Thriving in your first week back
The first week back after summer can be really really tough, but there are many things we can do to ease ourselves back into school life. Here are some top tips to not just surviving but thriving in your first week back.
1. Really get to know your pupils and their trusted adults.
Building these positive relationships now will not just benefit you in the first week but throughout your school year. If you have excellent relationships with your pupils and their families, those difficult conversations that may come further down the line will be made so much easier.
2. Focus on your ‘Circle Of Control.’
The ‘Circle Of Control’ method can be a fantastic way of alleviating any worries and concerns you may have. When you feel like things are becoming overwhelming and it is affecting your well-being, take a step back and think, what can I actually influence here? Simply, what is within my control and what is not? Focus your energy only on what you can have an impact on. Education Support have a fantastic resource here to help you understand this further. https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/resources/for-organisations/guides/circle-of-control-influence-and-concern-tool/
3.Refrain from involving yourself in negative gossip or conversations.
We all have bad days, we all need to rant and moan occasionally. However, when it happens too often it can really drain the energy and mood of a workplace, in this case, your school. The whole environment can be impacted, not just for you as staff but for the children as well. It is important to remain positive and solution focused. If you feel a conversation is turning negative, you may want to intervene and try to switch it to a positive light or help find a solution to the problem. If you aren't feeling in a position to do this, creating space and walking away can be just as effective.
4.Work by time not task.
Understanding your tasks and prioritising these are important, but we all only have 24 hours in a day. This was some advice given to me many years ago and really stopped me working through the night- especially during my early career. I am sure in the first week back to school your to-do list will seem endless, it will most likely stay like this for the rest of the year. Prioritise your list firstly, then designate yourself a certain amount of time to compete as much as you can. Once you have got to the end of that time, it is important you stop and focus on home life or resting. Come back to it tomorrow.
5.Hydration and snacks.
Finally, keeping hydrated and your energy levels up is so so important. We encourage the children to drink water and have snack breaks, so why not ourselves? Keeping a water bottle to hand is a must have for many teachers, and I have seen many top up an emergency snack stash to keep in their classrooms and help them get through the day. Make sure you have something easy to go to for when you might be feeling you need a pick up.
As always, we love to hear your ideas and what has worked for you too. Please tweet us and share these to help grow our supportive community.
