As we enter into another round of COVID Testing and new government prevention measures I have been struck by the impact of uncertainty on my own wellbeing. The COVID landscape is constantly changing and the school response must adapt accordingly. The last-minute updates in protocol and policy inevitably take their toll as we aim to best serve the needs of the community whilst meeting the expectations placed upon us.
I have learned not to take these sometimes strange requests to heart and often enjoy a laugh about them with my colleagues. My sleep quality and energy levels however have told a different story. On some level, I had been responding or at worst reacting. My sleep had often been disturbed and my energy levels have been far lower than normal.
In a period of reflection I had realised that the routines that I held dear, that had fueled my performance, had been slipping. Journaling, reading, exercise and music were all taking a back seat whilst I had been focused on work. Needless to say, I felt that work was less enjoyable as a result.
In a conscious move to regain control over my own well-being. I began to prioritise my diet and sleep. I also started to re-build my routine and have thrown myself back into guitar drills and writing. The early nights and steamed salmon are paying off as my concentration at work improved.
I began to direct my attention to the secondary school well-being plan as this has been a focus for this academic year. In particular, “how will we ensure optimal well-being for our students?” and “how will we know our efforts are working?”
We have already introduced the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum into our Advisory program and our next steps are to refine the delivery and assess the impact on our student’s well-being and character. In my research, I discovered the Flourishing at School platform. This SEL assessment software builds on the work of Martin Seligman and Geelong Grammar School and consists of the VIA Character Strengths Survey, a Student Flourishing Survey and a Daily Well-being Check-in. It perfectly meets our needs and allows us to monitor the development of individual students with regard to their character strengths and overall well-being. We are excited to enter the next stage of our well-being initiative and continue to improve our well-being curriculum.
This work has forced us to re-explore our graduate profile and our overall goals as a school. Our work with the Mastery Transcript Consortium also drives our efforts to build the competencies needed for employment in 2030 and informs much of our thinking. Whilst still very much in the planning stages, I know we are headed in the right direction and doing what is best for learning, and for our students. I will aim to keep writing updates relating to our well-being journey and sharing the resources that we have most beneficial along the way.
If you are engaged in a similar process, please take a look at the resources below. Enjoy.
Journeying
NSW Well-being Framework for Schools
Characterlab- playbook for character strengths
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