Reflect

What has struck me most is the pace and variety of it all. New academic terms bring excitement, but also plenty of challenges. The speed at which questions have been arising reminds me why a rapid, research-informed response matters so much.

Some of you might not be aware of how Tooled Up works for our subscriber schools and families, so here’s a quick insight. Whilst we constantly update the platform with relevant interviews, activities, tip sheets and more, we also respond directly to our subscribers’ needs. If busy teachers and parents can’t find what they are looking for on the site, they can reach out and ask us anything. And believe me, they do! In return, our members receive evidence-based answers from our team of researchers and subject experts, or bespoke resources tailored to what they need most.

Basically, we’re here to help, equipping families and schools with material that is not only grounded in up to date evidence, but which is also practical, usable and timely.

Motivate

Some, we could answer immediately, pointing the requester to a range of material already on the site. Others have sparked conversations with experts, prompted dives into latest research or led us to create or plan new resources to meet specific needs. It was a very busy week, one which reminded me of the complexity of the issues that we all deal with as parents and educators. The autumn months can be a period of time where anxieties bubble to the surface. Family life is incredibly busy and the administration of ordinary life can feel overwhelming too. Supporting and raising children is simply not easy.

If you are feeling the weight of September, you are not alone. In fact, an interview recorded last week between Tooled Up’s founder, Dr Kathy Weston and two titans of the business world, Paula Mackenzie and Paul Pomroy, was a timely reminder that the return to the everyday, mundane routine of school and work is not a walk in the park for anyone, including capable and powerful CEOs. Juggling our own lives and obligations along with our children’s transitions and needs, all whilst the days are beginning to turn darker and more autumnal feels challenging, and perhaps a bit stressful, for most of us. Paul Pomroy, CEO of Warner Leisure Hotels, ​​noted that a bit of authenticity and honesty about these struggles, especially in our places of work, can help.

Whilst the queries flying into the Tooled Up research team are diverse, they all share a desire to make evidence-informed choices that give children the best chance to thrive. At Tooled Up, we try to do our best to take the overwhelm out of the process, so you don’t have to scroll endlessly on Google, sift through piles of potentially unreliable information or wonder if you’re doing ‘the right thing’. If you are a subscriber and something is worrying you or you’d like to find out more about a particular topic, why not make the most of us?

Support

Well, Paula Mackenzie, CEO of Pizza Express, offered some practical advice, suggesting that we all take a bit of time to structure our calendars carefully. In fact, her helpful “rocks, pebbles and sand” analogy is one that I might start using. Put your rocks - the absolute non-negotiables - into your week first. These might be work obligations, but they could also be personal priorities, such as exercise, rest or ferrying the kids to appointments or clubs. Around these, add your pebbles. These are things that are important, but less critical. Finally, fill up the remaining space with sand, the smaller, nice-to-have activities.

If scheduling feels challenging, Paula firmly advises working out what matters to you and your family, and ditching the bits and pieces that don’t. She also recommends recognising when you feel most energised each day, and putting your “rocks” into those times. For working parents, it’s also vital, though perhaps a challenge, particularly for home workers, to know when to put work down. Rest and downtime matter, as does sleep (I know, we’re always going on about it), and balance is key.

Zooming out, even momentarily, can also give us some necessary breathing space, and nudge us to really consider whether the overwhelm we feel is proportionate. It might also give us a bit of time to consider how we’ve successfully approached similar challenges in the past, what helped and what hindered. With the blood moon eclipse a few days ago and a huge full moon, the sky has felt extraordinarily bright these last few nights. For me, looking up at the changing night sky is a little reminder that everything comes in cycles. The moon waxes and wanes. So too does our motivation (at least, mine does), energy, commitments. We’ll have busy weeks and we’ll have quieter ones.

Looking ahead a little, by the start of October, as families, we can generally identify what is working and not working regarding school schedules and general organisation. Each year, we recommend having an informal chat as a family about how things are going. What could work better? Where are the pinch points and what can be done about them? Are there frequent arguments about the same thing? If so, try to work out what the issues are and how to address them. Modelling this approach helps us and also shows our children that we are interested in improving, learning and doing better as a team. Noticing what works and tweaking what doesn’t can help us all to thrive.