Supervision in schools now
June 4, 2020 . 2:50 pm
Supervision in schools is topical now. Schools are dealing with incredible pressures and staff need support. Supervision is designed to focus on the needs of children, staff and schools and find creative ways to meet those needs. There is growing expectation that safeguarding staff are offered supervision. As schools recover from lockdown and more children return to schools the unique experiences they have encountered will require a more differentiated and attuned response than would usually be the case in
Supervision now: emotional support and self-care for school staff during ordinary and extraordinary times
May 27, 2020 . 12:20 pm
This blog is co-written with Jo Rowe. We are keen to promote supervision in schools and why we think it is such an important time now for schools to have supervision available for them. What have we observed happening in education during a pandemic? It is our belief that schools have risen to the challenge of working with and supporting the children and young people in their care, as well as their families. Jo has been working with schools that
Finding your way – Coping in the time of COVID-19
April 15, 2020 . 12:46 pm
This is a short blog post with 3 main points designed to help you cope at what keeps being described as the strangest times of our lifetimes. Everyone has a slightly different challenge at present, so this is deliberately generalised. I am posting it on my website but will also be coming back to the issues on Twitter @practicematters and Facebook @pennyselfcare and am happy to discuss any points further. There are 3 main points I wish to make. Prioritise
Healthy connecting – managing demanding workplaces
March 17, 2015 . 4:47 pm
When the workplace can make 24 hours a day demands on you how do you switch off and manage to hold onto reasonable expectations of yourself and your colleagues? Questions like this are beginning to filter into contemporary working life. Our flexible ways of working are actually making us feel more trapped than the rigidity of a 9-5 work day. Now we can work whenever we feel like it, many of us are finding it harder to carve out reasonable
The right way?
February 23, 2015 . 9:23 am
Enraged by the radio after just a few minutes I switched off and listened to my thoughts. What had enraged me? Yet another politician talking about “the right way”, the “right thing to do”. Refusing to discuss the issues being raised and bull headedly keeping to their script. Is this the way to engage a disillusioned electorate? It reminds me of past leadership failures when a totalitarian viewpoint was promoted and those that differed were “wrong”. After so much focus
What I am known for!
February 2, 2015 . 7:30 am
“You’re the trainer who insists we take a lunch break”. I was delighted to be greeted by this in the introduction to one of my recent courses. Yes I hope I am known as the trainer who insists on self care. My passion is quality of services available to those who need them and equally passionately I believe that having a workforce that values and cares about itself is an essential ingredient for good quality services and compassionate care. When I qualified
Space
January 26, 2015 . 12:00 pm
Recently I’ve been reflecting on space. How do we conceptualise space? Boundaries around space and spaces have been gradually eroded; the office is shared and usually there will not be enough desks for every worker. This is a deliberate policy.The idea that we use space to symbolise our identity and make our desks our safe working base has been removed from many workplaces. Space in which professionals see people has become a premium; patients are left on trolleys in corridors
