New survey exploring health and wellbeing of headteachers and senior leadership staff during Covid-19

Researchers at Swansea University are calling on headteachers and senior leadership staff to complete a survey about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Supported by the Centre for Population Health and the National Academy for Educational Leadership Wales, the survey findings will help researchers provide evidence-based insights into the challenges and impacts of Covid-19 on leadership staff in primary and secondary schools in Wales.

The survey broadly looks to explore the impact of the pandemic on the health, working situation, and the demands placed on headteachers and senior leadership staff.

Swansea University will work alongside teams in Newcastle University, London South Bank University and Glasgow Caledonian University to gather and compare data across the UK.

Gap in evidence

While research in Wales has been conducted exploring the impact of school closures on pupils and teachers, there is a gap in evidence exploring the effects of the pandemic on headteachers and senior leadership staff within schools.

Dr Emily Marchant, the Lead Researcher in the study, said:

“The pandemic has created an unprecedented disruption in education. Headteachers and senior leadership staff have had to adapt learning environments and work practices rapidly – this has required decision making, leadership and management to tackle the numerous challenges faced.

“We will share the results of our survey with participants, policy and practice decision-makers to help build a better understanding of what the challenges have been, what are the main areas of concern and what can be done to safeguard for the future.”

Part of an international network

The research teams in the UK form part of an international network of more than 100 researchers from 50 countries and located on five continents. The COVID-HL Network is a cooperative and collaborative approach that is based on the idea of joint generation of knowledge/evidence and its open distribution.

Prof Sinead Brophy, Director at the Centre for Population Health, commented:

“Being part of the COVID-HL Network allows us to contribute and position ourselves within the international research community – strengthening Wales’ involvement and impact on global health and wellbeing research.

“The Network will give us access to comparable international data and the opportunity to measure and interpret similarities and differences in this area of research from across the world..

The survey can be completed as one or completed in two bite-size surveys. Complete the survey here.