Do you spend your break and lunch times with your head down marking in the classroom? Of course, it seems a prime opportunity to get on top of marking and preparing for the next lesson but it’s also a crucial time to down tools and reset.
The school staffroom is the hub for the staff community. We talk a lot about the school community and focus on celebrating the successes of our young people and providing meaningful, impactful content that will help guide them on their school journey but we mustn’t lose sight of the cogs behind the school machine.
Building a sense of community
As teachers, we selflessly put everyone before ourselves and as that important phrase says, “you should always put on your own face mask before helping others”. By spending time in the staffroom you are surrounded by the supportive community of your colleagues. It’s a time for sharing, communicating and empathy. If you’ve had a challenging lesson, it’s too easy to isolate yourself behind the classroom door and not share the day to day grit that can weigh you down. That respite in the staffroom at break and lunch is crucial to your mental health. With staff retention being a key focus for many schools, displaying key information around staff wellbeing and self-care highlights that the school community understands and is there for everyone. The UK’s largest SEN school, Ysgol Y Deri share examples of self-care ideas to promote positivity and the emphasis around the importance of self-care to their staff.
Staff wellbeing
Signposting access to all important resources such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) or support helplines are essential in ensuring your staff community can call upon these services if in need. Using tools such as QR codes provide a quick and efficient way for staff to tap into these resources without having to search and enter the information. A simple process that is great for communicating with staff effectively and can make a big difference if someone is in crisis.
Utilising Smart Content such as the digital Staff Board to display key staff, whether that be pastoral staff or mental health first aiders can be particularly important for new members of staff that have a lot to familiarise themselves with in a short period of time and may not feel comfortable reaching out for support to direct line managers.
Displaying calming visuals such as the WWF Daily Dose of Nature is a brilliant reminder that being in nature can do wonders for our wellbeing and boost our mood and concentration. Sharing inspirational and motivational quotes too can quickly help with uplifting staff mood and creating a positive working environment.You can find them in our Smart Content to add to your displays or create your own.
Keeping your community informed
When visiting Park House School, part of Greenshaw Learning Trust it was great to see how they are communicating with staff effectively by using a digital signage screen in the staffroom as a focus for morning briefings. Ensuring all staff are aware of any key events taking place and important information disseminated.
Whilst juggling an already busy schedule it can be easy to miss all important staff messages and emails so utilising digital signage within the staffroom is a great way to keep your staff up to date. Transparency of information through use of announcements, key messages and schedules helps staff feel informed and can help to eliminate that feeling of information overload as information is drip fed. Adding your school calendar to your digital signage is a great way to visually keep up to date with what’s happening that day or for the week ahead. Quick and easy to update with last minute changes ensures all are kept informed.
Working in education, we focus on the successes, progress and achievements of our young people and ensure that this is visually celebrated within the school community. However, staff appreciation too often goes under the radar with a passing praise comment, Teams message or email. The staff room digital signage screen provides a prime opportunity to share your staff appreciation, whether it’s a shout out to the IT staff for working tirelessly through half term to ensure PCs and infrastructure is up to date to individual staff members for going above and beyond their role. Publicly spotlighting staff recognition elevates the impact that it has on the individual as it raises awareness to the school community helping to set the tone of a positive and caring working environment.
Five considerations for digital signage
Download free PDFSimple actions such as recognising work anniversaries, long service and acknowledging staff birthdays can provide a huge impact to a staff member’s feeling of belonging to the school and also encouraging communication between staff, our Birthday Slide in the Smart Content is easy to update from your school’s MIS with our CSV import feature.
CPD engagement
As educators we understand the importance of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to help us keep pace with current standards and new initiatives and ensure we deliver the highest quality teaching. In our recent case study with Transform Trust they found that CPD opportunities weren’t filtering down to the right people.
Headteacher Mark Lowe of Sneinton St Stephens CofE Primary School shared, “The trust has been able to deliver messaging to staff about employee benefits, key events and CPD that’s coming up. It’s become a way that our staff can join in with a much bigger community and engage in the life of the trust.”
In a time of teacher recruitment and retention crisis utilising digital signage to promote CPD offerings shows your staff community that you value and support their professional growth. It provides a valuable opportunity to improve staff communication, advertise the courses and training available which in turn can increase teacher motivation, commitment and confidence to their role, fostering a well-informed, connected and engaged staff cohort.
Digital signage in the school staffroom offers an abundance of opportunities to keep the staff community well informed, aligned to a shared vision and collaboratively valued. Keep your content fresh and relevant and staff wellbeing and retention at the forefront of your staffroom signage. If you’d like to chat about more ways that digital signage can be used in your school to enhance whole school communication, why not sign up for a demo today to talk with one of our digital signage experts.