May Glimmers: Celebrating Tiny Moments and Big Steps
May has whizzed by in a blur, a powerful reminder to really focus on those tiny moments of joy – 'glimmers' – because sometimes, if we blink, we can miss them.
It's been absolutely amazing hearing the feedback from teachers and from Laura about our 'In the Wild' sessions with the Reception children at St Nicholas Primary in Kenilworth. I look forward to her updates each week. I've been a little sad not to be able to attend these sessions myself, as we're just super busy at the moment, but I often catch myself looking out the window, thinking what an amazing time those kids must be having connecting with nature.
One piece of teacher feedback that truly stood out was from Mrs. O'Hare, "this is amazing how calm they are. In lessons, some of them won't sit and do mark making, they just don't sit and do it”. Laura told me how she had everybody, the entire class, even the ones who have a few issues focussing, they were all sitting quietly just painting with the mud and water on the grass and they absolutely loved it. Exactly the impact we typically see - the power of nature!
Hear from Mrs O‘Hare herself…
Smartphone FREE Childhood: Events in Warwick & Kenilworth
It was once again so great to meet such a powerhouse of people dedicated to helping kids and families access a smartphone FREE childhood, the evidence is overwhelming on the negative effects on kids, but we do have the power to make change in this area. There is lots of support here for schools and parents too.
This is one of my favourite pledges that we collected from the sessions…
Headteacher Roberta Harrison from Harris Church of England Academy in Rugby, gave a truly inspiring speech and talked about the steps they are taking to remove smartphones completely from the school day, she is a true powerhouse committed to making this really important change and quickly within her school.
It was also great to meet Dr Susie Davies author of the HEALTHY SELFIE, a fellow speaker who has been ahead of the curve on this vital issue and her message to parents was clear: get talking, start the conversation with kids on the subject and above all else DELAY. We're so passionate about this initiative, and it was brilliant to extend those discussions into our home town in Kenilworth.
Supporting Our Incredible Coaches and Families
Our April Coaching Clinic was truly fabulous. It's always a highlight to help our dedicated network of confidence coaches to take their offering to the next level. This month, we focused on helping coaches to further visualise and plan for what they want next from their coaching journey. It was powerful to hear all their individual journeys and the incredible impact they're having.
We've also had a flurry of people coming to us for 1-2-1 coaching, and it's been wonderful connecting our coaches with these families. It just reinforces that even small changes can have a massive impact; our three-week programme can truly take kids from chaos to calm with incredibly positive results.
Canal & River Trust Partnership: A New Chapter
May marked the official start of our next phase of working with the Canal & River Trust (CRT) charity, and it's truly wonderful to see it unfolding already. The CRT team are amazing, and being able to spread what we're doing across England is genuinely exciting, especially as we'll be working in Sport England targeted areas of support. This means we know we're reaching and supporting the families who need us most.
We finished off May with a working/family trip to the canal to test out our new walking route and well-being/movement activities. It was a wonderful way to experience firsthand the magic we'll be bringing to more families.
Register here to find out more about when our Wellbeing Routes and Community Days are going live. You can also register your interest for our FREE 'In the Wild' sessions for schools (all funded by Sport England), helping more kids get moving and connecting to nature.
Living Our Values: Navigating SATs
It's always great to see how we apply our own tools in our personal lives – I know I use mine on a daily basis! My own daughter navigated her SATs this month, with some extra support. She has worked so hard to be able to do her best on the day. As a parent, this process has been a powerful reminder of the need to advocate for your own kids. My daughter is deaf in one ear, and exams triggered huge sensory overload for her. We've worked a lot to help her confidence again with maths, and the school is now giving her more support with a quiet space and extra time, which has been a game-changer. We're looking at ways we can now work with more kids to help them also regain a love of maths. Watching my daughter this month truly embrace and enjoy maths in everyday life has been amazing.
Speaking of which, if you're supporting young people through this time, you might find some useful tips in our recent post on Preparing Kids (and Us) for Exam Results.
The Power of Play
We also started important work on our “Play”ground Project this month – watch this space for more updates on how we're bringing more movement and joy into school break times for secondary schools… you are never too young to play, and play is amazing to help older kids have good mental health.
Half-Term Realities
And then, there was half-term! I definitely needed all my own coaching tools this past week, as I was feeling a bit "pants," but the truly wild, windy, and rainy Welsh weather did help with my recuperation.
The kids were absolutely brilliant with their grandparents and Hudson the dog, making the most of the beach, even amidst the sandstorms (which, of course, they loved). It just goes to show, even when things aren't perfect, there are always glimmers of joy to be found, especially with the right mindset (and some amazing family support).
What glimmers* did you have in May?
*tiny moment of joy
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