Alan White I recently began a new job in my school as Home School Community Liaison. This is a role that most schools don’t have and is one that I am finding challenging to get to grips with. What am I supposed to be doing, is a question I often ask myself? Having come from […]
Tag Archives: secondary school
Small Acts of persistence
BlogAlan White We are well into a new school year and normally for me this represents a time of new hope, fresh ideas and renewed energy and enthusiasm. It can also be a very difficult time however, for many students as well as teachers. For some students it can be a time when anxieties about […]
The Conflict Within
BlogAlan White We all know what it’s like to experience conflict in our lives. Whether it’s with the important people in our lives or within, unfortunately conflict is an inevitable part of life. However it’s how we handle conflict that can determine the effect that it can have on our well-being. If we don’t learn […]
The Backfire effect
BlogAlan White I recently learned about an interesting psychological phenomena known as the backfire effect. What happens is, that when people are presented with clear evidence on something, such as the importance of talking about mental well-being and well-being education, if it contradicts their long held core beliefs, the truth or evidence will be immediately […]
Crossing the line – Fun vs distraction
BlogAlan White We all have an innate need for fun. Sometimes we can forget this, especially during busy times in life. Fun means something different to each of us and the things we do for fun can be as varied as reading to parachuting out of an aeroplane. However no matter what we do for […]
Sometimes we just need to stop
BlogAlan White “Beware the bareness of a busy life – Socrates. Life is becoming more and more hectic for all of us. I’m finding it hard recently to remember when I last had nothing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it is important for our well-being that we have goals and are motivated […]
Looking Back!
BlogAlan White Last March when I wrote my first piece for Creaghcastle Publishing, I was very nervous to say the least. I have learned over the past year that, when writing anything, you are putting a piece of yourself out there. The thought of this frightened me if I’m honest, and looking back over my […]
Self-Talk – Why our worst enemy often lives between our own two ears!
BlogAlan White “I’ve had a lot of worries in my like, most of which never happened” – Mark Twain We often talk to ourselves in a way that we wouldn’t dream of talking to someone else. I’m stupid, I will never learn, I’m always making stupid mistakes. The list goes on and on. I have […]
Building resilience builds well-being
BlogAlan White “When you are going through hell, keep going!” – Winston Churchill. The above quote, for me, encapsulates the need we all have to build our resilience. Resilience is a mental toughness, it is the ability to bounce back from setbacks in our lives as well as the ability to cope with and overcome […]
The light only shines through the cracks – why we should embrace our flaws!
BlogAlan White “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive that is you-er than you” – Dr Seuss. The wisdom of Dr Seuss has never been more important than it is today! The pressure young people are under to conform to certain images that popular culture deems to be […]