The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Mental health and wellbeing

Gareth D Morewood

Exam stress: supporting pupils and understanding pressures

As the exam period beckons Gareth D. Morewood identifies strategies to manage exam stress. At certain times of a young person’s school career, life can be stressful. Perhaps none more so than the culmination of five years of secondary school and Year 11 GCSE exams! This year, in the rapidly...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Mindfulness: a classroom tool for all

Looking to introduce mindfulness into your school? Elizabeth Holmes explains why there's potential in the idea, and how you can get started. After some time in the wilderness, mindfulness has recently enjoyed wide-scale exposure and drawn the attention of researchers keen to determine precisely how...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Mental health and wellbeing: supporting children and young people

There is much that schools can do to support children and young people with mental health difficulties but good quality CPD is essential. Elizabeth Holmes outlines what schools can do. With the great need for subject-specific CPD, it’s little surprise that training in care for the mental health and...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Happy New Year! 15 CPD resolutions for teachers

'I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.' - Henry Moore So, a new calendar year is almost upon us and although we are only a third of the way through the academic year, it still feels like a time to reflect on how things are going – focusing on what we may change for the better...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Teacher wellbeing: once more with feeling

Teacher wellbeing has been a major professional interest of mine for well over a decade. I have been writing on it and supporting teachers and lecturers through training and personal development, visiting many schools and speaking to hundreds, if not thousands, of teachers over the years. What do I...
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Evie Prysor-Jones

Children's mental health: an exciting challenge for schools

Last Wednesday (12th November) we had the pleasure of hosting the Promoting Positive Mental Health in Schools conference in partnership with Place2Be , and what a day it was! Taking place at the Ibis Hotel in West Brompton, it was a relentlessly busy day, packed full of information and professional...
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Tom Kerslake

Promoting positive pupil mental health in schools

We are approaching the eighth instalment of our annual Promoting Positive Mental Health in Schools conference . As well as being one of our most popular and well-received conferences, this year it comes at a time of a growing interest in mental health – particularly in schools. We’re aiming to make...
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Gareth D Morewood

An increased focus on mental health…

One of the positive changes to the new Code of Practice from 1st September was the increased focus on mental health. I think few could disagree with the importance of mental health support for children and young people in our schools and colleges. Indeed, this is an area that I and many other...
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Elizabeth Holmes

Wellbeing: take control of yours and your school’s

Stress and workload issues don’t just disappear during the summer. Avoid ruminating this holiday and take action to improve your wellbeing next term, advises Elizabeth Holmes. ‘The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.’ William James It's summer, and with...
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Gareth D Morewood

Exam season, stress and anxiety

This time of year is dominated by assessments and examinations, from KS2 SATs through to GCSE and ‘A’ Level exams and beyond. As someone who always struggled with a formal exam as a mechanism of assessment I sympathise with young people who find the model of assessing them challenging. It is only...
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