1. An examination of what helps us flourish
Why Well-being?
An examination of what helps us flourish

2. So, how are you? A conversation
Activity 2: Student Views

3. Are we getting it right?

4. What are we here for?
What would education look like if promoting people’s well-being was one of the government’s main aims?

5. What is well-being? An empty concept?
New age hippie idea, irrelevant to education?
An important term with wide ranging implications?
A contested concept?
General happiness and life satisfaction?
A social and cultural construction?
Does it mean the same thing for adults/children/young people?
“Positive and sustainable characteristics which enable individuals and organizations to thrive and flourish” (Well-Being Institute at the University of Cambridge)
“…a focus on the social and emotional aspects of effective learning, such as self-awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and social skills. These five aspects of learning, identified within the SEAL framework, make an important contribution to personal wellbeing.” (QCA PSHE Curriculum Key Stage 4)

6. What helps us to thrive? Studies suggest; A good marriage
The company of friends
Rewarding work
Sufficient money
A good diet
Physical activity
Sound sleep
Engaging leisure
Religious or spiritual belief
Optimism
Trust
Respect
Clear goals
Sense of belonging
Gratitude
Kindness
…..
From The Well-being Manifesto

7. Another conversation… over lunch
How you feel, impact of how you feel on work
Not wanting to here
Not sleeping
Shit
Sick – kids make you feel like it anyway
Don’t want to talk about it now
Undervalued
Isolated lack of motivation
What helps students
Order in the classroom
Acknowledging their lives outside of school
An early night
Support from home
Feeling safe
SMT
Teachers who have time
Over three days a number of statements looking at different parts of this issue were placed around the staffroom for people to talk about and comment on…
Key observations – support, happiness, being well at work
Line managers/others showing an interest
Praise
Support from SMT
Clear guidelines/rules
Help from others
A sense of achievement
Enjoyment
Doing your best
Tea/alcohol
Feeling successful
Appearance
Meaningful work
Being valued

8. Well-being indicators
What things would tell us how the students were doing?

9. Well-being indicators
1970s beginnings of social indicators in quality of life movement;
material resources
social and environmental relationships
subjective experience
Overcoming adversity and happiness
Measure what matters (Well-being Manifesto, New Economics Foundation, 2004)
Personal Well-being Index for School Age Children and Adolescents (Cummins and Lau, 2005)
standard of living, health, life achievement, personal relationships, personal safety, community connectedness, future security
An Index of Child Well-being in the EU (Jonathon Bradshaw, 2007)
material situation, housing, health, subjective well-being, education, children’s relationships, civic participation, risk and safety

10. Where does the UK stand?
21st out of 25 EU countries in Bradshaw et al’s study (2006)
Last in the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card on Child Well-Being in Rich Countries (see table)
Does it matter?
Is it useful to compare ourselves to other countries?
Is it the same then for educational institutions?
Risks? Benefits?

12. Personal and social well-being by age group, for regions of Europe
National Accounts of Well-being, NEF, 2009

13. School-level Indicators
Schools have a statutory duty to promote the well-being of their pupils*
Schools are concerned with the development of the whole child and young person
Recognising, for example, that pupils’ self-confidence, social skills and resilience not only contribute to their achievement but are important in their own right
Schools invariably acknowledge that their work is not confined to promoting their pupils’ achievement
Since September 2005, the self-evaluation form (SEF) used by schools has prompted them to consider and evaluate their success in achieving the five ECM outcomes for their children and young people
* The information on this page comes predominantly from the Ofsted consultation document ‘Indicators of a school’s contribution to well-being’ 2008

14. School-level indicators
From September 2009 school-level indicators of well-being will be used as a part of Ofsted’s school inspection framework
Ofsted will be looking for evidence that evaluates the school’s contribution to promoting pupil well-being
Two kinds of school-level indicator are proposed: indicators relating to quantified outcomes; and indicators based on the perceptions of pupils and parents, relating to the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes themselves and the school’s contribution to them;
the school’s overall attendance rate for the most recent school year
percentage of persistent absentees
rate of permanent exclusion
take-up of school lunches
percentage of pupils doing at least 2 hours per week of PE or sport
post-16 progression measures
pupil and parent perceptions

15. Where does Thomas Tallis stand?
What do the staff say?
What do the students say?
Do the indicators work for us?
Our performance as per the indicators for ;
Overall attendance =
Persistent absentees =
Permanent exclusions =
Take-up of school lunches =
Percentage doing 2 hrs or more or physical activity =
Post-16 progression =
Other measures? Health Related Behaviour Survey?
What do they point to? What do they miss out?

16. Implications and Recommendations