being perfect. It’s about leaders being human and intentional.
When leaders prioritise steadiness, reflection and realistic expectations, it gives permission for others to do the same. Over time, this creates a culture where wellbeing is normalised rather than exceptional.
Think in systems, not individuals
A whole-school approach doesn’t rely on individual resilience alone.
Instead of asking:
“How do we help people cope better?”
It asks:
“What systems support people to stay regulated, connected and capable?”
That might include:
- clear routines and predictable structures
- psychologically safe staff spaces
- consistent pastoral processes
- shared language around stress and regulation
- proactive support for the large group of students and staff who aren’t in crisis, but aren’t thriving either.
When wellbeing is embedded into systems, it becomes sustainable, even when staff change and circumstances shift.
Support the ‘in-between’ group
Most wellbeing provision focuses on the extremes:
- those who are coping well
- those who are in crisis.
But the largest group sits in the middle.
They’re managing. Just.
Quietly stretched.
Often overlooked.
Whole-school wellbeing strategies intentionally support this group, because this is where prevention happens. When people are given tools to regulate stress, understand themselves and restore steadiness early, fewer issues escalate later.
Build capability, not dependency
The most effective wellbeing strategies don’t just provide support – they build capacity.
They help staff and students:
- understand how they work under pressure
- recognise early signs of overload
- use simple, practical tools to restore calm and focus
- feel more capable and in control of their own wellbeing.
This reduces pressure on pastoral teams, leaders and external services, and creates a culture of shared responsibility rather than constant firefighting.
Wellbeing is built quietly, over time
There’s rarely a single moment where a school suddenly “gets wellbeing right”.
Instead, it’s built through:
- repeated small decisions
- consistent language
- aligned leadership behaviours
- steady, realistic expectations.
It’s less about grand gestures, and more about daily practice.
When challenges outweigh resources, strain is inevitable.
When resources increase, capacity follows.
That’s not a slogan.
It’s how humans work.
A whole-school wellbeing strategy isn’t about fixing people.
It’s about creating the conditions in which people can function, connect and grow, even under pressure.
And when that happens, everything else becomes more possible.
