Education staff wellbeing: making our voice heard at party conferences

This autumn, Education Support attended the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool and the Plaid Cymru Conference in Llandudno.

As the parties currently in government in England and Wales, these conferences provide an important opportunity to strengthen our voice and influence on education policy.

By taking part in these key political events, we can champion a clear message: supporting the wellbeing of teachers and education staff is essential to building a thriving education workforce and improving outcomes for children and young people.

Championing education staff wellbeing at Labour Party Conference

At the Labour Conference in Liverpool, we partnered with the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank to convene a roundtable bringing together school leaders, politicians and education sector experts to discuss why teacher wellbeing is vital to ensuring that every child can achieve and thrive.

Drawing on evidence from our Teacher Wellbeing Index, our Chief Executive, Sinéad Mc Brearty, also spoke at a panel event with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and EPI, which explored what the education workforce needs to effectively implement the Government’s ambitious education reform agenda. Sinéad highlighted that ambitious policy change can only succeed when the workforce delivering it is well-supported, energised and able to thrive over the long term.

Taking our message to Plaid Cymru Conference

We also went to Llandudno to Plaid Cymru’s first party conference since coming to power in Wales following the Senedd elections in May this year.

This was an opportunity to hear from education sector experts and practitioners about their realities on the ground teaching in Wales and what they think needs to change to improve conditions for teachers and education staff, helping them to deliver the best possible the outcomes for children and young people in Wales.

The conference also gave us the opportunity to hear from Wales’ Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Anna Brychan MS, about the new Welsh Government’s priorities for education policy in Wales, which will help to inform our ongoing policy and advocacy work in Wales.

By engaging at major political conferences, we continue to champion the message that supporting the wellbeing of teachers, leaders and education staff is not only essential for the workforce itself, but also for delivering the high-quality education that all children and young people deserve.