Our first ever Seaford College Wellbeing and Building Resilience Conference took place on the day after World Mental Health Day.  The conference was about sharing ideas and putting the spotlight on wellbeing and building resilience.  It was a day for leaders in education to take time out of their busy lives in order to reflect on the day-to-day challenges they face, both at school but also in their personal lives.

Our guest speaker, Michael Caulfield, spoke about: wellbeing, rest and recovery, sleep, developing confidence and how to cope with the range of demands placed on people in all walks of life.   He shared his experience and insights from his work supporting a number of teams, organisations and athletes in elite sport. He shared what he's learnt from working with teams and players in the Barclays Premier League as well as international and domestic cricket.  

Michael said: “The greatest strength you can have is to ask for help. Surround yourself with people, in and out of your circle, to have private and confidential conversations."

He then challenged the audience to consider, "Where do you offload? In our mad, fast-paced world people need to offload and talk.  Everyone needs someone.

"Talking is the most important thing we do, where can your pupils, children, and you offload?”

He quoted Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp: “Everything we do in life is about relationships.”

Our guests then took time to discuss the topics of conversation that they thought Michael might discuss in his coaching sessions with elite sports people and coaches. 

Michael said: "The conversations I have are never about sporting technique. The topics include: career development, depression, the fear of failure, divorce, miscarriages, online trolling, anger, grief, the pressures of looking after family, controlling emotions, the highs and lows of sport, to name a few. They are successful, healthy and good at what they do and these are the topics they want to talk about."

One Headmaster reflected and said: "You can have money, a successful career and celebrity status but still have the same issues that we deal with in schools.  We deal with many of these topics as teenagers grow up."  

Michael concluded and spoke about the importance of a good night’s sleep: "I've never seen people more tired than they are now. We all need good sleep, nothing is more important than sleep."

Sleep is essential for:

Mood and relationships

Energy levels

Memory and learning

Reducing stress

Happiness

As one Headmistress said: "I'm really pleased I took the time to come today, Michael was a fantastic speaker and a lot of what he said resonated with me.  I'm going to start by encouraging my students and colleagues to make time to take a walk in the fresh air, talk and get a good night's sleep!" 

Michael's presentation was followed by a talk about the importance of good nutrition and diet for mental health in children.  Our guests were then treated to a delicious lunch featuring all of the foods that are essential for wellbeing.

The afternoon was a chance for Seaford College's Pastoral Care Leaders to share best practice from within the College.  We heard from students and members of staff about pastoral support and wellbeing at Seaford.  This was followed by an informal session where everyone shared ideas and discussed the themes from the day.  

We're looking forward to sharing our full video, including the afternoon presentations, once we have finished the edit.