TES Employer of the Year
Longwood Primary Academy and Nursery won the Employer of the year at the prestigious 2018 Tes Schools Awards
The awards, celebrating their tenth year, recognise outstanding contributions made by education teams and individuals to help students around the country to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom.
Three principles lie at the heart of Longwood Primary Academy and Nursery’s approach to staff development and wellbeing: teach, rest and play. The school believes that teachers who find a happy balance between work and life outside school are the most productive and enthusiastic.
The “teach” strand includes giving staff high-quality opportunities for enhancing teaching and learning, a structured development programme and simplifying what is expected from teachers. The “rest” strand involves reducing workload and marking – in 2016-17 the school trialled a marking policy that has cut workload by 67 per cent. By restructuring the school timetable to add an extra 30 minutes on to the school day, teachers were given back 13 days’ holiday.
Finally, the “play” strand is a staff wellbeing package that involves “star days” – paid leave as a reward for high attendance and being great teachers. It also includes flexibility for employees to see their children’s plays, and events for team building ranging from barbecues to ping-pong nights. Longwood has created an outside staff room to ensure that all employees get access to plenty of fresh air in a place where they can relax, and it provides free healthy breakfasts and lunches.
The lead judge commented: “The judges highly rated Longwood Primary Academy and Nursery’s commitment to ‘teach, rest, play’ at the centre of its approach to being an employer. Without a doubt, there is a dedication to supporting and developing professionals but also to caring for individuals’ welfare.”
Tes editor Ann Mroz said:
“This was a record year for entries and the standard was exceptionally high. The shortlists were particularly strong so all those who have won an award should be very proud — it’s an extraordinary achievement. We salute each and every one of them.” The list of this year’s categories is as follows (full details of the winners can be viewed here)
1. Services to education
2. Lifetime achievement
3. Creative school of the year
4. Healthy school of the year
5. Sustainable schools award
6. Community and collaboration award
7. International award
8. Employer of the year
9. English teacher or team of the year
10. Maths teacher or team of the year
11. Science, technology and engineering teacher or team of the year
12. New teacher of the year
13. Innovative use of technology to influence outcomes
14. Headteacher of the year
15. Early years setting of the year
16. Alternative provision school of the year
17. Primary school of the year
18. Secondary school of the year
19. Overall school of the year
For more coverage of the awards, profiles of the winners and photos from the evening, please visit tesawards.co.uk