UNISON and Thinking Schools Academy Trust:  Working Together for Wellbeing

UNISON South East was delighted last month to organise two inspirational CPD day’s for over 250 people at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT). With separate days at Portsmouth and Medway, this was a fantastic opportunity to bring together school support staff from across the trust’s 14 different schools.

UNISON organisers delivered interactive, wellbeing-focused workshops such as ‘Managing Stress’ and ‘Improving Confidence’, and they had a terrific reaction from attendees:

UNISON rep Deborah Bryson said ‘myself and my colleagues found it to be really informative and will definitely be trying the stress relieving tips we have been given’

The event was made possible through joint working with the multi-academy trust. Suzanne Tipping is a UNISON Area Organiser and heads our Participation Team. She said that

“With so many competing priorities it can be easy to overlook personal training and education. TSAT have shown the way for schools and academy trusts in providing development opportunities for their support staff. Support staff are vital to the running of our schools, and learning workshops, whether they are formal or informal, can increase motivation and morale. They also provide a way back into learning for individuals who have not participated in personal training or development, possibly since they themselves were at school.”

UNISON can offer a broad range of learning opportunities for members with many courses specifically aimed at school support staff. Popular courses include ‘Managing Challenging Behaviour’ and ‘Using Social Media Responsibly’, and we can also help members to improve their maths, English and digital skills.

Are you a UNISON steward in a school in the South East? Want to find out more about UNISON member learning? Please get in touch with our member learning team at sememberlearning@unison.co.uk