| Haven’t the last few days been beautiful! I suspect we all have mixed feelings as we move into Lockdown 2.0, especially with older pupils wearing masks in corridors in school, but the blue skies over the last few days have certainly helped soften the impact of the new restrictions. |
| The school feels removed, to a great extent, from much of the angst outside its walls and is somewhat of a sanctuary of energy, care and bubbliness, where the children lead the way and just get on with their lives, revelling in the learning, playing with their friends, and throwing themselves into the opportunities that come along each day. I certainly want the pupils to be outward looking and not wrapped in cotton wool, but at times like these I am also glad that they can simply be children for the most part. It can be easy to appear glib about ‘staying positive’, especially at a time when many of us start work in the dark and go home in the dark, but there is little doubt that adopting an affirmative mind-set and maintaining hope for the future will help to keep us all happy and motivated this winter. As we reinforce with the children throughout their school day, whatever our situation, a positive attitude will help us to continue to develop our skills and capabilities, and achieve our goals. I am sure we will all have moments when we are feeling downhearted or frustrated this winter – especially during a lockdown – and at such times identifying and being grateful for the good things in our lives can pay dividends. We always encourage the children to think about what they are doing well, and engage in positive self-talk. Why would this not apply to adults too? Putting things into perspective in this way may well help us all to keep a positive attitude, develop resilience, and focus on how we can do better and reach even higher achievements. This is not the same as seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses. The Stokdale Paradox teaches us the importance of being optimistic, but in a realistic way. Hence, perhaps the best way to manage ourselves during this winter lockdown is to acknowledge the challenges we face, while staying positive, and keeping faith that eventually we will overcome them. I firmly believe that we believe that learning never stops, and that any hardship, challenge or crisis can be an opportunity to develop our mind-set and build on our skills. Every day really is a school day! |
The power of staying positive
Dr Trevor Richards 