This document is the HET (Humber Education Trust) Wellbeing Charter, updated March 2026. It outlines commitments to staff mental health, workload reduction, flexible working, and professional development, aligned with the Department for Education's Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. It includes current examples of support (EAP, mindfulness, counselling, wellbeing champions) and specific…
This document is the HET (Humber Education Trust) Wellbeing Charter, updated in March 2026. It is intended for staff, managers, and leaders within the trust, outlining commitments to support staff wellbeing in line with the Department for Education's Education Staff Wellbeing Charter.
The charter is structured around a series of commitments, each followed by a section on current examples of what the trust already does and a section on wellbeing development commitments for 2025-26. The first commitment addresses tackling mental health stigma, giving parity to mental and physical health, managing work-related stress, and providing support like peer support, supervision, and counselling.
Further commitments cover empowering staff to take ownership of their wellbeing, providing managers with tools and training, and setting clear guidance on remote and out-of-hours working. The document also includes commitments to include staff voice in decision-making, drive down unnecessary workload using tools like the Workload Reduction Toolkit, and create a supportive culture around flexible working and diversity.
The charter also addresses maintaining a school-wide Behaviour Policy that supports pupil mental health and SEND, ensuring professional development does not adversely impact workload, and developing a sub-strategy for protecting leader mental health. Finally, it commits to measuring staff wellbeing using recognised tools and being transparent about results, with a Wellbeing Working Group and regular staff surveys.
Current support examples include an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with the Schools Advisory Service (SAS), weekly mindfulness sessions, counselling, trained Wellbeing Champions and Mental Health First Aiders, and stress management procedures. Development commitments for 2025-26 include reviewing the Absence Policy, redeveloping the staff SharePoint area, training managers, and establishing clear communications policies.