Lynn How
Lynn is the Editor at Teacher Toolkit. With 20 years of primary teaching and SLT experience, she has been an Assistant Head, Lead Mentor for ITT and SENCO. She loves to write and also has her own SEMH and staff mental health blog: www.positiveyoungmind.com. Lynn…
Read more about Lynn How
Stuck on the same wellbeing ideas? Try these!
Let’s share the love for our teacher colleagues this term with a sprinkle of fun!
Let’s face it, we’re knackered already; you’ve spotted another grey hair, the caffeine intake has gone up, and even Little Miss Perky looks like she’s flagging slightly (but trying to hide it!).
Here are 3 fun wellbeing ideas to plan into your agendas.
1. Surprise treasure hunt
Add to the staff meeting agenda that you have a staff meeting outlining new amendments to the Ofsted framework as several subsections have received some vital wording changes (I made that up don’t panic).
When your staff are all sitting in the hall, morbidly waiting for death by PowerPoint, at slide three, announce that you will have a treasure hunt (or scavenger hunt) around the school instead! Set cryptic clues in stock cupboards and send them gallivanting around the school with a spring in their step. One clue could even suggest they must charm the office manager into giving them a glue stick containing the next clue!
At the end, if your budget doesn’t stretch to actual gold, something edible will suffice.
2. Wellbeing afternoon
The nicest thing that I heard happen in other peoples’ schools (never mine!), was where senior leaders covered someone’s class for an afternoon so they could do exactly what they wanted.
Whether that be skydiving or just going home for a nap. The added bonus here is that if you are the senior leader covering (and are not someone who does it regularly), staff will be doubly appreciative. It will also show that you can empathise with the struggles of day-to-day teaching. Here, you are keeping your hand in with what teaching actually entails.
There’s nothing more amusing than watching a headteacher without early years experience attempting to herd 30 reception children into some sort of order.
3. The secret kindness partner
I’ve never been comfortable with staff ‘shout-out’ boards or public displays of ‘well done’. I’ve found it to have the opposite effect for some people. I’m an introvert. If I do something kind, it’s because I want to. I don’t need a public round of applause – it’s embarrassing.
The secret kindness partner (SKP for short), is stealthier. SKPs sneak in unobserved places, leaving kindness in their tracks!
SKPs get randomly assigned another staff member for a half term; find out more about them and tailor weekly kindness gestures to suit them. You might leave a piece of fruit for ‘Dan because you know he’s trying to be healthy’ or ‘leave Megan a new book’ to share with her class. The possibilities are endless.
With this idea, you get to know colleagues better, build a culture of kindness and have fun in the process! You could have a big reveal of kindness partners at the end of the half term or just leave it a secret, and then swap partners!
I’d love to hear some of your fun wellbeing ideas! Drop them in the comments if you have a good one to share.
