"I love moaning! The only rule is - if you moan about something, you've got to have an idea about a better way of doing it. If you haven’t got an idea on how to make it better, then your moaning is just demoralising people, making everyone feel bad, and dropping the mood of the school. And that’s not OK." Jeremy Crook was a Headteacher for almost 20 years. He now lectures in initial teacher training and works as a consultant in primary schools in the East of England.  He LOVES teaching assistants and support staff! And in this episode, shares wise and practical ways to make your support staff feel valued and supported to do their very important work. We talk about: The key reason so many schools have difficult relationships or issues with support staff. The most important thing you need to do to build strong relationships with support staff. The two key things Jeremy did to improve the impact of the Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the classroom. The importance of "non-negotiables." How training raises the status and professionalism of support staff. "If you don’t train them, you’re just setting them up to have a difficult time." The message across all staff is "We care for you but you've got to do a great job. Care itself is not enough." "The starting position has to be, if I want TAs, I want them because they do a great job in terms of supporting the core purpose of the school, which is getting children to be great learners, of course." You can connect with Jeremy Twitter @whatnqt Email: jnc.edu@gmail.com LinkedIn: Jez Crook His podcast is "What I wish I knew as an NQT". Connect with Maria On Twitter @Mariabrosnan On LinkedIn Maria Brosnan On Instagram @pursuitwellbeing Find out more about our 5-step Wellbeing Action Plan for teachers online course. And Maria's book, The Pursuit of Sleep for teachers, is available now.