Windsor Academy Trust: staff wellbeing is fundamental to good education

Windsor Academy Trust (WAT) is a family of schools based across the West Midlands. Adele Reynolds works as part of the central team, whose core purpose is to support their schools, both primary and secondary, so they can focus on delivering an exceptional education.

“I support the Communications, Community & People Teams. This means I'm right at the intersection of strategy and implementation. I provide operational support for our HR and People initiatives, which includes helping to coordinate and roll out our wellbeing strategy.

A key part of my job is ensuring that the support we plan centrally, like the EAP, is communicated clearly and implemented smoothly across all our different schools. I act as a bridge, making sure our central strategy genuinely connects with and supports our staff on the ground.

We're deeply committed to our communities and firmly believe that supporting our staff's wellbeing is fundamental to achieving our mission for students.

Like any trust, we are acutely aware of the unique pressures within the education sector. The workload is high, and the emotional demands on staff are significant.

We wanted to provide a tangible, confidential, and specialist tool that all our staff could access. The key challenge was finding a single service that could provide robust, professional support for everyone, from our teachers and support staff in schools to our central team, for any issue, whether it was work-related stress, personal financial worries, or mental health support. It’s about offering proactive, practical support before a challenge becomes a crisis.

Two things really stood out about Education Support’s EAP service.

1. Your specialism: We weren't interested in a generic, "off-the-shelf" EAP. Knowing that Education Support lives and breathes the education sector means your team, counsellors, and experts would understand the specific nuances and pressures our staff face. We wouldn't have to "explain" what it's like to work in a school.
2. The breadth of support: It wasn't just a counselling hotline. It was the combination of in-the-moment support, the comprehensive online resources, and the clear, practical support for line managers. It felt like a complete wellbeing partner, not just a provider.

I am currently working with the Head of Marketing and Communications to plan the roll out of the new EAP Plus platform that we now have access to. In regard to this, the support from Education Support could not have been more efficient or supportive, they have really listened to our concerns and requests and have been proactive in finding solutions and providing resources. 

In terms of spreading the word about the EAP, we use a "drip-feed" approach, integrating it into our regular communications rather than just "launching and leaving."

I work closely with our Comms team to ensure it's always visible. We feature it regularly in our Trust-wide Bulletins, and it has a permanent home on our Trust intranet. We will be working hard to ensure that this is also promoted within school-level publications. We are however now working to promote the service better and will be coordinating staff meetings in schools, where the EAP Plus platform will be re launched. We also have new posters that have been WAT branded and placed in key areas around our offices and schools. We also time specific promotions around known pressure points in the academic calendar.

For anyone looking for an EAP, my main advice would be to look for a partner, not just a provider. The fact that Education Support is a charity rooted in the sector - not just a corporate business - makes a real difference. The resources provided aren't just for staff in crisis; they're for managing everyday life and work.

From my perspective, supporting both our People and Comms functions, having a service that is so well-resourced and easy to communicate has been invaluable. It helps us demonstrate to our staff, in a very practical and tangible way, that we are truly invested in their wellbeing. It’s a dependable service that works.”