January 2023

Happy New Year.

I hope that you have had a fabulous holiday and the chance to take time to re-energise in a way that works best for you.

I personally have enjoyed taking the opportunity to disconnect from work and to focus solely on myself and my loved ones for a few weeks.

This week I am beginning to feel the urge to get organised and ready for the new year which must be a sign that I’ve had a good break and am now ready to focus on the coming year.

Things to think about as we begin the new year.

• How can I continue to get the time for myself to be the best version of myself?

• What do I think is important for my class this year?

• How will I make sure I make the time to implement each of these things?

As the year begins we will quickly find time filling in as we have more and more to do in the day. Swimming, Athletics, pre tests, establishing routines……the list goes on.

Although we are busy, this is actually the perfect time to set in stone routines which put well being and flourishing at the forefront of our classroom practice.

By establishing set times in the day now and trying to be somewhat ruthless in making them a priority, we model to our tamariki the true importance of this practice.

Of course we also need to do this for ourselves, so by going home early when we have something we wish to do for ourselves, saying no to extra commitments that do not serve our own agenda and focussing on doing the fundamentals well, we can begin the year with a strong focus on getting through the year with purpose and in a way that serves us best.

I urge you to be kind to yourself as this new year begins. To think about the questions above and perhaps write down your answers somewhere so that you can reflect regularly and see if you continue to align yourself with these goals.

If you are looking to incorporate wellbeing into your class in a way that is effective, fun and doesn’t take to much time I urge you to check out The Classroom Connections Project for an array of lesson plans and PM masters you can use to simply and easily help the tamariki in your class to flourish.

Nga mihi,