In this piece, Andy Mellor, National Wellbeing Director at Schools Advisory Service (SAS), explores how embedding wellbeing at trust level, rather than relying on tick-box initiatives can drive stronger leadership, improved teaching and learning, and sustainable improvement across MATs.

I am a collaborator and a sharer of what I have found to work in schools, but I don’t believe there is a single silver bullet answer to school improvement. So much of what is likely to work is based on the context for individual schools, their catchment, and the different challenges that this brings.

When my school achieved an ‘outstanding’ grade from the inspectorate, there was immediately a motivation to share this more widely and debunk the myth that there is only one way to improve standards. Consequently, we opened a teaching school to share our practice more widely and in February 2026, my first book ‘The Wellbeing Effect’ published by Crown House will share what we did and why we did it to try to share some of the things that worked for us.

Looking back, we gave staff and students far more autonomy (with accountability). Autonomy is huge for professional wellbeing. No-one likes being micro-managed and staff thrive on the space to develop their professional philosophy and build an approach which meets the needs of the students they see each day.

The students were given a greater stake and say in their learning which made them more engaged. Again, autonomy with accountability is huge for student wellbeing.

Strategic vs. ‘Tick Box’ wellbeing

When we plan for wellbeing all too often, we look at the hedonistic/ tick box activities which are important in valuing staff and students. Things like free tea and coffee in the staff room and doughnuts on a Friday are great but the real drivers around wellbeing in school are the big-ticket issues of professional autonomy, professional respect, opportunities for progression and workload.

My challenge to MAT leaders looking at whole trust wellbeing is whether their approach is strategic or tick box. Are we ‘doing’ wellbeing for a term and then moving on or are we embedding wellbeing in the DNA of the trust and its schools?

Data-led wellbeing (The SAS Approach)

What I have found to work best with the trusts I work with is sharing the high-level strategic vision for wellbeing that permeates our everyday and planning for it. Trusts that we have worked with at Schools Advisory Service (SAS) then allow their individual schools to use the tools that we have developed to create a bespoke approach to their school wellbeing strategy. We’ve even created an opportunity to measure the impact of your strategy which then can create a narrative for trust board and governing board and for sharing with the inspectorate. ‘This is what we have done based on what we know, and this is the impact it has had…’

My starting point with trusts has always been the sharing of a definition of wellbeing that everyone understands. Wellbeing is so uniquely personal that if we’re not careful we all talk about wellbeing from different vantage points. If we as a trust can buy into the notion of all staff thriving and flourishing in a personal and professional sense, we can work towards that goal with each member of staff experiencing those factors on their own wellbeing journey.

With all staff and students being ‘the best version of themselves’ standards of teaching and learning rise. For me ‘wellbeing,’ in this sense is the underpinning foundation to an improvement in the quality of teaching and learning and raises standards for all students and groups of students. That is very much my experience and the research backs this up too.

In essence, the trust sets and supports the strategic direction for wellbeing, but it has to be lived at a personal level too. The strongest trusts are clear about their strategy while still giving school leaders and staff the space to respond to wellbeing in ways that reflect their own organisational and personal contexts. That balance is what helps trusts become genuine employers of choice.

The financial reality

As we move forward, I can’t see a short or even medium-term future where money is available to increase the number of staff we have in schools and trusts. This means that whilst money is tight and the workload seemingly increasing, trusts and schools will need to take steps to support and protect the staff we have.

Firstly, we’ll need to be more judicious about the work we commit to and what we don’t do. Assessing the work that has negligible impact on the students, especially where that work takes an inordinate amount of time, should see this work phased out altogether. Because of these time pressures, many schools have reduced both the number of displays and the frequency with which they are updated. If we haven’t time to do everything that schools are seemingly asked to do, then we need to focus on the stuff that counts.

Secondly, the staff we have, we need to protect, sometimes from themselves. Ensuring that our staff have a life outside school that protects their physical and mental health is vital and we know that those working in schools will leave no stone unturned for the students often at their own cost. This culture needs addressing so that staff aren’t writing cheques on their own health that they’ll later pay for.

Finally, I’ll finish with a challenge.

Everything we do in our schools and at trust level is about putting the students at the centre and them being the focus of everything we do. I spoke at a trust INSET day recently and asked them not to do this when it comes to wellbeing. I wanted them to put themselves first because it’s only by prioritising our own wellbeing as the professionals working directly with and for the students that we can be the best version of ourselves for them.

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Andy Mellor, National Wellbeing Director, Schools Advisory Service