Congratulations on getting through your first half term. Whether you crawled or skipped to that finish line, you are now truly out in the “wild”, being a real teacher. 

School breaks offer a chance to relax and reflect, so here are some tips for making the most of your half term holiday:

Celebrate the successes

You will have no doubt faced real challenges in your first half term and it can be easy to dwell on areas of your practice you need to improve. While this is an important part of the reflective process, you also need to celebrate every small success you’ve had.

Make a mental list of five things you’ve achieved this half term that you’re proud of ─ and then make this a daily habit when you go back to school. Take 30 seconds at the end of the day to give yourself a pat on the back for something that has gone well.

Resist the urge to over-plan

There will have been times over the past few weeks where you have scraped something together last minute or burnt the candle at both ends. So this break can feel like a chance to “get ahead” for the coming weeks.

But trying to do this will probably be futile. You’re tired, so won’t be at your best and in planning ahead you take it for granted that progress always happens. This simply isn’t the case.

You also need to take the “C” word into account… Christmas is fast approaching and, particularly at primary level, your weeks will soon begin to include extras that you haven’t even thought about. 

Don’t compare

Now you have time to breathe, you’ll find yourself catching up with other real human adults again. This might mean checking in with the peers you trained with, and you can guarantee that someone will have had the smooth, inspiring half term you have coveted, when instead yours has been like walking through a field of treacle in flip flops. Don’t compare your experiences too much; it has no effect other than making you feel bad.

Avoid big changes

Whether your behaviour system fell flat on its face or your displays crumbled like a rich tea in your coffee, avoid planning or attempting to make big changes to your practice or environment as soon as you return. Your learners have only had a few weeks to settle in, as have you, and rocking the boat now is not a good idea. Refresh and reinvigorate your approaches, but avoid massive u-turns that will confuse your classroom.

Take a break!

Teaching should not be about surviving to the next break, frantically catching up and then starting again; this is a sure-fire route to burning out. Take time away from the job, enjoy your family and friends and spend some much needed “me” time away from the classroom. You are the most important resource in your classroom and you need (and deserve) to recharge your batteries.

Sarah Wright is a senior lecturer at Edge Hill University. She tweets as @Sarah__wright1

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