Ah, the May Day bank holiday. A three-day weekend, perfect for quality family and friends time, catching up on sleep and BBQs in the rain.

It may have been only been a couple of weeks since the Easter holidays, but according to Tes analysis, it wasn’t much of a break for teachers. Thankfully, the month of May has handed you the perfect second opportunity to step away from school and take some time for yourself.

How do you resist the call of all things school related? Here’s a few ideas.  

1. Stay clear of supermarkets

Every teacher knows the supermarket across the road from school is a hot-bed of parent/pupil/colleague activity. To avoid any of the dreaded and often awkward encounters (no-one needs to see the ratio of alcohol to BBQ food in your trolley), order online, or simply send another member of your household to go for you.

2. ‘Forget’ your marking and planning

The easiest way to leave work at work? Literally, leave work at work. Shut down your school laptop, and leave it in a locked drawer in your desk. No matter how much it begs, do not let it into the car with you. (This also applies to exercise books, lesson plans and green and pink highlighters - make your home a strictly work-free zone.)

3. Put down the phone

There’s one item with a powerful ability to interrupt your three-days of school-free bliss: your phone. Remember the time you smugly set up your work email on your mobile device, to be kept in the loop at all times? Big mistake. You may be determined to actually enjoy your time off, but Maggie the teacher who is taking over your class next year? She believes it’s the perfect opportunity to look over the pupils’ current progress. No Maggie, it is not. The lesson? Remove your work inbox from your phone.

4. Introduce a ‘fine’ jar

You may have removed all physical temptations from your home, but your mind has an annoying habit of returning to the classroom. At this stage of the withdrawal, things need to get more serious: introduce a ‘fine’ jar. Every time you mention anything school-related, £1 goes in the jar. The jar can then be spent on anything your family wishes.  Downside? No more new pound coins for you. Upside? You raised them right, they’ll spend the money on something fun. 

5. Jump on a plane

If all of the above fails? Maybe it’s time to leave the county (or even country) altogether…

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