View by

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

Staff wellbeing

Nicola Harvey
30 April 2020

Is teaching your true calling?

Wondering about leaving teaching and transitioning to another role in education? Nicola Harvey shares ways to create change. Teachers play a key role in shaping the lives of the future generation. They make a difference far beyond exam results, attendance records and school league tables. And often...
Read more...
Kelly Hannaghan
16 April 2020

The new wellbeing: coping with the phases of lockdown through Covid-19

Kelly Hannaghan highlights the importance of managing the anxieties and monotony of the coronavirus lockdown, with simple strategies to support this new way of wellbeing. Thousands of school children across the world are being taught at home as the Covid-19 pandemic brings life as we knew it to a...
Read more...
Kelly Hannaghan
24 March 2020

How to improve self-care

With a growing number of educators struggling to maintain a work life balance, Kelly Hannaghan shares her ideas around teaching self-care techniques to increase productivity and emotional harmony. I appreciate that educators have one of the most stressful yet rewarding careers, and as such you...
Read more...
Charlie Roden
21 February 2020

Wellbeing podcast: social media

In the third episode of the Optimus wellbeing podcast, Charlie Roden looks at the impact that social media is having on our mental health, and ways to make social media habits healthier. Last year, the number of active social media users in the UK grew to 45 million . This translates to around 67%...
Read more...
Elizabeth Holmes
5 February 2020

Teacher wellbeing: more than just tackling workload

To address the real problem of poor teacher wellbeing, schools need to be doing more than just reducing workload. It’s also about leadership and management, personal wellbeing and learning to say no. In November 2019 the Education Support Partnership published its latest Teacher Wellbeing Index ...
Read more...
Liz Murray
28 January 2020

Flexible working in action: progress, challenges, resolutions and impact

In the third instalment of her blog series on making a job share work, Liz Murray reflects on progress made so far and resolutions for the year ahead. As readers of the first two blogs in this series will know, I'm a co-SENCO at a large state secondary school. My job share partner and I embarked on...
Read more...
Kelly Hannaghan
22 January 2020
★ UPDATED 21 December 2020

10 new year resolutions wellbeing leaders should actually keep

If you’re someone who always looks out for other people, it’s time to start prioritising your own wellbeing. Kelly Hannaghan shares her top 10 wellbeing goals. Wellbeing leaders need to be emotionally and physically healthy. The role is a non-stop process of inspiring, planning and Implementing,...
Read more...
Charlie Roden
14 January 2020

Wellbeing podcast: flexible working

In this Optimus wellbeing podcast, we look at why some schools see flexible working as a challenge, the potential benefits of allowing staff to work flexibly and advice on making it work in your school. An increasing number of people are working flexibly. Amongst many other reasons, flexible...
Read more...
John Dabell
17 December 2019

Why discretionary effort is bad for our wellbeing

If you’re someone who always goes the extra mile, you could be doing yourself more harm than good. John Dabell explains why we shouldn’t make it a habit. Teaching requires bags and bags of energy because it is non-stop give, give, give. The job demands being on top of your game and being battle-...
Read more...
Optimus Education
12 December 2019

Wellbeing Award for Schools: the impact so far

Over 1,000 schools are taking part in the Optimus Wellbeing Award for Schools, but what impact has this actually had on the wellbeing of pupils, staff and families? In 2016, Optimus commissioned research into a series of new awards, including the Wellbeing Award for Schools (WAS) . We found that...
Read more...
Privacy statement Terms & Conditions