INSET: Developing a Positive School Culture

“This is a great workshop focused on improving wellbeing through a positive school culture. It really made me reflect on the way we all treat each other in school and how our behaviour as adults sets the tone for the children. We were all buzzing when we left.”
Aly Tresize, Canadian International School of Hong Kong

UK schools are in the midst of a mental health crisis. In July 2020, one in six children aged 5 to 16 years were identified as having a probable mental disorder, increasing from one in nine in 2017. Findings from The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2020, show that 74% of educators have experienced behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms of mental ill health in the last year and that 38% feel the culture in their school has had a negative effect on their wellbeing. Most initiatives to improve wellbeing in schools tackle the symptoms, rather than the causes of mental health concerns. Building a Positive School Culture focuses on the importance of creating a sense of safety, belonging and significance for the whole school community, through the development of positive relationships in our schools.

Our EDI Review process is highly recommended to to any school leader looking to create a positive, inclusive and equitable learning environment for their students. Find out more here
Georgina Reynolds, Vice Principal, James Wolfe Primary

Fostering a Positive School Culture during Remote and Blended learning

The transition to remote learning has taken an enormous physical and emotional toll on many of our pupils, educators and leaders, often exacerbating underlying issues with engagement and mental health.

A poll of over 5,000 educators conducted in late March by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence in collaboration with the Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL) found that anxiety was the most commonly felt emotion. How do you build a positive school climate when most of your teaching is online or blended learning? To do this we must get creative about best practices for maintaining or building a positive climate under these new conditions.

This workshop brings together the science of Positive Psychology with best practice teaching and pastoral care to encourage and support individuals, schools and communities to flourish. It focuses on specific evidence-based skills that assist adults and children to strengthen their relationships, build positive emotions and enhance personal resilience.

The development of these valuable life skills provides staff and pupils with an increased capacity to teach and learn effectively, as well as offering them a strong foundation on which they can build a successful life.

This workshop provides a foundation from which to begin to build a whole school approach to creating and maintaining a positive school culture. embedding a culture throughout an institution is a long term process, many schools choose to this INSET as part of a programme of mentoring and training with key stakeholders.

INSET Aims

The workshop aims to develop an understanding of the components of a positive school culture and provide practical strategies that can be used with both adults and children to enhance relationships and increase the sense of community for all stakeholders.

INSET Outline

What is Positive School Culture and Why Do We Need It?

To examine the concept of positive school culture and the research on its benefits.
To consider how positive school culture is built through increasing social capital in schools.
To understand the components of a positive school culture
To assess the prevailing school culture in your school and identify areas for improvement

Building Positive Relationships in School

To understand why positive relationships are the foundation of wellbeing and examine the components of positive relationship building.
To consider the importance of shared values in positive relationships and review your individual and school values.
To understand the importance of communication in developing positive relationships and model a number of practical strategies to improve communication, which can be used with adults and children.
To understand the importance of trust building and consider a number of practical strategies to build trust that can be used with adults and children.

Experiencing Positive Emotions

To understand what we mean by positive emotions and why they are important.
To consider a range of evidence-based positive psychology interventions (PPIs) to increase positive emotions in school.
To model the use of PPIs to increase positive emotions.

The Use of Character Strengths to Build Positive School Culture

To understand what we mean by character strengths and consider the Values in Action 24 character strengths.
To use an online tool to determine our individual character strengths.
To understand how we can use character strengths in school to help build a positive school culture.
To model strengths-based strategies that we can use in school with both adults and children.

Thank you for an engaging, inspiring and reflective CPD session on Positive school Culture
Ross Montague, Head of Upper school, Hampstead Hill School

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