Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

wellbeing and motivational theory, a school’s teachers return to their classrooms to find a newmarking policy waiting in their inboxes, another spreadsheet to complete and a reminder that progress reports are ‘due by Friday’. The irony won’t be lost on them. Present and accountable Motivation is forged in the crucible of shared struggle and joint effort. When leaders step into the same arena to face the same obstacles as their staff – that’s whenmorale shifts. Not because someone said the right thing, but because they did the right thing. If you’re a school leader reading this, ask yourself, honestly – do I want to actually improve staff morale, or do I just want to tick a box showing that I’m aware it’s a problem? If it’s the former, then the uncomfortable truth is that you need to teachmore. Teach classes. Cover lessons. Walk the corridors not just with a clipboard, but with intention. Sit down with your teachers after a tough period and acknowledge, ‘ That was hard – what could we try together next time? ’ Share the marking. Team-teach. Moderate. Plan lessons together. It’s not about becoming ‘one of the gang’. It’s about being a present, accountable leader who knows what the job actually entails in 2025. Senior leadership isn’t exempt from the daily pressures of school life, of course, but at the same time, it can add to them. When school leaders roll up their sleeves and show that they’re willing to share the burden, teachers take notice. More importantly, they begin to believe that their leaders understand them. FromWords toAction One of the most contentious areas in any school is behaviour. It’s also one of the clearest indicators of how a school’s leadership either supports or isolates its staff. Far too often, teachers are told that ‘behaviour is everyone’s responsibility’ – until that responsibility becomes unmanageable. Senior leaders can’t expect classroom staff to ‘pick up the slack’ if they themselves are too busy in meetings to respond to corridor incidents or student referrals. Behaviour policies must be led from the front, with leaders visible and involved. Ask any teacher what boosts their morale the most during a tough week, and youmay well hear something along the lines of, ‘ SLT came in and helped me with a tough class. ’ This isn’t revolutionary, it’s relational. There is immense power in words, but only when those words are backed by action. A school where the leadership team regularly teaches, shares the workload and stands shoulder to shoulder with teaching staff is a school where morale doesn’t need to be artificially inflated, because it’s already become self-sustaining. Ironically, many leaders reading might well say, ‘ But I don’t have the time! ’ – and that’s precisely the point. If you, with all the administrative and structural support your role entails, can’t find the time to teach a lesson or support with behaviour, how can you expect your staff to perform the impossible every day? So next time you’re considering whether to launch a new initiative, take a moment to ask, ‘ Where will my teachers find the time? ’ If the answer feels unclear, maybe reconsider. Morale doesn’t rise because of one-off wellbeing gestures. It rises when staff feel seen, heard and genuinely supported. Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school, having previously held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England EMPATHY IS A SUPERPOWER Empathy isn’t filling out a staff survey. It’s not nodding during INSETs when people raise concerns. It’s doing the job. It’s showing up. It’s standing in the gap when the pressure mounts. Staff morale is at a critical tipping point in many schools nationwide, but the solution doesn’t lie in distributing a more colourful newsletter, or printing staff t-shirts emblazoned with the school motto. It lies in leadership that’s human, honest and present. To cultivate empathy in our school leaders, we must encourage them to embrace vulnerability. When leaders share their own challenges, fears or mistakes, they show staff that it’s okay to be human. This openness fosters trust and authenticity – both key ingredients for strong morale. Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s courage in action. By modelling empathy through personal stories, and acknowledging when they don’t have all the answers, leaders create safe spaces in which others can be honest and grow. In doing so, they build deeper connections and more resilient, compassionate school communities. So lock your office. Cancel your next non-essential meeting and step back into the classroom . The joy of teaching – the whole reason you first got into this, remember? – is still there. You’ll never build the morale you want to see unless you go back to where it lives. Which is right there, in the thick of it, with your teachers. 49 teachwire.net/secondary L E A D E R S H I P