“Choosing Umbrella as a partner gave PPTA members access to psychologists with specialised expertise in mental health and wellbeing that they would otherwise not have had.”
School environments are becoming increasingly complex. PPTA Te Wehengarua wanted to address the urgent need for support amongst the secondary teachers workforce, and approached Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional (WUP) to identify a suitable professional partner to support secondary teachers through a wellbeing initiative.
It was essential for the initiative to be delivered by highly trained experts in their field, with a robust depth of understanding about building and maintaining resilience, and who could relate this to the context of secondary teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The course needed to enable participants to gain knowledge about stress and how to spot the signs in themselves and others, and to learn practical resilience skills to help them thrive and build habits that will last.
“Really great to have a PLD session that offers so many tangible and actionable ideas we can take away and implement in our daily lives. Nice that it was not just a focus on ‘work’ but all aspects of life.”
Umbrella’s facilitators worked closely with WUP and PPTA’s Learning and Development team and teacher members to develop a course that met these objectives, beginning with a pilot. Feedback was gathered, and the final shape of the course was confirmed. A continuous cycle of review is now built in to ensure this course remains fit for purpose.
Choosing Umbrella as a partner gave PPTA members access to psychologists with specialised expertise in mental health and wellbeing that they would otherwise not have had.
“Great course and I think it should be a compulsory course for anyone training to be a teacher. Vitally important information to be able to look at oneself and identify strategies to help you cope.”
About Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional
Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional is a subsidiary of Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, delivering non-degree short course and micro-credential programmes. Utilising academic knowledge and professional expertise across many sectors, WUP deliver professional learning to a wide range of audiences.