Annual Review 2021
What went well this year?
A return to live sessions
-Held responsibly and safely in schools.
-Excellent feedback. 95% of participants rated the sessions 10 out of 10.
-My presentation skills continue to improve - and I believe the quality of my sessions is much, much higher than most training/CPD that’s out there.
Online training
-Last year I really worked hard to develop my online offer and now many schools choose to take up the online offer.
-I’ve worked with schools all over the country to deliver online sessions of one hour, all the way up to a whole day.
-I held a session called “How to lead wellbeing across a school” and have repeated this monthly. This has been received very well.
-My whole school sessions are all about what we can do every day to lift our own wellbeing, the wellbeing of others, and contribute to a positive culture of wellbeing. The “How to lead wellbeing…” session is all about the strategic development of wellbeing in school - and I’m really proud of the support it offers schools.
Overall reach
-To date, I have supported 364 schools in the last two years. That’s about one school supported every other day. A huge thank you to all the schools for inviting me in, and recommending me to others.
-I appeared on the Thriving Language podcast - which was my first ever podcast appearance.
Facebook engagement
-Here’s a breakdown of my Facebook reach.
18th June 2019. Zero followers.
31st December 2019. 1,951 followers.
31st December 2020. 3,288 followers.
18th December 2021. 4,056 followers.
-My Facebook page reaches around 10k people per month and my posts are interacted with around 2.5k times per month.
-Thank you to old friends and welcome to new ones.
Email newsletter
-I send out a newsletter every Monday morning during term time called “3 from me”. It contains 3 short insights about wellbeing, teaching, learning or leadership.
-I have 1,342 subscribers and the newsletter is opened and read on average 84% of the time.
-I want it to be the best value per word newsletter you receive - and I try hard to make sure it contains a short, sharp mixture of positivity, inspiration and action.
What didn’t go so well this year?
Book
-I planned for 2021 to be the year my book was published - but so many other things have come up which have meant it’s had to go on the back burner.
Impact of the virus
-I understand why schools are less willing to invite visitors into school - and I’ve felt this impact this year.
-This is why I have developed my online offer - and I believe this is still the best value CPD your school can invest in.
What have I learned this year?
To be able to deal with haters, critics, trolls and chancers
-I’ve had messages from people telling me wellbeing is a waste of time and that talking about it makes schools worse. 🤦🏻♂️
-One school got cross with me because I wouldn’t do a full INSET Day 100 miles from home - for FREE. They said “we want to improve wellbeing but don’t want to spend any money on it”. 🤦🏻♂️
-I’ve had people sneakily try to buy my curriculum so they can deliver it as part of their own business offer. 🤦🏻♂️
-And that’s just a few examples I’ve had to deal with.
-The thing is, it’s their problem, not mine. So, like the Madagascar penguins say - “Just smile and wave boys”.
Goals for 2022
Book
-It has to be this year! That’s it really.
The Vault
-This will be an online video subscription service.
-All my training. In one place online. At a fantastic rate for schools in the UK.
-Again, it has to be this year!
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