Being Alive

Just around about 30 years ago my life changed. Up until that point I had been muddling through, not really knowing what the point was or what my place in the world was. In the many years since, I’ve come to realise that I was a young woman with ADHD. Back then, however, I just …

My Apologies*

* (as in giving my…but not sorry because I know I did the right thing..) To my lovely WomenEdScotland friends, I am so sorry that I had to miss our get together today. I would not have missed it if I could have been there…but in the end I had to admit that I couldn’t. …

Wow! Maybe I have ADHD…

This appeared on the BBC this week and is a great piece to help raise awareness for #ADHDawarenessmonth. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59038116?fbclid=IwAR1Y3yDGunVRIn8bG1ikKHkgDT11kWMCWLCSZhnrBX62z46Trarjh8vagbc The hilarious part is that I can still almost look at articles like this and think “I really recognise myself in this, what a coincidence! Drama, creativity, lateness, feeling I don’t fit….”And then I remember that …

Engaging with families

Back in the spring I had the huge good fortune to speak with Clare Pirie on her Connectrio podcast about what makes for effective engagement with parents and carers. You can hear the podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5rGI1vZ29K2WwrhK7dO9y7?si=paOrSXyPQsuPNr7NQdaYJQ&dl_branch=1 Below are also the notes that I spoke form (roughly) which are based on my recent reflections around …

Awareness?

Apparently October Is ADHD Awareness Month Aware Of This I Wanted To Write A Poem Which I Have Been Trying To Start All Day But Everything Got In The Way Twitter Cleaning Worrying Emailing Shopping Worrying Worrying But now suddenly I feel an urge to say it all Quickly As fast as the ideas come …

Eight years on.

Eight years ago I was celebrating, having secured my first DHT 3 to 18 pupil support post, as I have been reminded by today’s Facebook memory. On Thursday, I was lucky enough to speak at an event for the Scottish Learning Festival about leadership in education. I referenced the fact that I am of an …

A bit more.

Today my daughter leaves home. I wrote a poem about that earlier in the week which I have copied below. But as I sit here on my yoga mat, in the calm cool of the morning, I am reflecting on why this is such a very difficult day for me. When I left home, 34 …

Blackberries and Brambles

Last night we picked blackberriesYou and I Growing at the path-sideWhere we have walked together so many timesSometimes in chatterSometimes in silenceSometimes feeling the sharpness of feelings like brambles that have cut our skinAnd other times rejoicing in the sheer beauty of it all. I was taken back to eighteen years agoAnd that harvest. Only …

What happens when you’re busy making other plans….

Back in the summer of 2019, I was lucky enough to have coaching with the incredible Sarah Philp. We had several sessions together and ended when I felt that we had worked enough, for the time being, on identifying my values and vision. After this, I began some therapeutic work to try and address some …

Summer wellbeing sunshine

How will you hold onto the summer sunshine, particularly when the nights draw in and the autumn storms gather? As teachers, we often allow ourselves to get into the habit of pushing ourselves too hard during term time and holding out for the holidays, in order to focus on our wellbeing. I have been as …