• The research forms part of the Staff Wellbeing (SWell) project to improve wellbeing in high-stress workplaces
• SWell was developed for staff in paediatric critical care units and is being adapted for use in schools thanks to a £70,000 donation from the Wesleyan Foundation
• The new PhD student, Bridget Grenville-Cleave, will be supervised by Professor Rachel Shaw, Dr Laura Shapiro and Professor Leon Davies

Wesleyan Foundation, the grant-giving programme of Wesleyan, the Birmingham-based specialist financial services mutual, has funded a new PhD studentship at Aston University to research ways to improve teacher wellbeing.

Thanks to the £70,000 donation, the new research student, Bridget Grenville-Cleave, has been recruited to work on the Staff Wellbeing (SWell) project to design and develop interventions to improve wellbeing in high-stress workplaces. She is being supervised by Professor Rachel Shaw, Dr Laura Shapiro and Professor Leon Davies.

SWell was initially developed in partnership with Birmingham Children’s Hospital for paediatric critical care (PCC) staff, who work in a particularly stressful environment with high levels of burnout. The interventions were successfully piloted in 14 UK PCC units.

Teachers also experience significant problems with workload and burnout, which is resulting in some choosing to leave the classroom. With the support from Wesleyan, Bridget will develop wellbeing interventions tailored specifically for teachers and pilot them in schools.

Past experience on the SWell project has shown that interventions in a school setting need to be low-intensity, low-resource, feasible and acceptable to teachers as a priority. During the PhD, specific interventions will be co-produced with school leaders, teachers and other school staff to ensure they meet their needs.

Professor Shaw said:

"We're excited that Wesleyan has facilitated this opportunity to extend our staff wellbeing project into schools through funding this PhD studentship. Bridget has made an excellent start and is currently reviewing the evidence base to identify strategies that might be successful in the unique environment of UK schools - an environment that has obvious differences to critical care but is likely to be just as challenging in terms of developing something that is feasible for teachers and doesn't add to their already busy workloads."

Bridget said:

“There are many interventions aimed at supporting student wellbeing, but we still have limited understanding of how best to support teachers. This project offers a valuable opportunity to address the lack of practical interventions specifically designed for them.”

Nathan Wallis, Director of Strategy and Communications at Wesleyan said:

“This research further enhances the value of our ongoing relationship with Aston University, which began back in 2018, and reflects our shared values of promoting positive change in the communities we serve.

“If we want to continue to attract and retain the best talent and experience into our classrooms, we need to prioritise teachers' wellbeing to support them in what is a very high-pressured role. Bridget’s project is incredibly important in this regard, and we’re looking forward to seeing the outcome of her work and seeing how we can play a role in embedding it within the profession.”

For more information about the Wesleyan Foundation and to apply for funding, visit http://www.wesleyan.co.uk/foundation.