For Flourishing's Sake

Welcome to Episode 54.  This is the last of the extended podcast episodes where you have had the opportunity to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the second half of the fourth and final panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 21st August, the day the paperback edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published.  You can also watch all the video replays on the Book Launch Extravaganza page at forflourishingssake.com. The final panel was chaired by Andrew Cowley, author of The Wellbeing Toolkit and of the beautiful Foreword to my book. The panellists, alongside me, were: Paul Bateson, Teacher, Writer and PGCE Tutor at Huddersfield University (UK) Julie Goldstein, Principal at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (USA) Dan Morrow, CEO of the Woodland Academy Trust (UK) In this final book launch panel discussion, just as schools in the UK and the US were about to re-open for a new academic year in the midst of a pandemic, we pondered how important positive education is - more than ever. In this second half of the discussion, we discussed where the priorities should lie, between dealing with mental health and wellbeing in the context of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, or ensuring children “catch up” academically if they have fallen behind.  We also had a fascinating conversation about whether kindness can be taught, and if so, how, and ended the discussion by sharing each of our dreams for the future of education. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here.   Before I play back the panel discussion recording, I also need to let you know a bit of news.  Season one of this podcast has been a long season: 54 episodes without break and almost half of those episodes recorded and scheduled in the middle of a pandemic.  Therefore, the For Flourishing’s Sake podcast will now take a little break and it may come back in a different format, or with reduced frequency.  I do intend for it to come back, in whatever form, so do watch this space and as long as you’ve subscribed on your usual podcasting app, you’ll never miss an episode when it does come back! Now, here is today’s episode… ------------------------- Thank you for listening to the For Flourishing’s Sake podcast. If you have found this episode useful / interesting, please give it a five star rating on iTunes.  The podcast will be taking a little break now, but we will be back, so if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe on your usual podcasting site so you never miss an episode. The “For Flourishing’s Sake” book is available from all major online book retailers in most countries.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. Have you got your copy yet? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future podcast episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, be safe, be well, and have a great week! Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 53.  This is the penultimate of the extended podcast episodes where you have had the opportunity to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the first half of the fourth and final panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 21st August, the day the paperback edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published.  You can also watch all the video replays on the Book Launch Extravaganza page at forflourishingssake.com. The final panel was chaired by Andrew Cowley, author of The Wellbeing Toolkit and of the beautiful Foreword to my book. The panellists, alongside me, were: Paul Bateson, Teacher, Writer and PGCE Tutor at Huddersfield University (UK) Julie Goldstein, Principal at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (USA) Dan Morrow, CEO of the Woodland Academy Trust (UK) In this final book launch panel discussion, just as schools in the UK and the US were about to re-open for a new academic year in the midst of a pandemic, we pondered how important positive education is - more than ever. In this first half of the discussion, we shared our definitions of positive education, discussed whether educating for character and wellbeing are the same thing, and whether they come at the expense of academic progress.  Finally, we shared our thoughts on and examples of whether Positive Education works anywhere, in any setting, with any age group. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here.   ------------------------- Thank you for listening to the For Flourishing’s Sake podcast. If you have found this episode useful / interesting, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on all the major podcasting sites The book is available at all major online book retailers in most countries.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. Have you got your copy yet? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future podcast episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week! Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5  

Season 1, Episode 52 (24th August 2020) A whole school approach to education for good citizenship - Book Launch Panel 3 Part 2 Welcome to Episode 52. This is the sixth of the extended podcast episodes over the next few weeks, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the second half of the third panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published.  The paperback was published on Friday 21st August and the fourth panel was aired that day live.  You will be able to listen back to it over the next two weeks, but if you can’t wait, head over to the Book Launch Extravaganza page to watch the replay! So, back to today’s replay of part two of panel 3.  I chaired the panel myself and the panellists were: Ian Flintoff, Positive Psychology-based Education Coach/Consultant/Trainer at Affirm Consulting (UK) Serdar Ferit, Co-CEO & Creative Director at Lyfta (Finland & UK) Katrina Mankani, Director of Positive Education, Sunmarke School and Regent International School (Dubai, UAE) Julie Goldstein, Principal at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (USA) In this second half of the panel discussion, the panellists shared their thoughts and experiences, with examples, of elements required for a whole school approach to positive education.  They particularly focused on the important role that staff training and leadership have to play. And finally, they shared how it feels when you get it right - when it goes well - and their hopes and dreams for the future of education. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here.   ------------------------- Thank you for listening to the For Flourishing’s Sake podcast. If you have found this episode useful / interesting, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on all the major podcasting sites The book is available at all major online book retailers in most countries.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. Have you got your copy yet? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future podcast episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 51. This is the fifth of the extended podcast episodes over the next few weeks, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the first half of the third panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published.  The paperback will be published on Friday 21st August and the fourth panel will be going out live at 12.30pm UK time on the Happiness Speaker YouTube and Facebook pages and on my personal LinkedIn profile. Head over to the Book Launch Extravaganza page at forflourishingssake.com for full details of how to watch this event! So, back to today’s replay of part one of panel 3.  I chaired the panel myself and the panellists were: Ian Flintoff, Positive Psychology-based Education Coach/Consultant/Trainer at Affirm Consulting (UK) Serdar Ferit, Co-CEO & Creative Director at Lyfta (Finland & UK) Katrina Mankani, Director of Positive Education, Sunmarke School and Regent International School (Dubai, UAE) Julie Goldstein, Principal at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (USA) In this first half of the panel discussion, the panellists discussed their interpretation of positive education, character education and the role of wellbeing in education, particularly in relation to educating for good citizenship and promoting inclusion, diversity and social justice. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here.   ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 50. This is the fourth of the extended podcast episodes over the next few weeks, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the second half of the second panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published. I chaired the panel myself and the panellists were: Flora Barton, Headteacher, Crowmarsh Gifford Church of England Primary School Kelly Hannaghan, Mental Health and Wellbeing Consultant Patrick Ottley-O’Connor, Education Consultant, Leadership Coach and Headteacher.  Executive Principal at North Liverpool Academy. Rebecca Tigue, Head of School, University of Birmingham School In this second half of the panel discussion, the panellists discussed what their interpretation of a whole school approach to character and positive education is, then moved onto an interesting discussion about how we “catch” character and wellbeing behaviours, before moving on to a fascinating conversation about how we bring people on board that don’t understand what we’re trying to do. We closed the panel with each panellist sharing their hopes and dreams for the future of education. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here. The final panel discussion will take place on 21st August - the day of the For Flourishing’s Sake paperback publication - at 12.30pm BST. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 49. This is the third of the extended podcast episodes over the next few weeks, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the first half of the second panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published. I chaired the panel myself and the panellists were: Flora Barton, Headteacher, Crowmarsh Gifford Church of England Primary School Kelly Hannaghan, Mental Health and Wellbeing Consultant Patrick Ottley-O’Connor, Education Consultant, Leadership Coach and Headteacher.  Executive Principal at North Liverpool Academy. Rebecca Tigue, Head of School, University of Birmingham School In this first half of the panel discussion, the panellists shared their definitions of positive education, character education or wellbeing in education, exploring also the different terminology used to describe many of our and their shared goals. They quickly moved on to some concrete examples of implementation in their schools, from specific staff wellbeing initiatives and their impacts, to whole school approaches and their effects on the entire school community, including parents. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here. The final panel discussion will take place on 21st August - the day of the For Flourishing’s Sake paperback publication - at 12.30pm BST. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 48. This is the second of the extended podcast episodes over the next few weeks, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the second half of the first panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published. The panel was chaired by Adele Bates, Education and Behaviour Specialist from the UK and featured the following panellists: Fabian de Fabiani, Assistant Headteacher at Townley Grammar School and Director of Character at the Odyssey Trust for Education.  Fabian is also a policy advisor for the UK Government’s schools inspection body in England, and a Keynote Speaker. Rebecca Comizio, School Psychologist at New Canaan Country School in Connecticut, USA. Rhiannon McGee, Head of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School in Australia and Elke Paul, Positive Education Consultant, Professional Development Expert and Wellbeing Conference Organiser with IPEN.  Elke is based in Germany. In this second half of the panel discussion, the panellists continue to explore the ‘how’ of Positive Education.  Listen over the next half hour or so as they discuss the importance of putting teacher wellbeing first, and of having a shared language for wellbeing in schools.  Topics such as the role of Appreciative Inquiry processes and teacher-led Action Research are also touched upon to support empowering staff and creating lasting change. The issue of cost is also discussed, and finally the panellists address the role of Positive Education in the context of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here. The final panel discussion will take place on 21st August - the day of the For Flourishing’s Sake paperback publication - at 12.30pm BST. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 47. Looking at the countries where most listeners to this podcast are from, I think most of you are now on a well-earned, much-needed summer holiday break.  With that in mind, over the coming weeks, I am bringing you some extended podcast episodes, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the For Flourishing’s Sake book launch events. Today, I bring you the first half of the first panel discussion of the book launch extravaganza.  This panel was recorded live on 18th June, the day the Kindle edition of For Flourishing’s Sake was published. The panel was chaired by Adele Bates, Education and Behaviour Specialist from the UK and featured the following panellists: Fabian de Fabiani, Assistant Headteacher at Townley Grammar School and Director of Character at the Odyssey Trust for Education.  Fabian is also a policy advisor for the UK Government’s schools inspection body in England, and a Keynote Speaker. Rebecca Comizio, School Psychologist at New Canaan Country School in Connecticut, USA. Rhiannon McGee, Head of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School in Australia and Elke Paul, Positive Education Consultant, Professional Development Expert and Wellbeing Conference Organiser with IPEN.  Elke is based in Germany. In the first half of this panel discussion, they begin to address the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of Positive Education.  They share their thoughts on what Positive and Character Education are, give tangible, practical examples of implementation in their schools and share tips on how to instigate culture change and embed these approaches to education. I have cut out my introduction to the panel discussion and gone straight to Adele as she introduces herself and the panel. You can watch back all the panel video recordings here. The final panel discussion will take place on 21st August - the day of the For Flourishing’s Sake paperback publication - at 12.30pm BST. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 46. As I write and record this week’s episode and think about the phrase “the greater good” in the title, I can’t help being momentarily distracted and chuckling to myself.  If you’ve seen the dark comedy film Hot Fuzz, you’ll know what I mean.  If not…I recommend it, and until you’ve watched it, just ignore me laughing to myself for a moment as I remember how the phrase “the greater good” (spoiler alert!) was used in the film! My inspiration for today’s topic, however, comes from reading two articles recently that talked quite negatively about the origins of Positive Psychology as a pretty selfish endeavour focused purely on individual wellbeing. In her article for The Conversation, researcher Emma Anderson describes two views of happiness - one focusing on strong societal bonds and interdependence leading to state welfare provisions, and another, which she has found in her research to be more common, being an individualistic view of “working on one’s happiness”.  Emma cites growing criticisms of Positive Psychology, which seems to negate social injustices, poverty, exploitation etc and essentially blame the victims because they’re not putting in the effort to be happy. I get this.  My very first essay for my Masters in Applied Positive Psychology was about the criticisms of this field and there is some validity in accusing Positive Psychology of elitism, though I would also argue that even from its inception, the proponents of Positive Psychology such as Martin Seligman talked about societal flourishing, so perhaps the issue has been more in interpretation than design.  That said, the second article related to this criticism that I’ve read in the last week was a research paper by Michael Hogan, published very recently, in May this year. In this paper, he cites the models of what’s known as “second wave Positive Psychology”, in which there is much more focus on collaboration towards collective wellbeing, and where negative emotions such as anger and sadness can drive societal transformation.  Emma Anderson’s article does, in fact, end with an expression of hope that, as we return to some kind of normality, we also retain our “renewed sense of community and activism” and that our “more outward-looking version of wellbeing continues and thrives”. I hope that, too, and I firmly believe that schools and our education system as a whole have a large role to play in this. When I developed my “LeAF - Learn and Flourish” (1) model of whole school positive education, I looked at many models around the world and the most comprehensive ones included elements of schools supporting their local communities and encouraging good citizenship in their students.  Character Education, which forms a significant element of Positive Education, also encourages the development of strengths and virtues that make us far more focused on the collective greater good than merely on ourselves.  Collaboration features highly in my model of whole school Positive Education as stakeholder engagement at every level is essential for such an approach to be truly comprehensive and effective. I know that, for my part, and all the people I have worked and studied with in the field of Positive Psychology, this field has never been about a selfish drive for hedonistic happiness, but rather a focus on eudaimonia, which has much broader societal connotations. As individuals, we have limited control and influence over national policy, though of course those of us lucky enough to have a democratic voice through voting in elections have some level of influence that way.  Additionally we have seen, particularly recently, the power of peaceful protest. But as educators, we have a huge opportunity to shape a better, more collaborative and altruistic world. We can start by creating schools where these values are strong. We can demonstrate these values in our interactions with our colleagues, our students, their parents and the wider community.  We can ensure our schools’ policies foster these values and that these are reflected in those schools’ cultures. In my book, For Flourishing’s Sake, I give plenty of examples of how teachers and school leaders have done this in a wide range of educational settings.  It can be done, and if we start in schools, we’re laying the foundations for the future.  So as you plan for the next academic year, or as you go to work in school today if your school is currently open, consider the small steps you can take as an individual to support a more collaborative and supportive culture within your school. It can start with something as simple as a smile and a small act of kindness. What seed will you plant today for a flourishing tomorrow?   ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week! References Roberts, F. (2019) LeAF: The Learn and Flourish Model and Self-Evaluation Framework for Whole School Positive Education. Unpublished manuscript, Anglia Ruskin University.   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 45. Nearly four months after the UK - where I live - went into lockdown due to Covid-19, and as last week more businesses, such as hairdressers and pubs, have been allowed to re-open and plans for the full re-opening of schools in September were announced, my levels of fear are higher than ever.  Higher, even, than when a global pandemic was declared and I realised this was serious. As more people resume their previous routines with some semblance of normality, I feel less in control of my own and my family’s safety on the rare occasions we need to venture into public enclosed spaces, such as shops and pharmacies, for essentials.  This fear, I know, is not something I am unique in experiencing, though everyone experiences it uniquely and at different levels. Fear is a powerful emotion.  It is one of the six basic emotions identified by Ekman in 1999 (1). It is an essential emotion as, without it, we would struggle to stay alive. We need fear to alert us to danger and elicit the so-called ‘fight or flight’ response. It can also, quite commonly, cause a ‘freeze’ response, where we are incapable of doing anything. I am not a virologist or epidemiologist, so I am not going to dispense advice or opinion in this podcast on what we should each be doing with regard to Covid-19.  This is also not the place for political debate.  I would like to, however, share some of the ways you can deal with your own levels of fear so it does not become debilitating to the point where you cannot do your job or look after yourself or your loved ones.  One way or another, we need to be able to continue to function, despite the current situation, despite the fear.  This is something I’ve been working at increasingly hard for some time now and perhaps you have, too.  I’d like to offer you some positive psychology tools to help, for you and your children, so you can not only continue to function, but thrive and flourish, despite the fear. In episodes 25 and 26 I mentioned the work of Barbara Fredrickson on positive emotions (2). According to her ‘broaden and build theory of positive emotions’, if we experience more positive than negative emotions, we can experience improved relationships, perceive and grab more opportunities, achieve more success in our personal and professional lives, and have more fun. We can experience ‘upward spirals of positive emotions’, where as a result of experiencing the ‘broaden and build’ benefits of positive emotions, we experience even more positive emotions, leading to more benefits, and so on.  Fear, of course, can be a positive emotion - think about the thrill of a fairground ride or a gripping thriller, for example (though of course those are not enjoyable thrills for everyone!). But in the context I started this episode with, of the global pandemic we are living with, for those of us that experience fear, we are experiencing it as a negative emotion. Positive psychology does not advocate eliminating negative emotions.  All emotions are valid and serve a purpose. But we can improve our lives by not letting those emotions take over and generating more positive emotions for ourselves to counteract the effects of those negative emotions. All of the interventions and activities I have mentioned in past episodes do this to some extent. Last week, I suggested self-kindness bingo, for example, as a way to do activities you enjoy for 30 days.  Last year, in episode 9, I shared the importance of gratitude for wellbeing. In other episodes we have explored savouring, curiosity, and a whole host of other wellbeing activities. So my message in this episode is a simple one: Explore wellbeing activities that will boost your positive emotions. Make a list of as many of these as possible that you can do within whatever level of risk you are prepared to take and is allowed where you live with current restrictions in place. And ensure you do as many of these activities every day, every week, as possible.  These won’t make the fear go away, but they will reduce the impact of the fear on your wellbeing by bombarding you with feel-good hormones and allowing you to experience all the benefits Barbara Fredrickson talks about. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week! References (1) Ekman, P. (1999) ‘Basic Emotions’, in Dalgleish, T. and Power, M. (eds) Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 45–60. (2) Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions. The American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.56.3.218   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 44. If you’re anything like me and the many friends and family I regularly talk to and see updates from on social media, you are bound to have ups and downs, and particularly get days when you are thoroughly fed up with the current Covid-19 situation, whatever lockdown restrictions are in place where you are.  After months of living with this pandemic, we are all coming to the realisation that life as we knew it won’t exist for quite some time and may, in fact, never quite return to what it was before.  Of course there are some positives to be found in that, but we’re also experiencing a sense of loss, of grief, and of frustration.  Personally, I get hit by waves of sadness and nostalgia when I remember a band I’ve seen live, or a band I’ve always wanted to see and haven’t managed to yet, or think about theatre and musical performances I had booked to go and see, and I weep for the impact on our wider cultural and social experiences that the pandemic is having as theatres and artists are struggling to stay afloat. So if you’re having some hard days when everything just seems unbearably sad, you’re not alone.  I think most of us are going through some form of grief at the moment.  But it is important for our mental health and wellbeing that we give ourselves every opportunity to move beyond those moments and to still enjoy all that life has to offer, and there is plenty of that! Today, therefore, I’d like to share an activity with you that I mentioned in my first book, Recipe for Happiness, and based an entire worldwide project on for International Day of Happiness a few years ago.  The activity centres around sprinkling your life with ‘Little Happiness Ingredients”, doing things you enjoy.  Doing things you enjoy is also recommended as a wellbeing activity by the UK’s NHS - the National Health Service. In mine and Elizabeth Wright’s book, Character Toolkit for Teachers, we developed this activity a bit further into a self-kindness activity, which we called “Self-Kindness Bingo”. You can do this for yourself and of course you can ask your own children, or the children you work with, to do this.  Draw yourself a grid with 30 boxes, then write an activity that you enjoy doing (and that you can do with whatever restrictions are in place where you are) into each box. Be as creative as you can - take your time to think of activities that will really boost your mood.  Some could be really quick activities and others more time-consuming.  Bring in some variety.  Some may be solitary, like reading a few pages of a good book, while others may involve other people, such as a socially-distanced or virtual chat with a friend. Once you have completed your grid, display it somewhere prominent so you won’t forget about it, and make sure you do at least one activity per day.  You can, of course, do more than one activity in a day, in which case you’ll run out of activities in under a month, but that’s ok - just create a new grid!  You could even introduce an element of competition with friends and family members and see who completes their “Self-Kindness Bingo” grid first! You’ll find links to the Little Happiness Ingredients Project, to both books and to the NHS article I mentioned on this episode’s page at forflourishingssake.com I hope you will try this activity out and, as always, do get in touch and let me know how you and your children get on with it!   ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 43. Wow, this has been quite a week!  Three of the Four panels on the “For Flourishing’s Sake” Virtual Book Launch Extravaganza happened on Thursday, the day the book launched in Kindle format.  The final panel will take place on 21st August, when the paperback comes out. One of the issues we talked about in one of the panel discussions was cost.  Too often, I hear the cost argument: “Oh, well that sounds great, but we just don’t have the budget”.  I am sure that, as someone who listens to this podcast and is therefore interested in promoting the flourishing of everyone within your school community and as an ardent advocate of Positive and Character Education (or whatever you may call it in your school) you have heard these objections over the years, too. It is true that much of Positive Education has sprung from prestigious independent schools such as Geelong Grammar School in Australia and Wellington College in the UK. But as Fabian de Fabiani - Director of Character Education and Wellbeing at the Odyssey Trust for Education and Assistant Headteacher at Townley Grammar School - said to me when I interviewed him for the book: “If the independent sector has been doing this for the last 20-30 years, why can’t the state sector do it?” At Townley Grammar School, a state-funded selective secondary school just outside London, where costs are very high but the school’s budget does not get the inner London uplift, they developed their Character Education programme and policies around the belief that everyone has a fundamental right to social mobility and discovering their purpose.  They then introduced the same principles, adapted to the different environment, to Erith School, which they renamed King Henry School, as they formed the Odyssey Trust for Education.  As Fabian explained when I interviewed him for the book and in the first of last week’s book launch panels, it is about where your priorities lie, and about being good at collaborating with others and spending your money wisely. Patrick Ottley-O’Connor - Education Consultant, Leadership Coach and Headteacher & Executive Principal, North Liverpool Academy - explained that you can find cost savings in other areas and that staff will accept these if you bring them on board and they understand why certain costs have to be cut, especially if they know you will then re-invest them into structures and systems that will improve well-being.  He gives a great example of this in the book…you’ll have to read it for yourself though, I wouldn’t want to spoil your reading enjoyment! 😉 Cost savings can actually be achieved directly from wellbeing initiatives, as Dan Morrow - CEO of the Woodland Academy Trust - explains in the book.  When he joined the Trust, they had been losing around 40% of staff per year, which is at the top end of the normal range of staff attrition for schools in the UK).  A year later, this had dropped to 4%.  The trust saved over £100,000 in recruitment costs alone last year! In the book, he explains some of the simple initiatives he has introduced to improve the wellbeing of staff and students in his schools.  I am sure he will talk about some of these in the panel discussion on 21st August as well. Details of this will be posted virtual book launch extravaganza webpage nearer the time. So, putting wellbeing at the heart of education doesn’t have to cost the earth, and it may even save vast sums of money in recruitment and retention, not to mention the costs related to sickness absence, especially as a high proportion of sickness absence is related to mental health issues such as anxiety, stress and depression. I hope this episode has given you some ammunition when you hear those objections from colleagues or education leaders about Positive Education being too expensive. And I’d like to leave you with a final thought from Patrick Ottley-O’Connor.  When he talked to me about his school as a “loving, caring community”, he added: “The way we speak to each other doesn’t cost a penny”. Positive Education is not just about new initiatives and programmes.  So much of it hinges on strong, determined leadership and creating an ethos for wellbeing in the school.  And that starts with the way you talk to your colleagues and your students, and the way you look after each other as a community. ------------------------- If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites.  It’s jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 42. The day has finally come when I can say “For Flourishing’s Sake, the BOOK, is out this week!” Yay!!! So in today’s episode, I will focus on the overarching theme of the book, which is to use a whole school approach to positive education to support character development and well-being.  But first, I’ll briefly tell you about the exciting virtual launch events happening on Thursday 18th June, as these are an opportunity for you to hear directly from many of the amazing educators that have contributed their case studies, stories and experiences to the book.  For Flourishing’s Sake is being published on two dates - the first publication is of the e-book, on Thursday.  The second is the publication of the paperback on 21st August.  So, given we can’t have a physical book launch, we are having a... Virtual Book Launch Extravaganza: 2 dates 4 virtual panels 16 panellists 2 panel chairs 1 author On Thursday 18th June, we are holding three live panels: At 12.30pm UK time, the panel will be chaired by Adele Bates - Behaviour and Education Specialist - and the panellists will be: Rhiannon McGee from Geelong Grammar School in Australia, Julie Goldstein from Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy in Connecticut, USA, Elke Paul - Positive Education Consultant from Germany, and Fabian de Fabiani -Assistant Headteacher at Townley Grammar School and Director of Character at the Odyssey Trust for Education in the UK. At 5pm UK time we have an all-UK panel from a wide range of schools: Andrew Cowley - author of The Wellbeing Toolkit and Deputy Headteacher of a primary school in South London - will be chairing.  The panellists will be: Rebecca Tigue - Head of School at the University of Birmingham School, Kelly Hannaghan - Mental Health and Wellbeing Consultant, Patrick Ottley-O’Connor - Education Consultant, Leadership Coach and Executive Principal at North Liverpool Academy, and Flora Barton - Headteacher at Crowmarsh Gifford Church of England Primary School. At 7pm UK time, we go international again. Chaired by Andrew Cowley, the panel will feature: Ian Flintoff - a UK-based Positive Psychology-based Education Coach, Consultant and Trainer; Serdar Ferit - the Co-CEO of Lyfta, based in Finand and the UK; Katrina Mankani - Director of Positive Education at Sunmarke School and Regent International School in Dubai; and Rebecca Comizio - School Psychologist at New Canaan Country School in Connecticut, USA. On Friday 21st August - I’ll remind you nearer the time, too! - we have our final live panel at 12.30pm UK time, chaired by Andrew Cowley and featuring the following UK-based panellists: Paul Bateson - teacher, writer and theatre maker, as well as PGCE tutor; Anni Poole - Director of HLS Impact Coaching; Dan Morrow - CEO of the Woodland Academy Trust; and Adele Bates - Behaviour and Education Specialist. Full details of the panels and speakers, and how to watch and participate with questions and comments, will be posted on the @FlourishingED twitter account and here on the www.forflourishingssake.com podcast website.   I hope you’ll be able to join us and watch one or more of these panels where we’ll be discussing many issues and examples around whole school positive education. If you can’t join us live, all the panels will remain online for you to watch at a later date. So, let’s move onto the content of today’s episode. Positive Education, according to IPEN (the International Positive Education Network), is the combination of educating for character and well-being, and for academic achievement. The whole school approach to Positive Education aims to incorporate this ethos of education into every aspect of a school’s activities, from its ethos and climate, its policies, and its leadership, to the physical environment, the training of teachers - from their trainee days to continued professional development, to the provision of character and well-being lessons, to the integration of well-being and character into other subject lessons, to role-modelling of character strengths and well-being behaviours by staff, to how the school interacts with and supports its local community, to how it communicates with all its stakeholders, including parents, and so much more.  Having written, literally, an entire book on this and knowing that, even so, each chapter is merely a starting point to give you, the reader, some ideas, inspiration and examples of each aspect of whole school Positive Education in practice, I am clearly not going to be able to cover it all in one brief podcast episode. What I would like to do today is to invite you to think and consider how you can still take a whole school approach to positive education even as schools look nothing like they did a few months ago.  More than ever, I am hearing teachers, school leaders and parents telling me how important well-being is.  The current crisis has impacted on the mental well-being of everyone in school communities in some way and the challenges are many.  As you revisit all your systems, policies and procedures to create physically safe - or as safe as possible - environments for your staff and students, there is not only an opportunity but an absolutely dire need to also consider mental health as part of the measures you take. I don’t purport to have all the answers, far from it, but I know that if we work together with the intention to support the flourishing of everyone in education, we can do this.  Coronavirus is not going away anytime soon, so our ‘new normal’ has to come from a whole school Positive Education perspective, even if this looks different than it would have done just a few months ago.  You don’t have to do everything at once, and you don’t have to get everything right first time.  The important thing is not to forget the character and well-being aspects of education as we focus on academic catch-up and attainment and physical safety.  Are you with me? Are you up for the challenge? All my contact details are coming up at the end of this episode if you’d like to get in touch and discuss how to bring a whole school approach to Positive Education into your school.  Let’s do this, together.  Let’s support the flourishing of children and adults in education, regardless of the circumstances. … If you have found this episode useful, please give the podcast a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, is coming out on Kindle on 18th June and on paperback on 21st August. It’s available to pre-order from major online book retailers and is jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your copy now, so you will receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5  

Welcome to Episode 41.  Today’s topic centres around the character strength known as ‘love of learning’. If ‘love of learning’ is one of your signature strengths, you’re likely to be someone who enjoys learning for its own sake. This goes beyond curiosity, where you might be interested in finding out why or how something works in a certain way, to find out facts or information about something, whereas ‘love of learning’ is a deeper thirst for the process of learning rather than for the answers themselves. According to the VIA, “Where curiosity is often associated with a great deal of energy and a drive to gather information, the lover of learning is often more contemplative… It has important motivational consequences because it helps people persist through challenges, setbacks and negative feedback”. Given our current situation, anything that can improve our ability to persist through challenges and setbacks is likely to be helpful, so tapping into our strength of ‘love of learning’ at this time can be a useful endeavour. It may be that this is a signature strength of yours, or one that you would like to work some more on. There are a number of ways you can explore this, from joining a book club (there are many virtual ones around) to learning a few new words every day, to trying out new recipes in the kitchen.  The VIA website also has a few suggestions, but let your imagination run wild and come up with your own ideas of how you can explore this strength further.  Set yourself little challenges and jot down your thoughts as you go along to keep a record of whether you are enjoying certain learning experiences and types of learning more than others, and why, what you have learnt, how you feel when you are learning something new, how you are handling daily challenges as your ‘love of learning’ exploration develops and so on. Think also about your everyday life as a teacher and your CPD.  Granted, in the current climate, thinking about formal professional development or planning to attend any courses may be the furthest thing from your mind, but I’d invite you to look at this differently.  You are in a unique situation none of us have experienced before, and you are having to adapt at a phenomenal rate.  Chances are, you are learning things about epidemiology and public health, about politics, and about yourself and the people around you every day.  You are learning new ways to teach, new ways to interact, new ways to live. You are developing new professional and personal knowledge every day.  My suggestion is this: Whilst all these adaptations can be incredibly stressful to go through, is there something positive you can draw out of this in terms of your professional development journey?  Is there a way you can formalise what you’re learning so it forms part of your on-going CPD record? You may wish to discuss this with your head of department or head of year, or whoever your line manager is at school.  Can you use what you are learning as a springboard to delve into further learning and do this as part of your CPD?  After all, learning isn’t just about going on courses.  It happens every day!  Why not keep a record of what you’re learning and think of ways you can apply it across different aspects of your teaching career, beyond the current crisis? It may be that you are learning something new about supporting children or colleagues through a crisis situation, or about how to have meaningful communication despite social distancing, or that you have become a bit of a Zoom guru and would like to delve further into virtual teaching models. Whatever you are learning, whatever has piqued your interest, you have an opportunity to delve further.  Indulge your ‘love of learning’ and grab this opportunity with both hands! … If you have found this episode useful, please give the podcast a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, is coming out on Kindle on 18th June and on paperback on 21st August. It’s available to pre-order from major online book retailers and is jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your copy now, so you will receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week! Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5  

Welcome to Episode 40.  This is a very exciting day as it’s the first day of the month in which my book, For Flourishing’s Sake, will be published.  Due to disruption caused by Covid-19, the book will be published twice, which means two opportunities to celebrate!  The Kindle version is coming out on 18th June and the paperback will be out a bit later this summer, on 21st August. So today, I thought I would talk about one of the themes from the book that I feel is particularly relevant to the challenges we are all living through: Leadership. According to the VIA Institute on Character, the character strength of leadership can be split into the distinct areas of ‘practice’ and ‘personal quality’.  As a practice, this is what we do that makes us leaders, by “defining, establishing, identifying or translating direction” and as a personal quality, it’s our desire and ability to aim for, accede to and ultimately carry out leadership roles.  The VIA further distinguish between ‘transactional leaders’ and ‘transformational leaders’.  We need both, of course, but in the book I focused mainly on transformational leadership. Anyone can be a leader.  Paul Bateson is one of the teachers I interviewed for my book.  He is a shining example of committed leadership from someone not in a leadership position.  When he decided to launch a kindness initiative in his school, the ripples spread far and wide.  He fired up the imaginations of his students, who took ownership of the initiative, and brought most of the staff on board.  He did this despite a leadership team who, whilst ‘putting up no resistance’, did not facilitate what he was doing or make any moves towards adopting a whole school approach.  (Roberts, F. “For Flourishing’s Sake”, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2020) What can we learn from Paul Bateson? In the UK, some schools are “re-opening” this week - I’m putting this in inverted commas as schools here haven’t actually been closed.  Children of key workers, along with the most vulnerable children, have still been going to school, as have many teachers. But this week, more children will return to school.  In other countries, children have been back at school for a little while. But school is not what those children and their teachers were used to. We are all having to adapt to teaching, learning and interacting differently for the foreseeable future.  Teachers and school leaders, and in fact all staff working in schools, can follow Paul’s example.  In his case, he led a kindness initiative; kindness would be a great place to start to help each other cope with the challenges we’re all facing.  Tempers are likely to be a bit more frayed than usual, so we can all focus on leading through showing patience and understanding towards others, taking a moment to respond if we think our answers may come out a bit ‘snappy’, or accepting that others may be a little less friendly towards us as it may just be their way of handling the situation. Children can be leaders, too.  When I interviewed Jo Owens, Director of Ethical Leadership at Lichfield Cathedral School, she told me that at her school, the junior school have ‘red caps’ - year 4 pupils who look out for other children who don’t have anyone to play with during break times and engage them in games. This is harder to do when children need to be in bubbles and observe strict distancing rules, of course, but particularly when things are so unsettling, giving even very young children small positions of leadership and responsibility can divert their focus away from their fears and allow them to feel useful.  And let’s not forget that helping others is a great way to support wellbeing, so when children have the opportunity to help out in school, this will support their own wellbeing. So spend a few moments to think about the different ways you can be a transformational leader; a leader who, according to the VIA, “motivates their followers to perform at an extremely high level, fostering a climate of trust and commitment to the organisation and its goals”.  Perhaps set yourself a challenge to identify people who have inspired you in this way, and make a list of what qualities they display, and how they behave, in order to be such transformational leaders.  Whilst still being you, can you emulate any of those qualities and behaviours? What can you learn from great leaders you have followed? And think about which children are showing this leadership quality and can be encouraged to lead their peers.  I know from working in many schools over the years that there are ample examples of such leadership to be found in school staff and pupils.  Let’s nurture these leadership qualities so that we can all weather this storm with a little more ease, together. … If you have found this episode useful, please give the podcast a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, is coming out on Kindle on 18th June and on paperback on 21st August. It’s available to pre-order from major online book retailers and is jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your copy now, so you will receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5  

Maintaining and developing connection through remote teaching and social distancing Welcome to Episode 39. Many teachers and school leaders are wondering increasingly how to maintain a sense of connection and build, develop and maintain positive relationships with pupils and with colleagues; first of all through remote teaching / remote working, but then also as more and more children are starting to return into classrooms in a very different environment to what we’re all used to around the world, how to maintain, grow, develop those relationships and that sense of connection, when you are having to socially distance groups of children, groups of staff, etc, and teach in a way that is very alien to us in the modern world. So, on Wednesday, in my Educate to Flourish #WellbeingWednesdayLive session on YouTube, I did a half hour webinar on this very topic, and in that topic, I shared the importance of positive relationships and connection to our physical and mental wellbeing and even to how long we live, so this stuff really does matter.  But I also shared five suggestions of ways that you could work on strengthening those relationships and those bonds, even under the most awkward circumstances that we’re in at the moment.  And in today’s podcast, I’m just going to play you a little snippet of that, where I’m sharing two of those particular bits of advice that I shared with you, but if you do want to hear the entire half hour webinar, click here. … If you have found this episode useful, please give the podcast a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. The book, by the same name, is coming out on Kindle on 18th June and on paperback on 21st August. It’s available to pre-order from major online book retailers and is jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your copy now, so you will receive it as soon as it’s published? If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED.  You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page). I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

On 24th March I hosted a virtual mental health and wellbeing panel on YouTube with a group of fantastic guest panelists: Dr Caren Baruch-Feldman: Cognitive Behavioural Psychologist, School & Camp Psychologist Adele Bates: Behaviour & Education Specialist.  Adele was also featured on this podcast in November 2019. Kelly Hannaghan: Wellbeing Consultant, Public Speaker & Author.  Kelly has also been a contributor to this podcast, in October 2019. Anna Harrington: Specialist Public Health Nurse, Occupational Health Kate McAllister: Teacher, Trainer, Speaker, Writer, Thinker, Wellness Nerd You can watch back the entire #Covid19MHWBpanel on YouTube, of course, but if you'd rather get a few bitesized nuggets, I'll share some of the best bits over the coming weeks. Today's bitesized snippet comes from Dr Caren Baruch-Feldman.  In this excerpt, she makes a clear and concise point about where we need to start from before we can problem-solve and move forward. You can follow Caren on Twitter:  @CarenFeldman   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Welcome to Episode 37.  Today, I am delighted to bring you another special guest: Fabian de Fabiani. Fabian is an Assistant Headteacher and Director of Character Education. His work was highly commended by the DfE and he has advised Ofsted on the new inspection framework. Fabian works for Townley Grammar School - an outstanding secondary school in S. London, part of the Odyssey Trust for Education. He tweets at @FdeFab Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

Over the past couple of weeks, I've brought you snippets of the recent virtual Mental Health and Wellbeing Panel, and I will bring you more of those in the weeks to come.  Today, though, I am delighted to bring you another special guest: Anni Silverdale Poole.  Anni is a transformative coach , global speaker and author with 25 years of leading and consulting in UK schools. Anni believes that a healthy thriving school culture lends clarity and time for teachers and brings understanding for governors. She specialises in whole school wellbeing and is the author of Simply Being You, a book written for teachers, carers, teenagers and adults.  She is a founder member of 3PTrue North UK, a community network and Vision for MHWB and is passionate about Mental Wealth and equal chances in schools everywhere. Anni can be found at www.hlsgroup.net and tweets @AnniPoole   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5

  On 24th March I hosted a virtual mental health and wellbeing panel on YouTube with a group of fantastic guest panelists: Dr Caren Baruch-Feldman: Cognitive Behavioural Psychologist, School & Camp Psychologist Adele Bates: Behaviour & Education Specialist.  Adele was also featured on this podcast in November 2019. Kelly Hannaghan: Wellbeing Consultant, Public Speaker & Author.  Kelly has also been a contributor to this podcast, in October 2019. Anna Harrington: Specialist Public Health Nurse, Occupational Health Kate McAllister: Teacher, Trainer, Speaker, Writer, Thinker, Wellness Nerd You can watch back the entire #Covid19MHWBpanel on YouTube, of course, but if you'd rather get a few bitesized nuggets, I'll share some of the best bits over the coming weeks. Today's bitesized snippet comes from Kelly Hannaghan.  In this excerpt, she explains how we can support older teenagers, and particularly boys who often find it most difficult to talk about their feelings. You can follow Kelly on Twitter: @mindworkmatters   Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5