The Edurio Staff Wellbeing and Working Conditions Survey at Brook Learning Trust

In the first year of Edurio’s Staff Retention project, Brook Learning Trust (BLT) conducted the Staff Wellbeing and Working Conditions Survey, harnessing the power of national benchmarks of Edurio, in two of its three academies.

What convinced the team at BLT to participate in the first year of a brand new research project? 

We asked Education Director Nicola Taylor. Her answer:

‘’Working with an external partner on important research that serves a bigger purpose... The schools who participated in the Edurio survey were able to benefit from additional rigour in the design and application of the survey as well as the quality of feedback and analysis received following its completion.’’

15,000+ school staff nationwide partake in the largest independent research on staff retention in England. Over 15,000 staff nationwide participated in the survey, forming the largest independent research on staff retention in England. These responses enhance Edurio's national benchmark, providing valuable context for school leaders' result comprehension.

Unlocking Insights: Nicola's Revelation on External Benchmarking with Edurio's Results Dashboard

‘’We had actually really underestimated the power of external benchmarking,’’ Nicola told us. The Edurio results dashboard allowed them to look at their results as a whole and compared between the two schools, but also alongside the national benchmarks. "Underestimating external benchmarking, Nicola acknowledged the power revealed through Edurio's results dashboard, enabling comprehensive analysis compared to national benchmarks. Collaborating with Edurio facilitated deeper insights for actionable improvements."

Initial disappointing results often aligned with or exceeded national averages.

Take the following question on leadership: ‘’How often do the school leadership consult you before making decisions that will affect you?’’ 39% of respondents answered positively with ‘Always’ or ‘Often’ — definitely room for improvement, especially regarding such an important topic. 

But now take a look at those same results with national averages marked in purple:

Seems that most schools are in the same boat. Brook Learning Trust has quite strong results, in fact, compared to the national average.

But how exactly does that benchmark help?

Well, we know that staff retention in schools is a national problem. The benchmark aims to unite school leaders in addressing challenges, fostering collaboration, and sharing effective solutions for schools and trusts.

Solutions must be school-specific and, as we saw in our report on the first 10,000 responses, retention is very much a school-by-school issue. Analyzing results with national averages helps leaders find weaknesses and reinforce successful policies and behaviors.

Proactive Solutions: Brook Learning Trust's Strategic Response to Survey Insights

As far as working on solutions goes, Brook Learning Trust has already jumped into action, focusing on a few key areas of improvement they identified after analysing results. 

1. Flexible Working. Trust aligns flexible policy with national guidelines, boosting applications. Highlighting teaching's organizational benefits and individual flexibility showcases the profession's valuable adaptability for both educators and institutions.
2. Staff Wellbeing. Staff lacked full awareness of available employee assistance program. They have made a change in how they communicate about it – through a new HR-focused bulletin going out to all staff at all three schools directly from the trust. 

Edurio is excited to continue working with the team at Brook Learning Trust this year - as well as welcoming their third school to the project!

The Edurio Staff Wellbeing and Working Conditions Survey was designed with the support of researchers at University College London Institute of Education and the research project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 SME programme for open and disruptive innovation under grant agreement №733984.