New Year’s Resolutions

We are back to the usual routines this week.  I just want to say thank you for managing the past couple of weeks, since our return from the break. I know that this time of year we run the risk of weather-related issues and impact. Each day over the past couple of weeks has felt very different to the previous day. The potential for snow last week had an impact upon planning and the attendance of some of our charges. We got through it reasonably unscathed.

How are those New Year resolutions going? I am guessing that we are getting to the tricky period. The post-holiday enthusiasm for change may well have waned as the perceived long haul kicks in. However, we are in the critical period. This is the period where habits are broken and new habits are established – making for a period that might be more difficult but, the harder it becomes the closer we all are to affecting and establishing a change.

I thought it might be useful to share some well-worn tips for sticking to those resolutions.

·         Know your reasons: articulate clearly why you have set your resolution and what you intend to do to make that change.

·         Be specific: don’t be vague. Resolve to do something tangible eg not do more exercise, how about walk for 45 minutes 4 times a week.

·         Use habit forming tricks: linked to the above, write it into your routines eg eating porridge for breakfast every morning – that’s just what you do.

·         Ask for help: get friends and family to support you eg someone walking with you, becomes social and rarely a chore.

·         Track your progress: keep a chart, weigh yourself at a specified time, use your step counter, watch or other device and check and share that progress.

·         Seek inspiration: when it gets tough, find something or someone that might bring an uplift. That could be someone you know, that could be one of those tear-jerking stories that are all over social media and news outlets.

·         Forgive slips up: be kind to you. Be brave and allow yourself to make a mistake and get it wrong, it’s not the end of the world and shouldn’t be the end of the resolution.

Good luck, if you are set on making a change. You have my admiration and my best wishes. Every change for the better is something that will have a positive impact on your life and on those around you.

When I read those seven tips above, I can’t help thinking that it’s a decent approach that our children and young people could be encouraged to follow when they are facing the challenges we set in schools and college, day in, day out. Let’s be absolutely clear: education should be hard, lessons should be challenging, mistakes should be made. It should be difficult to meet the standards we set; be those expectations academic or the social and pastoral. There should be a high bar, and for some that bar won’t be achievable. But that doesn’t mean we should encourage and expect our children and young people to strive to achieve.

In these post-COVID days we find that many of those we teach or support have low self-esteem, or a lack of personal resilience. Education should be like an ongoing new year’s resolution; a want to do better, be better, go further, try harder, make more mistakes and being brave.

Whether it’s your personal resolutions, or the children and young people, it is that time in the year when habits are changed, when habits are reset and reformed. Good luck in those endeavours, do well.