Hi all,
I’ve been an avid lurker on Mumsnet for several years, particularly when my now teen daughter was younger, but I’ve never posted before and was hoping for some feedback from other lovely mums, particularly other teachers and headteachers.
I am a secondary school teacher with over twenty year’s teaching experience and have specialised in working with young people that are neurodiverse with associated mental health diagnoses in recent years, supporting their well-being and facilitating them engaging with their education.
I’ve recently finished some accredited qualification courses that certify me as a resilience, PP, CYP mindfulness, growth mindset practitioner and I’ve started creating my own website/plans etc to teach children and young people (KS1/2/3) about how their brain works, why anxiety/low mood effects the body, how recognising strengths & setting goals in a specific way raises self-esteem and confidence, how to become more resilient when you make a mistake and more confident socially in a really fun and age appropriate way using games, activities, story-telling etc.
I’ve considered several ways of delivering my sessions from local classes that parents sign up for to primary PPA cover etc and was hoping that you guys could give me some feedback on what would work for you as parents and educators, whether it would be something of interest to you etc.
Whilst I am a secondary teacher, I have volunteered and work with primary aged children with undiagnosed SEN through a local charity and was also responsible for Year 6-7 transitions so have a good knowledge of primary curriculums and working with younger children in an effective way.
I’m really passionate about supporting children’s understanding of how they can influence their minds in a really positive way and build the resilience needed to persevere with challenging things, thus building their confidence and self-esteem.
My sessions would only include evidence-based activities and are aimed at helping children thrive mentally.
I know of other well-being programmes in primary schools delivered by bought-in curriculums and some of them use effective principles but miss out, in my experience and opinion, several other approaches that, when combined, would support the vast majority of learners.
Any thoughts, suggestions, connections would be much appreciated as it’s a little scary at the moment as I intend to leave my current role in October and hope to do this full time!
Thank you!