Throughout our human history, we have searched for the meaning of life and often concluded that leading a life full of pleasure and purpose is the point. So, if happiness is the meaning of life, then surely that must be the meaning of schools too?

There’s a growing movement in the UK which believes that health and happiness is the route to academic success - and should be at the heart of the school system if we want to reach a Nirvana in which every child is able to achieve their true potential.

That’s not to say that exam results and academic achievement are not important measures, or that schools should lose their focus on teaching and learning. Far from it.

The debate is about how we get there and what kind of environment we should deliver to achieve the ultimate dream: a cohort of happy, healthy, confident learners, armed with the tools to be the best they can possibly be in their future lives.

Schools have had to deal with extra pressures resulting from the pandemic, which has put a huge strain on staff and children, and we now face the greatest cost-of-living crisis of this generation.

We are losing teachers every day. Brilliant professionals that are choosing to walk away from the profession they love and trained for. They are stressed, overwhelmed, and disenchanted. 

We have children trying to engage with learning who are hungry, lonely, inactive, with poor physical and mental health and ill-equipped for the world of work.

The free-to-join Well Schools Movement, powered by national charity the Youth Sport Trust and the BUPA Foundation, is at the heart of this debate.

It now has more than 1,200 primary and secondary schools on board, from right across the UK, in a community in which tried and tested solutions and support for these challenges can be shared.

The aim for all these schools is to place the health and wellbeing of staff and pupils at the heart of everything they do. 

When you consider the changes taking place in the UK, and the need for change in our education system, then the time is right for action.

There has never been a more important time to prioritise the health and happiness of teachers and children to bring about that change.

What defines a Well School?

A Well School builds everything it does from the foundations of staff and pupil health and happiness. 

We see it as something that everyone can buy into; an end goal which should unite education rather than divide it.

It is about prioritising staff health and wellbeing, ensuring every child is equipped with the human skills they need for adulthood, built on a foundation of positive physical and mental health.

I have found throughout all my research that primary and secondary teachers have a major impact on children's wellbeing. Teachers affect children's happiness nearly as much as their academic performance. So, we need to shift the focus in schools.

We need to focus more of our energies on explicitly teaching children the things teachers and parents know they need, and which evidence shows you can teach (like life skills, self-confidence, relationship skills, mindfulness, self-regulation, optimism, physical activity, etc).

This would truly be a 'knowledge-rich' education.

What does a Well School look and feel like?

The only way to know what a Well School really looks like is to get to know one.

Flakefleet Primary is a strong example!

Flakefleet Primary is based in one of the UK’s most deprived towns but also a region with a strong community identity.

Under the guidance of Head Teacher Dave McPartlin, the school has focused on happiness of staff and pupils, taking a Well School view on life and education.

It’s working. The school was named Happiest School in Britain at the National Happiness Awards and rated ‘Good with Outstanding Features’ by Ofsted, showing that happiness and achievement go together.

Flakefleet also made national news when the school performed a song on Britain’s Got Talent and judge David Walliams was so impressed that he pressed his ‘golden buzzer’ to send them through.

In the wake of that, the school motto was changed to ‘Dare to Dream’ with children encouraged to believe in themselves and achieve their full potential.

That sounds like the sort of school I would want my children to go to!