IC 18 Transforming School Wellbeing Inner Compass

Russell Pearson is the Deputy Head at an Exeter primary school. He is acutely aware that mental health is a key issue in all schools. He’s determined not to provide a tokenistic approach to wellbeing. He doesn’t want to provide tick-box staff meetings or training sessions.
In this podcast Russell shares his own wellbeing journey. He also explores three areas that have made a big difference to him.
That he was seeing life through a lens. That lens was his thinking. It was a huge eye-opener to discover that no two people experience the same situation in the same way. In other words everyone sees the world through their thinking and not the way it actually is.
The fluid nature of feelings. Feelings go up and down and they are a symptom of thinking. Feelings are giving feedback on the world ‘out there’ feelings just let you know what you’re thinking in the moment. Wisdom, resilience and resourcefulness is innate. This is probably the key area for Russell. Rather than see wellbeing as something he has to make time to catch or find, he now sees it as his default setting. He clearly sees that everyone is resilient – regardless of the mood they or he is in.