A school leaders’ guide to 2025/26: Wellbeing and culture

What’s on the horizon in 2025/26?

As the summer sun begins to fade and we prepare to open our school gates again, the 2025/26 academic year comes into view – not just as a date in the diary, but as a critical juncture for education. 

This coming year, we will have to navigate a shifting policy landscape, as well as evolving societal expectations, and persistent operational pressures. 

For governors and trustees, school leaders, and teachers and staff, the key to success is not merely to respond, but to anticipate.

Indeed, strategic vision has never been more crucial. In a climate marked by constant change, those with foresight will be best placed to lead with clarity and conviction.

As such, this series of short blogs aims not just to summarise existing changes but to predict what’s yet to come. It’s a framework for professional curiosity; a panoramic view of the key themes likely to define the year ahead.

In this blog, we will explore…

7 Wellbeing and culture

No strategy for 2025/26 is complete without a focus on wellbeing. Burnout must no longer be an accepted occupational hazard.

For staff, wellbeing should be embedded in policy and practice: flexible working, compassionate leadership, and workload safeguards.

For pupils, the rise in mental health and safeguarding issues demands robust pastoral systems, strong external partnerships, and a curriculum that builds emotional literacy.Culture is the throughline: compliance may set the floor, but culture sets the ceiling

Shaping the agenda: A checklist for school leaders

To support strategic planning, here’s a practical checklist for senior leaders and governors to consider as you enter the new academic year:

Curriculum intent

• Are cross-curricular priorities (e.g., climate, careers, AI) embedded?
• Are staff equipped to deliver an inclusive, future-focused curriculum?

Assessment strategy

• Are formative and diagnostic assessments informing teaching effectively?
• Is there a plan to reduce assessment-related workload?

Leadership development

• Do we have clear succession plans for key roles?
• Are we investing in leadership CPD that enables strategic, not just operational, thinking?

Teaching and learning

• Is evidence-informed practice consistently used across departments?
• Are we monitoring and reducing workload hotspots?

Digital strategy

• Is our use of AI and EdTech intentional and equitable?
• Do we have a long-term plan for infrastructure, CPD, and digital literacy?

Finance and resources

• Are our budgets aligned with strategic goals and inclusion priorities?
• Have we explored collaboration or trust-wide efficiencies?

Inclusion and SEND

• Is our provision inclusive by design, not just intervention?
• Do all staff have the training they need to meet diverse needs?

Wellbeing and culture

• Are staff supported with tangible wellbeing actions, not just rhetoric?
• Is pupil mental health monitored and supported systematically?

 Accountability and evaluation

• Do we have internal QA systems that go beyond data snapshots?
• Are we prepared for changes in Ofsted or trust-level accountability?

Key questions to ask now

• What assumptions are we making that might no longer hold true?
• Where are we being reactive, and where are we being proactive?
• What are we not talking about—but should be?

Building the capacity for change

The year ahead is not one to fear; it’s one to shape. Complexity is a given. But so too is the opportunity to lead with intention, to plan with curiosity, and to grow capacity for change across every layer of the school.

We invite you to take this blog as a starting point. Use it to prompt questions, provoke reflection, and spark conversations in your senior leadership teams, your governing boards, and your wider school communities.

Leadership in education isn’t just about weathering the storm; it’s about learning to read the skies.