You may already be witnessing the signs. The demands of busy school life—academic pressures, social dynamics, and extracurricular activities—are starting to take their toll on your child. As a parent, you may wonder how to help them navigate this overwhelming phase with grace and confidence.

It’s vital not to underestimate the impact of stress on your child, nor the positive influence you can have. I’ve witnessed moments when stress became overwhelming—children shaking in exam halls, unable to think or write, experiencing panic attacks, or enduring 24 hours of stress-induced hiccups from work pressure.

 Our Academic and Pastoral staff at The Royal Ballet School are dedicated to student well-being, continuously learning and implementing new tools and approaches to empower and support students holistically.

How to empower students to make big decisions such as university, career or next education step choices - 3 useful tools for educators and parents.

Anyone who has worked in the world of boarding knows that one of the greatest joys of doing so is the close relationships we build. Yet, on the flip side, one of the disadvantages of living and breathing together 24/7, is the difficulty we have in maintaining healthy boundaries.

Tackle mental health concerns by helping one student at a time with this guided Timeline Exercise.

“The more I learn, the more I realise I don’t know.”

-Albert Einstein

This quotation sums up how I often feel about goal-setting. Just when I think I’ve got the best method cracked, I learn about a new one and wonder if that’s better. It seems that the more we look into goal and target-setting, the more it feels like we’re standing under a waterfall of never-ending new methods, or perhaps that’s just me!

To help you determine which method might work best for you, I’ve summarised four approaches: two are more well-known and the other two, rather lesser-known.

The question of how to achieve great results whilst maintaining a sense of purpose, balance and inner calm, is the holy grail - not only for schools these days - but also in the workplace and in our daily lives

Sleep: that elusive elixir of life - if it’s on your side, you can face pretty much anything; without it, life can feel an uphill struggle from one day to the next.

We are very aware of the importance of sleep and yet, in our busy working lives, how much do we prioritise it, both for ourselves, and for our children, especially in the teenage years? During this stage of their lives, there is so much going on with school life and expectations from family and friends, that it has almost become the norm to see a generation of sleep-deprived teens during term time.

What do you do as a teacher when you see a bright, hardworking, student crack under the pressure of an exam? And, what do you do as a parent when that student comes home and tells you they had to leave the exam hall early as they started shaking and couldn’t write anything down on paper?

What signs do you need to look out for, to ensure that your teen stays on the healthy side of managing their anxiety levels?

This time of year is one of the toughest in the school year, with many staff and students feeling fatigued and struggling with the lack of sun and vitamin D.

I set myself the challenge of posting an image on Instagram, of something that made me happy, every day, for the thirty days of November.

Q: Why did I want to create and practise this Gratitude habit?

A: Because I have set this assignment to many of the clients and students I’ve worked with, over the last ten years, and I needed to remind myself of the numerous benefits I’ve both heard and spoken of. It is one of the first exercises that I give my clients as it is so simple and yet has such strong results. The Harvard Business Review cites Dr. Guy Winch, author of the book Emotional First Aid, explaining the process as:

Whether you are a parent, educator or senior leader, no doubt you are asking yourself the question right now as to - how can we emotionally support our students and children to cope with the pressure of exams, particularly in these challenging times?

IF SO, YOU’RE NOT ALONE. READ ON FOR SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU FIND THAT ELUSIVE INGREDIENT FOR ENERGY, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.

For me, sleep is like salt.

You don’t realise how essential it is until you have to go without it. What normally tastes good, is suddenly bland and inedible and a day in which you would normally function well and be on good form, becomes long, arduous and it feels as if you are nursing a hangover and struggling to perform the most basic of tasks.

What is Sophrology?  And why is it reimbursed by the Swiss private health insurance companies? And how is it that teenage boys are loving it?

These are the three questions that I asked myself when I moved to the Swiss Alps twelve years ago to work as a Housemistress in a boarding house for boys aged 13-18 years. I had never heard of Sophrology before and yet the word kept popping up in conversation – especially from boys in our House - many of whom struggled with organisation, focus and motivation; yet these same boys would consistently be up early so that they could attend their weekly Sophrology session before school.

Making even the tiniest of decisions demands time, focus and energy. This is the reason that Steve Jobs, Creator of Apple, chose to wear the same self-allocated uniform, of jeans and a black sweater, on a daily basis. He believed that the demand on his inner resources each morning, of having to choose a new outfit to suit the day ahead, would deplete his energy reserves for the remainder of the day, and with significant business decisions to make, he chose this way of dressing as a means to keeping his focus sharp. 

It seems not long ago that “grit” and “resilience” were the mots du jour, and that schools were focused keenly on ways to help their pupils cope better with the strong demands of academic rigour. However, the “W” word has now become more common vernacular for schools, as we all appreciate the importance of wellbeing when it comes to enhancing the overall state of mental, physical and emotional health. A happy and thriving child is always one who will be far more willing and able to perform at their highest level.