From the Teacher Support Network, www.teachersupport.info.

JAMIE OLIVER'S WELLBEING REVOLUTION?
Positive wellbeing is a multifarious condition...

It came to light last week that Jamie Oliver will shortly be heading off to the States in an effort to globalise his attempts to improve the diets of school children.

Many of us have spent the last few years marvelling at how a likeable, inoffensive TV presenter – popular with both old and young, male and female, the culinary capable and gastronomically ghastly – has suddenly become the militant commander of a very appealing revolt. The victory of his grassroots, guerrilla war on the junk food junta may not have been total and the dietary habits of children across the nation are still in real need of improvement. Nevertheless, his work has significantly raised awareness in schools, communities and government of the need for healthy eating and the long-term cost – physical, behavioural and educational – of cutting corners.

Onwards with the world-wide revolution. We have nothing to lose but our Turkey Twizzlers and I sincerely hope the now Khaki Chef is successful once he lands Stateside. But while Comrade Oliver is exporting the insurgency to foreign shores, I can’t help wondering if his accompanying ideology – that of improving the wellbeing of a school community through the means of nutrition – could not be elaborated and employed more extensively domestically, too.

Positive wellbeing is a multifarious condition. A decent diet, which is far too often lacking in UK schools, is an important step towards its achievement. Nevertheless, as we often see at Teacher Support Network, there are many other ways in which schools need to change to cater for the health – both physical and mental – of those who work there.

The spring term of 2009 saw our Group of charities interact with teachers (and other education professionals) twice as often as in the same term in 2008: 43,952 compared to 20,801. The causes of these interactions ranged from simple careers advice, such as tips on producing a new CV, to the truly harrowing. Nevertheless, for a large proportion, a failure of their own school or the education system generally to cater sufficiently for their wellbeing had been an important contributing factor to the problem they were trying to address. 28 per cent needed support specifically about their health and wellbeing, such as questions on how to cope with anxiety or depression. 14 per cent had issues with their working conditions, such as workload or excessive hours. 15 per cent needed help with ‘People skills’, including dealing with bullying.

Better addressing the dietary needs of the school community is an important campaign but the wider cause of general wellbeing within the education system could also do with the kind of energy and attention that Jamie Oliver’s crusade has brought to dinner time. Imagine primetime broadcasts of Jamie recruiting an army of parents, teachers and pupils to march on Downing Street and demand improved wellbeing in schools. Imagine governors and headteachers rising on Christmas morning to find not hardback, celebrity-endorsed cookbooks but tie-in volumes by Nigella Lawson providing tips on managing workload and dealing with difficult pupils. Imagine post-watershed documentaries featuring an incensed Gordon Ramsay being given three days to turn around schools with bullying problems amongst their staff and the pure joy of watching him confront the onetime intimidators.

The link between improved teacher wellbeing and better school performance seems just as straightforward as that between a poor diet and poor health. We can dream of celebrity chefs setting aside their differences, writing manifestos on the set of Saturday Kitchen and uniting for the cause but in the meantime Teacher Support Network will continue to push for the wellbeing of teachers and school communities to be made far greater priorities for those responsible – whether decision makers in central government or within schools themselves. Come join the insurrection.