Meadow View becomes first ‘wellbeing’ school

The award, acheived by Meadow View Primary, demonstrates employers’ commitment to the health and wellbeing of their workforce.

Rotherham Public Health interviewed staff and toured the Kimberworth school to report on the working environment.

Head teacher Karen Smith said: “As a head recognising the increasing demands on teachers and support staff in the current educational climate, I have been passionate about supporting the health and wellbeing of my staff. 

“My rationale for this is that my staff are teaching the children and if I want to support the children’s health and wellbeing, it is a priority to ensure that staff have good health and wellbeing.”

The report said staff spoke highly of the support given and how appreciated they felt. It added: “It was clear that the school values the input of the staff and supports their ideas to make the environment a more pleasant place to work. 

“This indicates that Meadow View Primary School values their employees and understands that the employees are the biggest asset of the organisation.”

Mrs Smith said: “It was during the journey of supporting staff that our chair of governors, Broydon Vickerage, who works for the NHS brought the charter to the schools attention.

“We have not done the charter for the accreditation, we have done the charter to ensure that we have covered all aspects to support staff health and wellbeing. 

“However, we are very proud of being the first educational establishment in Yorkshire to have achieved the national award and achieving excellence in all areas. 

“The award has also invigorated the school to continue prioritising health and wellbeing and our next step is to follow a similar format to ensure that we have covered all aspect for our children too.”