As we enter the busy end of term, with days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, it is good to be mindful of our health and wellbeing. This month, we will be highlighting useful and practical resources from our Health and Wellbeing Hub through Twitter on Health and Wellbeing Wednesdays.
Wellbeing Wednesday Week 3 - Further wellbeing resources
Health and wellbeing at work
Mental Health Foundation - work-life balance
The Mental Health Foundation offers advice on managing workload and mental health including steps to take to improve your work-life balance.
Improving Teacher Wellbeing through Mindset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c40bkE77NH0
Resources for dealing with stress and anxiety
NHS - 10 stress busters
The first step to feeling better is to identify the cause of your stress. This resource from the NHS offers 10 stress-busting suggestions.
Steps to deal with stress
This booklet contains some practical ways for you to start dealing with stress right now and stop it from building up in the future.
My Possible Self
The My Possible Self app can help you monitor and recognise patterns in feelings and behaviour to tackle stress and anxiety.
Wellbeing Wednesday Week 2 - GTC Scotland curated resources
Hugh Smith think pieces
Hugh Smith is an experienced teacher educator, author and speaker who provides mental health and wellbeing consultancy for schools, colleges and universities.
Teacher Resilience
Hugh Smith explores the complex area of teacher resilience, and how this should be viewed as a natural link to professional values.
https://youtu.be/6cic34Ul6IU
Developing a Wellness Community of Practice
Hugh explores how you and colleagues might engage with the development of a wellness community of practice. He also shares how such a community of practice might become a central activity in keeping teacher mental health and wellbeing ‘in check’.
https://youtu.be/cD-LEffwwJI
Sarah Philp Coaching Resources
Sarah Philp has created resources and techniques for you to use to support you in reducing feelings of stress, help you sleep and soothe your soul.
Time to think
Sarah argues that we are ‘human beings’ not ‘human doings’, and need to reclaim the time to think. Read the article.
Time well spent
Some insights and questions to think about time and how you use it. Read the article.
Serve, lead, serve
Three reflective questions to ask yourself in relation to serving and leading in challenging times. Read the article.
Wellbeing Wednesday Week 1 - Wellbeing Webinars and Resources
The Hive of Wellbeing - Claire Lavelle
Claire Lavelle joined GTC Scotland for a series of wellbeing webinars during lockdown, school closures and teachers' return to school. While these explored the particular stresses caused by this stage of the pandemic, the strategies discussed are still relevant today.
Staff wellbeing - a reprising of themes
In this session, Claire focussed on coaching questions, strategies and approaches that aim to support educators’ wellbeing as they make the staged transition from lockdown to their respective schools and settings. Watch the webinar.
Transforming the emotional load
Claire introduced the Empowerment Dynamic and Dreaded Drama Triangle as part of the below webinar. You can use the resource below to ask reflective questions on how you can move from a 'victim' within the Drama Triangle, to a 'creator' in the Empowerment Dynamic model.
Making the transition
This format is a reflective tool to allow you to consider how different aspects of your work are impacting on your emotional life at this time. It also provides the basis to articulate some of the emotional impact that changes at work are having on your performance and wellbeing and to discuss this with a colleague or line manager in a purposeful, structured way.
Destressing Stress - Paul Mills
Clinical Hypnotherapist Paul Mills led a series of webinars which can be found in the MyPL resource area. He also supplied the resources below, which can be used to learn relaxation and mindfulness techniques.
