Wellness and Self-Care for Teachers

Course Overview

Self-care is not a reward for hard work, it is part of the process. It’s the careful repetition of simple habits, which work together to soothe you and make sure you’re at your optimum - emotionally, physically, and mentally. This course invites teachers and school leaders to recharge their batteries by focusing on fostering wellness through self-care. You will be invited to try out and adopt a range of self-care tools. The goal is to figure out which strategies work best for you.

A range of practical wellbeing strategies are presented including: nutrition, hydration, sleep, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, time-management, creativity, outdoor therapy and goal setting. You will be enabled to come to a greater understanding of the concept of self-care, become more aware of your own self-care needs and take steps to enhance your sense of wellness. A wide variety of templates, tools and resources are presented in the course which participants can use to coordinate staff wellbeing initiatives when they return to school. The services provided by Wellbeing Together as part of the Employee Assistance Service are explored in depth.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the process of Wellbeing Promotion using the SSE process outlined in the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice
• Explore wellbeing from the teacher’s perspective and develop a toolkit for self-care.
• Examine, explore and discuss the ways in which teachers can focus on self-care practices that will enhance and maintain a positive sense of wellbeing.
• Use a range of tools to enable teachers to develop self-awareness and knowledge, build life skills and develop a strong sense of connectedness to their school and their community.
• Explore the ways in which teachers can be as physically and emotionally well and healthy as they can be, by building their motivation and commitment to physical activity and informed lifestyle choices.
• Explore resources that can be used to support their wellbeing including the Employee Assistance Service – Wellbeing Together.