Early finishes on Friday that allow staff to jet off on weekend city breaks, a tea trolley service, and banning after-school meetings and emails are among the 鈥渟calable, minimal cost鈥� measures helping one school buck the trend on recruitment and retention. Simon Hart, the principal of Springwest Academy in Hounslow, west London, also encourages 鈥渞andom acts of kindness鈥� such as giving a plant to a colleague. The word 鈥渂elieve鈥� emblazons his office, a nod to Ted Lasso, the hit television programme about an optimistic American football coach unexpectedly hired to lead an English soccer team. Simon Hart Nationally, secondary recruitment targets are missed every year and record numbers are leaving the profession. Happiness is…teaching at Springwest But a third of Springwest鈥檚 workforce has been there for a decade or more, and in-house surveys suggest staff are happy. Last year, Ofsted the school was 鈥榞ood鈥� and noted 鈥渟taff said that leaders are considerate of their wellbeing and have taken action to reduce workload鈥�. At the time, a survey of 77 staff found 96 per cent enjoyed working at the school and 89 per cent felt bosses were considerate of their wellbeing. Data suggests the wider teacher workforce is less satisfied with their lot. The DfE鈥檚 latest found just 46 per cent of 10,000 polled were satisfied with their job 鈥渁ll or most of the time鈥�. Officials from the Department for Education鈥檚 workload reduction taskforce visited Springwest before Christmas and 鈥渨ere taken by the culture鈥� and 鈥渉ow happy the workforce is鈥�, says Hart. Springwest Academy The nature of their work means schools can鈥檛 be as flexible as other employers. For example, they cannot replicate the move to remote and hybrid working seen in many sectors, especially after the pandemic. But some flexible working is on the rise. From 2022 to 2023, the proportion of teachers granted ad-hoc requests to start work late or finish early rose from 7 to 14 per cent, the DfE鈥檚 survey found. The number who reported they were given ad-hoc days off also doubled from 6 to 12 per cent over the same period. Overall the proportion reporting having some form of flexible working rose from 40 to 46 per cent. Part-time working was the most common approach. ‘Zero or minimal cost’ Hart says Springwest does things that 鈥渁re scalable and zero cost or minimal cost鈥�. School finishes at 1.40pm on a Friday, a policy he inherited when he joined the school, part of Tudor Park Education Trust, in 2020. Monday to Thursday, school runs between 9am and 4pm. Teachers can leave 10 minutes after their pupils. Hart 鈥減urposefully鈥� leaves promptly on Fridays and encourages others to do the same. He often takes a 鈥渕indful walk鈥�, but said some teachers took advantage of Heathrow鈥檚 proximity, jetting off on city breaks. And he admits to an 鈥渁mbition鈥� to move to a nine-day working fortnight from September next year. He also recommends no after-school meetings. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all exhausted, aren鈥檛 we?鈥� At Springwest, staff start at 8.30am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at 8.20am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Half-hour teacher-led group coaching sessions are held first thing on a Tuesday morning. The same slot on a Thursday is filled with department meetings. No out-of-hours emails Hart has also banned staff from sending emails in the evenings and on weekends. He sends one all-staff email, collating all key messages, each morning. In November 2023, Teacher Tapp asked 9,144 teachers what leaders should do to improve wellbeing in school. Thirty-two per cent said leaders should lower expectations for responding to emails and working out of hours. Seventy-three per cent said bosses should slash admin requirements, 68 per cent wanted better communication and 57 per cent called for a focus on improving student behaviour. Anything from the trolley? Springwest provides free tea and coffee in the staffroom, served by a member of catering staff, at a cost of 拢737 a year. It runs a tea trolley service twice a term, which costs 拢660 a year. 鈥淭hat one initiative is more popular, I think, than the Friday half-day. It鈥檚 madness.鈥� A daily breakfast club, free for staff and pupils, from Monday to Thursday cost the school about 拢20,000 from September 2023 to April 2024. Hart says the 鈥渃oncept of servant leadership鈥� underpins his approach. He spent a 鈥渓ong time trying to help the senior leaders understand that really their only job is to make the conditions such that staff can be the best versions of themselves鈥�.