International Stress Awareness Week
Supporting staff and students to achieve their full potential since 1968.
Welcome to our weekly CENMAC blog post.
International Stress Awareness Week | by Toby Seriki, CENMAC Specialist Technology Assistant
International Stress Awareness Week (ISAW) was created in 2018 by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA). The ISMA is a registered charity and professional body for workplace and personal stress management, well-being and performance. They created the International Stress Awareness Week in order to raise awareness about stress prevention and to promote well-being and better stress management. Running from the 2 – 6 November, the ISAW features five whole days of news and opinion from specialists and sector professionals, streamed continuously, with a different theme each day.
Stress is a very common emotion and will be experienced by everyone, in most environments and workplaces, on a near daily basis. Schools are no different. Staff, students and parents will all feel varying amounts of stress throughout their school careers. Factor in the added stressors brought about by Coronavirus and the accompanying lockdowns; from children and parents adapting to home learning and the subsequent changes in routine, to fear of the virus itself and staff taking on the huge responsibility of ensuring schools are Covid-safe; it is clear that now is as important a time as any to raise awareness about stress.
Stress can range from mild and brief to chronic and debilitating. Regardless of how serious or high the levels of stress you are experiencing there are strategies and support available to help reduce stress levels, improve well-being and ultimately enable you to get more enjoyment out of life.
If you feel you are struggling with high levels of stress or other mental health issues, you can find your local NHS Mental health support services here, or search for mental health charities and help-lines here.
Stress is a very common emotion and will be experienced by everyone, in most environments and workplaces, on a near daily basis.
The ISMA is a registered charity and professional body for workplace and personal stress management, well-being and performance. They created the International Stress Awareness Week in order to raise awareness about stress prevention and to promote well-being and better stress management.
At CENMAC and Charlton Park Academy, we have some existing materials on the topic of wellbeing and mental health. Please see Charlton Park Academy’s Wellbeing and Therapy pages for advice and resources on Coronavirus, self-care and stress reduction. Also, see a previous blog entry by one of our advisory teachers Mary Long for information about World Mental Health Day and some really useful resources and strategies for unwinding, reducing stress and improving wellbeing. Additionally, this blog by Education Support provides further strategies for teachers and education staff on how to handle stress.
Lastly, here are a few free apps that people of all ages can use to unwind and calm down during stressful times.
- Calm is a mindfulness app that helps with sleep, stress and anxiety by offering guided meditation, Sleep Stories, breathing programs, stretching exercises, and relaxing music.
- Yoga is an excellent way of relaxing and relieving stress. Yoga Down Dog provides beginner friendly, guided Yoga in multiple practice types.
- Great for music lovers, Humtap helps you to create studio-quality music on your mobile phone.
- Magic Fluids Lite is an aesthetically pleasing, relaxing, colour drawing app that will help you sleep, meditate, relieve stress and anxiety.
Don’t forget you can share your CENMAC experiences for our CENMAC family to enjoy.
#AssistiveTechnology #Education #Mainstream #SEN #StressAwareness #ISMA #Wellbeing #CENMAC #Technology #Support #Solutions
At CENMAC and Charlton Park Academy, we have some existing materials on the topic of wellbeing and mental health.
