In our Wellbeing Around the World series, Tes speaks to leaders across the globe to see how they’re nurturing positive staff wellbeing, whatever challenges they may face.

In this article, we meet Mark Steed, head of school at Kellett, the British International School in Hong Kong , who has found practical solutions to some unprecedented problems caused by the pandemic and protests. 

Why does staff wellbeing matter to you as an international head? 

Staff wellbeing is important in any school, but it has a really high priority in international schools.

International teachers are often dislocated from their established home support networks of family and friends and that forces it up the agenda.

Most international schools tend to see themselves as having a greater duty of care towards those they have recruited and, in many cases, relocated halfway across the world.

This is seen most obviously when new starters arrive in-country for the first time and the HR department goes the extra mile, guiding them through the inevitable red tape and ensuring that they can navigate life in the country effectively.

Thereafter it is recognised that there will be times, in the absence of close family and friends, when the school needs to be there to support staff through some of the tough times in life.

Staff wellbeing is important because staff who are settled and happy are more effective and can better provide support to the students in their care.

Are there any wellbeing issues unique to your country or school?

The past two to three years have been quite challenging times in Hong Kong.

Before the pandemic, Hong Kong faced a period of civil unrest and protest; and today it is coming to terms with a changing political landscape as it finds itself on the front line as China redefines its relationship with the West.

Furthermore, Hong Kong was in the vanguard of the pandemic, and, although the number of cases in the city has been very low, Hong Kong has had - and continues to have - some of the most stringent quarantine measures in the world.

Restrictions on travel have limited expats’ ability to return “home” to keep in touch with families; and to attend key life events, such as friends’ weddings and even family funerals.

This has led some to reconsider whether or not this is the time to move back to their home country.

More from the series:

• Wellbeing Around the World: Community spirit in New York
• Wellbeing Around the World: Creating a ‘youniversity’ in Italy
• Wellbeing Around the World: Acting with PAWsitivity in Malaysia

What wellbeing initiatives have you introduced to address these issues?

Throughout the protests and pandemic, our approach at Kellett has been to monitor the wellbeing of our community through regular questionnaires and to respond with initiatives that enhance wellbeing.

We quickly moved beyond yoghurt-and-yoga-type initiatives to much more practical ones that sought to address some of the core challenges that our teachers faced.

For example, during the period of home learning, feedback from both staff and students in our senior school was that a whole day of “live teaching” was untenable.

In response, we truncated the teaching day by reducing the lessons by ten minutes, which fitted it into the mornings only.

The reorganisation had a great impact, again picked up in the wellbeing surveys, and made it possible for staff and students to make it through challenging extended periods of home learning.

What else did the pandemic change from a wellbeing perspective?

Given that one of the greatest challenges that we face in Hong Kong is the difficulty of staff to travel to visit loved ones around the world, we have had to come up with quite radical solutions to support the staff.

Twice in the past two years, we have changed the term dates in order to allow staff to maximise their time at home.

In 2020-21 we extended the Christmas break to four weeks to facilitate those going home; and this year we have reduced the Christmas break when no one is travelling to two weeks, to give an additional week next summer.

At Kellett, we have also changed the way that we issue employment contracts. This recognises that one of the greatest pressures on the wellbeing of expat teachers during a pandemic is a sense of feeling trapped abroad.

Understandably, some staff felt that, with so much uncertainty in the world, they could not commit to an additional two or three years. Instead, teachers are now offered one-year rolling extensions after an initial two-year period in the school.

The initiative was welcomed by the teaching staff and has had the net impact of retaining staff who would have otherwise given notice because they did not feel that they could make a longer-term commitment.

Did you consult staff about making these changes?

Regular staff surveys as well as having open lines of communication with, say, a staff consultative group are key.

It is certainly very important for school leaders to have a good understanding of what issues are facing teachers on the ground.

However, there are some decisions, such as changing term dates, that cannot be resolved by a formal staff consultation process because of the sensitivity of the information.

In most schools, such a consultation would find itself onto parental WhatsApp groups within minutes of publication resulting in an immediate communications crisis!

Instead, these decisions need to be made by a small group of senior leaders and governors, considering the impact on all stakeholders, and acting in the best interests of the community as a whole.

What advice would you share from what you’ve learned?

The past couple of years have highlighted the importance of staff wellbeing. However, the most important lesson I have learned is that staff wellbeing is not the sole responsibility of the school. It has to be a partnership.

School leaders have a particular responsibility to create a school culture that enhances wellbeing and to allocate the (sometimes limited) resources at their disposal in a way that protects and enhances staff wellbeing. However, teachers need to do their part, too.

They need to take responsibility for their own physical and mental health, which means taking care of the basics (sleep, diet and exercise) and seeking help when times get tough.

How do you look after your own wellbeing?

The key to wellbeing is switching off and taking time. There is a danger that, as school leaders, we are “always-on” - that we are always available.

Many leaders talk as if it is unprofessional to disconnect and that they feel guilty if they do so.

This is the digital equivalent of “my door is always open” and it is a recipe for burnout.

So, in addition to getting enough sleep and exercise, looking after my own wellbeing is about putting on the “out of office”, having a regular digital detox and spending some quality time with those who I love.

Mark Steed is the principal and CEO of Kellett, the British International School in Hong Kong; and previously ran schools in Devon, Hertfordshire and Dubai