Jo
“Teaching is a fantastic job. You can do amazing things with and for young people; but if you’re not at 100 percent, you’re not giving the kids 100 percent.
“I’ve been trying to make staff aware of that, so last year I did something really simple and organised cake and a chat in the staffroom. When we’re busy, we can all be guilty of not taking breaks and just staying in the classroom, so I made a deliberate attempt to make staff stop and actually sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat, just about anything.
“And it was nice, just to have that little moment of relaxation - staff realised that this is beneficial just taking 10 minutes to stop and breathe. You’re more productive if you’ve had time to stop too.”
“I’ve had depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for most of my life, and have had to take time off work when it’s been particularly bad. The last time I was off I realised I had to really make changes to my life. Intensive therapy armed me with a mini-crisis management plan, which has now become my daily ‘this is what I do to relax’ plan – things like taking my dog for walks, practicing mindfulness, reading, drawing, and, importantly, spending time with others.
It was nice, just to have that little moment of relaxation - staff realised that this is beneficial just taking 10 minutes to stop and breathe.
“I found that I was shutting myself away, and sometimes that’s what you want to do when you’re feeling really down – it’s easy to do, and it’s hard to get back out of. So I’ve been going to book groups, trying to get more involved in my community, getting to know my neighbours. That’s made a big difference.”
“Since returning to work, I’ve taken this learning with me, and I now have a different approach to work.
“I’ve now become organised at work so that I don’t take work home. If I can’t get it done in the school day, it doesn’t get done. A colleague gave me a really useful phrase: ‘Nature never hurries, but everything gets done.’
“And it’s true. I could take all the work in the world home, and do it all – and I’d just find more to do when I came in the next day, and it’s not always needed. So it’s about prioritising what I need to do and can do at school, and prioritising what I need and can do at home. After all, I need to be well for my family as well as my students.
“It’s not about putting pressure on myself to create the world’s best lesson plans every single day, it’s about being realistic about what I can do without making myself ill again.
“Teachers tend to give themselves a hard time.
“The reason we’re in this job is to do the best we can for the young people in front of us. But if you’ve not got the strength to support yourself, you’re not going to be able to support them either. If you think that a young person isn’t coping, or isn’t doing as well as they could, then you put pressure on yourself to put them first which is why I think it’s a profession that people can easily get lost in.”
