How to banish the back to work blues

The banners that welcome children back to school are beginning to go up, and there is a noticeable upward turn in the number of teachers on-site getting their classrooms ready to welcome the next cohort of pupils.

All of this seems perfectly normal but the conversation amongst ‘returning’ staff can often turn to how quickly the holidays have gone and the daunting prospect of starting the longest term of the school year with a lack of appropriate rest and recuperation.

For those outside of teaching, there will be raised eyebrows and the ubiquitous, ‘You teachers don’t know how lucky you are’ narrative.

So how do we best manage the blues? I suspect that there will be old-school thinking promoting that we only have 7 weeks until the next break, so get your head down and work hard. There will also be the inevitable raising of spirits speech from school leaders littered with all the reasons why we should be optimistic about the school year in front of us.

Some schools will accept that some teachers struggle and will soften the blow with a softer touch in the first few weeks. All of the above can work and have done so for many years. 

The reality is that the job we do is still amongst the most inspiring and important jobs of all. Teachers realise the importance of what they do and work extremely hard to get the best out of their charges.

Perhaps a wider appreciation of what teachers do will raise the spirits and put a spring in the steps of the thousands of teachers who will be sharpening their minds in the weeks ahead? No employee should be wishing their days away and counting down the days to their next holiday. This approach is not sustainable school leaders have a responsibility to combat this mindset.

Finally, and arguably most importantly, the work-placed culture in any school must be a compelling (and longer-term) method to combat the post-holiday blues. The best schools and workplaces will have a culture in place that energises employees and provides them with a sense of common purpose and pride. This culture should not be a series of token gestures but more of a vision that can be sustained over time.

Get this right and the so-called ‘blues’ might not be such a problem for those of us eyeing up the challenges and opportunities of a new school year.