Pam Weeden is back to help us start the year with a healthy mind. In this post Pam explores what the start of term can mean to us all and how our schools can help everyone to live a life in all its fullness - with just a little love and understanding.
The start of a brand-new school year is full of promise and possibility; there are blank white pages in books waiting for experimental ideas to find their way into being and walls waiting to be filled with colourful captures of new learning.
September is smart uniform, new shoes and fully labelled PE kit in correct bags leaving lost property baskets gloriously empty.
For many, staff and children, coming back to school means a slight pang for sunny days and later bed times but a readiness for settling into newness. However, for some, the return to school means bringing back into being worries that have been pushed away for the six weeks or a battle with anxiety. Similarly, for some, the holidays will have been a hard and challenging time, and coming back to school means a return to safety and respite.
For leaders, the start of a brand-new school year means understanding and navigating all of these. The Mentally Healthy Schools website have released a Mental Health and Wellbeing Calendar for the Autumn Term 2021; it is full of ideas and assembly materials, it sets out key dates and events, and includes links to free resources. The calendar is a useful way to reflect on the term ahead and identify potential trigger points for your team, and reflect on where there may be potential for risk mitigation.
Pam Weeden is a qualified professional Executive Coach and Mentor who is passionate about leadership development and believe in facilitating the growth of the person and the professional. Throughout the pandemic Pam has offered pastoral support to the Trust's senior leadership team.
You can follow Pam on Twitter: @PamWeeden
You can follow the Trust on Twitter: @GoodShepherdMAT
