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Top Tips for Teachers
Look after yourself!
When we are very busy it can be hard to find a moment for ourselves, and it's all too easy to put our own needs at the end of the list. If we neglect ourselves we become exhausted, and then it's much harder to enjoy school life. We owe it to ourselves to recharge our batteries, and our pupils will benefit too. How about nurturing yourselves in one of the following ways?
- invite a personal trainer, yoga instructor or the like to come in after school for a weekly drop-in session in the school hall (some parents have these hidden talents!)
- ask colleagues about their skills and interests: in one Family Links school a TA who originally trained as a beautician offers cut-price manicures at Thursday lunchtimes
- recycle books and magazines via the staffroom
- listen - without doing something else at the same time
- use coloured markers to record staff achievements on a special board in the staff room
- make time for awe/wonder - down tools to make snow angels or have a workbreak out in the sunshine
- find moments to enjoy peace and calm, e.g. in assembly or in a cool spot under a shady tree at the end of a hot day
Creating a positive emotional temperature in Early Years settings and in school
Enjoy being creative with ideas like the following for calming and energising children - and colleagues!
- play quiet, soothing music
- use essential oils - e.g. a few drops of mandarin oil on a tissue, tucked behind a radiator
- invite parents/carers to share a book with their child first thing
- take a cup of tea to colleagues, once in a while
- remember that our facial expressions and body language have the greatest impact of anything we communicate
- recruit and rehearse for a lunchtime buddy system
- use workbreaks throughout the day as a preventive measure, as well as first thing after breaktimes to help settle the children, and as a way of giving both adults and children a breather at times
- touch base every now and then with a collaborative reward system
Get more tips from schools using the Nurturing Programme by downloading our Hot Tips document. This is a PDF file, please click on the Adobe symbol for a free download
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