Claire’s Blog

Some inspiration from Claire

Ever get that Sunday night feeling? It’s not that you don’t like your work, as such, it’s just that the thought of the new week and all of the items on your to-do list seem a little overwhelming perhaps?

Every Sunday night, The Hive of Wellbeing offers words of encouragement, hope, aspiration and a funny story or two to support Educators in smoothly breaking themselves into a new school week. The ‘Sunday Night Blues Spot’ is based around a favourite song whose title or theme reflects a thought for the week ahead. From Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you gonna go my way?”, a story of supporting positive relationships in schools; to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”, the tale of managing workload and aspirations; there is a song and an inspirational reflection for everyone!

Thank you!

Thank you to all Early Years practitioners, Support Staff, Teachers, Senior Leaders, Schools and Organisations…

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The Hive of Wellbeing

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The Hive of Wellbeing is for teachers and school leaders who want to transform their own lives in order to transform the lives of their young people.

2 years ago

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Such an authentic, compassionate person! Delighted to read this on the feed today! All the very best to you, Sharon. You have so much to offer others. 🙏😊❤️ ... See MoreSee Less
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2 years ago

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Sunday Night Blues Spot: Happy New Year, Everyone! It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day; are you all feeling good? I hope so and I hope you’ve all had a properly reinvigorating holiday this summer after these last two and a half incredibly challenging years.This truly is a new era and this start to a new term might herald a whole new way of seeing your work and your life. I hope that feeling good in all the work you do is becoming central to your focus. How you cultivate “feeling good” despite the external circumstances will continue to serve you well as you proceed through this term and coming months. Setting boundaries; practising activities that nourish you in and outside of work; connecting with people who continually lift you up: all of these items remain true for the start of this term, as with every term. But what else? What else have you learned about yourself and how you keep yourself in a “feeling good” place despite the difficulties you face? And how are you sharing your wisdom with others? How have your experiences enabled others to do things differently and feel good too? Feeling good is not simply about a hedonistic, transitory emotion. It’s about the practices and habits that strengthen our determination to succeed. It’s about using our positive emotions of hope, joy and gratitude to galvanise our efforts in the face of adversity. It’s about your happiness being the way and not the destination. It’s how we do the work.I wish you every success and good wish as you start back this week. A new dawn, a new day, and here’s to feeling good!❤️youtu.be/oHs98TEYecM ... See MoreSee Less
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2 years ago

The Hive of Wellbeing
Sunday Night Blues Spot: Well, my word! What a week for me at The Hive! On Wednesday evening, I was able to share the incredible news that I have been awarded an M.B.E. for my services to the wellbeing of students, teachers and staff in Education. I am utterly thrilled as well as completely humbled by this recognition and this remarkable honour. It has been a very emotional weekend as I have been overwhelmed by the amount of kindness, warm wishes and love that everyone has conveyed to me via various social media platforms, texts and cards. Thank you to everyone single one of you for thinking of me and sending me such kind wishes.I started up The Hive of Wellbeing as a little seed of an idea almost six years ago, and its success is a credit to the support I have had from all of you and your colleagues throughout schools in Scotland. Thank you all so very much for all of your support. My original idea was to create a network where colleagues could come together, share with one another the challenges that they faced in their work and to consider possible coaching approaches and wellbeing ideas that might support and improve their experiences at work. One of the mottos that I really like and promote is from Marianne Williamson : “You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be.” Therefore my sessions, whether they be 1:1, group or whole staff, aim always to challenge our thinking, shift our perspective and then consider how we might experience our work and life differently. Over the years, the most common feedback theme from my sessions has been: “I thought I was the only one who felt this way but I know now that I am not alone.” It is incredibly powerful to come together and to share, and whilst it is not always easy to feel what we feel, nevermind share it, it is truly transformative to say it safely out loud to another. The phrase “name it to tame it” reflects the power we have when we externalise something that we may have been holding onto and which may have felt overwhelming. Naming it allows us to grapple with it and reduce its intensity for us, whether it is a relationship with a pupil or a colleague, or whether it is a feeling of self-doubt or imposter syndrome. Naming it allows us to look at it and discuss with others: “Is this true?” and “What is an alternative perspective?”This weekend, I have been really struck by the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations and the coming together of many people up and down the country. People reaching out, connecting with others, telling stories of their experiences. I have seen the joy and laughter shared by many over this holiday weekend. It is a reminder to me that networks, sharing, connectedness are essential for our wellbeing. Whether it is connecting with one another to share bad news or good news, I have seen that coming together over this last five or so years makes a positive difference to how we feel. And how we feel goes a long way to build our resilience and deal with what lies ahead of us. So tonight, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!! Your support, your kindness and your connections with me and one another mean everything to me. Let’s keep reaching out and connecting, and I will keep you posted on when The Hive may be coming to a virtual or in-person session near you! 🙏😊❤️youtu.be/ZLPiYZrwAzU ... See MoreSee Less
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2 years ago

The Hive of Wellbeing
Sunday Night Blues Spot: Happy Mother’s Day to you all! In whatever way we have been able to celebrate today, remembering and cherishing the special women who have nurtured us throughout our lives is really important, in my opinion.We all have superwomen in our lives, whether they be our mothers, our grandmothers, our aunties, sisters, cousins or friends, we all have something to learn from these women and we all have something from their legacies to share with others. Education is a sector which is mostly populated by women, especially in early years and primary sectors. Women are often referred to as having qualities of caring, nurturing, understanding… Whilst some of this may be true, men are capable of each of these qualities too. Additionally, women in Education posts are equally capable of being ambitious, strong, powerful, which are perhaps associated more with stereotypical male qualities. I suppose, my point is that I want to learn how to be in my life from the legacies of ALL the superwomen in my life and ALL facets of each of their incredible personalities! Yes, I do want to learn from the men too, but it IS Mother’s Day, so I’ll chat about that in June, yeah?…😊So the superwomen in my life…. I learned to be strong in spirit and in humour from my grandmother. I learned that a spiritual life was important to cultivate from my other grandmother. I learned to be nurturing, loving and to stand up for myself from my own mum, who taught me that strength and gentleness can coexist and be effective. From my sister, I learned that being different is a strength and you will always be accepted by the ones who love you the most. From aunties and cousins, I learned the strength and fun of being part of a wider family. Plenty of laughs. From female colleagues in schools, I learned that being ambitious and aspirational for yourself and others could be celebrated and championed. I learned from all of my female friends the power in connection and the strength of love that holds true when facing adversity. To all of my superwomen, thank you for everything, for all you teach me and continue to show me! Thank you! Who are your superwomen? What’s their legacy that inspires you? ❤️Speaking of legacy, tonight is the final night of The Hive of Well-being as we’ve known it 🥲 I will continue to put resources and brand new videos on my website, but I am now stepping back from my in person coaching and CAT sessions, as I begin a new full-time post tomorrow. I will also continue with the Sunday Night Blues Spot posts until July. However, it is the end of chapter in my life and I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for your kindness, positive encouragement and support throughout my last 5 years at The Hive. Thanks to the legacy of all of the wonderful women and men in my life, I had the courage to try out an idea I had back in 2016. I am so grateful to you all for your support and I hope that in some way The Hive has supported you with your wellbeing during this time. I wish you all every success and please know that I am never too far away…. Same time next week, yes?! ❤️youtu.be/-AphKUK8twg ... See MoreSee Less
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2 years ago

The Hive of Wellbeing
Sunday Night Blues Spot: Another brief post from me tonight as I take a little more time to recover…… but how lovely to see the sunshine this weekend! I hope you have all had a chance to let the sunshine in this weekend. 🌞🌞And the forecast looks good for this week! What opportunities will you consciously plan for this week to let the sunshine into your working week? Lunchtimes? Lessons outside? Before or after work?Metaphorically, what brings you “sunshine” each day? What uplifts you and what can you plan for yourself this week in creating your own “sunshine” moments? Sometimes we create our own weather! Wishing you all a sun-blest week! ❤️🌞youtu.be/VWBSFeB7WIk ... See MoreSee Less
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