Middle Years 

What is your lockdown approach? 

I must admit that I wasn’t really expecting this latest lockdown, well, not as soon after the last one. I have had many amusing emails and conversations with parents sharing their stories of how to keep teenagers going at home.  We need a sense of humour, and I must say it has been an amazing 18 months in all sorts of ways. Resilient people find a path forward, they dig deep and use humour along the way. In my conversation with students and parents, one of the common themes is accumulative fatigue. One parent commented “I am over this”. 

“Just get on with it, in a calm and positive manner”

A couple of lockdowns ago, I decided to take a mindful approach and just get on with it, and things have been easier. I realised that the best way for me to approach a lockdown is ‘business as usual’; same routines, expectations, focusing on high quality instruction that hopefully engages students. If students adopt this approach, they may find it easier in future lockdowns. I discussed with my Mentor Group the importance of mindset, and how we chose to respond to any situation.

Finally, taking a mindful approach; stepping back and being nonjudgmental has helped me during this pandemic. Mindfulness has made this pandemic easier, and I will continue to practise mindful as it is powerful, and yet relatively easy to master. 

If you are interested in Mindfulness, I recommend looking at some of the work by Jon Kabat Zinn https://youtu.be/xoLQ3qkh0w0?list=PLjrc3BvXiH5Eh8gJo3gFLMxzXzIBiAVVK

“The coronavirus is testing, and building our resilience”

Last year there was an interesting article on Resilience by Hayley Gleeson.

Resilience:

Everyone has the capacity to deal with disruption and change. Most people get back on track.

Resilient kids tend to meet the world on their terms, are autonomous, independent, cheerful, sociable and have advanced self-help skills.

Difficult times are important for building and knowing our capacity for resilience.

Reframe stress as challenge and opportunity to grow. Lean into the difficulties.

In summary:

Focus on the positives (mindset).

Practice skills (mastery).

Look for the silver lining (hope).

Pursue goals.

Reflect on the things that matter.

Remember, there are always some wins.

We are building resilient students, and this is an ongoing process. They are learning how to deal with challenges that are outside their control. My advice to students now that we are face to face is - after remote learning, you need to get back into school life and work hard. Commit to your learning. Get organised. And be proactive.

Mrs Julia Winter Cooke

Head of Middle Years