Teacher Burnout & Wellbeing: Why “Just Breathe” Doesn’t Work in Schools

Some wellbeing advice sounds great—until you try to follow it in a real school day.

In this episode, we put a popular “7 ways to improve teacher wellbeing” guide to the test—through the lens of teachers juggling five lessons, duty, and a flood of “quick question” emails.

When the first tips are “move more” and “breathe,” we ask: is this genuine support, or are teachers being quietly blamed for systemic problems?

In this episode:

• Why most teacher wellbeing advice falls apart by Period 3
• The gap between school reality and wellbeing guidance
• The problem with the “just be more resilient” narrative
• What teachers actually need to feel better at work

If you’re a teacher feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, or tired of surface-level wellbeing advice—this episode is for you.

Join the conversation:
What’s the most genuinely helpful wellbeing support you’ve experienced in a school?

Follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review—your support helps more teachers find us.

Transcript

Biscuits, Toast, And Life Updates

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Finished a biscuit? Yeah, excellent, excellent.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Uh there's an ant. Quite yeah, it's an ant making its way towards the chocolate malted milks, which is a a teaching favourite, I think.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Yeah. We we we like a well any biscuit, to be fair. As as demonstrated by the way the garibaldis disappear on an after school inset.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Oh no, you don't get anything as cosmopolitan as a garibaldi. Well what are they then? The ones the little ones with the red. They're little fruit shortcake. Have I oversold them by calling them garibaldi? You have, yeah, yeah. Garibaldi's quite pleasant, but yeah, no, those horrible, I suppose, squashed fry shorty type. It's those. Then the Nice biscuits. Yeah. Which I used to call nice, but I don't are they Yeah, they are.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

They're Nice biscuits. I I don't think they're from Nice. You know, no, they're not from Nice. They're not. That'd be amazing. And a warehouse in Peterborough. So, Ben, at the time of recording, uh, we've got four episodes done. Do you fancy doing uh a fifth one?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Yeah, that'd be absolutely fantastic, and I'm sure the listeners are absolutely enthralled by us doing a sort of week by week countdown of what we've done and sort of almost reviewing what we did last time. But Well, how else are we supposed to fill this? Well, I suppose so, but I mean it's going to be a bit tiresome by episode 40, I would have thought.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Well, if we get to episode 40, we can relax. Okay, let's make that a deal. Alright. Um so uh what have you been up to this week then, Ben?

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Um I'm afraid again, uh you asked me this question every week. I should be better prepared. I've got nothing funny to say. I made some toast today. Did you have anything on the toast? Uh cheese. Was it white bread or brown bread? I'm afraid it was white. There's nothing healthy where I'm concerned. You were expecting sourdough then, weren't you, or something? No, not from you, no. I know you you like your white carbs.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Was it grilled cheese or did you just have it uh Yeah, it's grilled. Grilled.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Yeah. I'm terrible in the kitchen, which also leads me to have to confess to you, and this is the truth, I've never taken a pack lunch to school in I don't know, 25 years of teaching. So I think we've we've

Kids’ Theatre And Performer Pride

SPEAKER_02 2:27

done the cheese to death. How has your week been? Well, I was at the theatre actually.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Uh really this week. Yes. Uh I went to see uh Peppa Pig Live. Oh my goodness me. I need to add in the detail that Peppa wasn't live. Uh she was a puppet. It was uh we mainly went for the four-year-old, just turned four, my my my youngest. So it was a vegan friendly performance. Very vegan friendly, no, no animals were harmed, or even there. The uh the four-year-old loved it, absolutely had a brilliant time. Seven-year-old liked it too, but a little bit too cool to admit it. Objectively, I she won't be telling her friends about it. Won't be telling her friends, but you know, you could see a little smile. Obviously, I found it awful. It would have been awful. Dreadful. But you do have to admire the performers. They're all clearly very talented, but um they are playing second fiddle to uh puppets of animated pigs. So, as a head of performing arts, what's your take on that as a as a career choice? Would you rather just give up the dream or would you do a show like Peppa Pig Live?

SPEAKER_02 3:24

I I'd like to say that I would hold fast to my principles and you know, refuse such a gig, but I'm quite sure if they opened their wallet, I probably probably would do it. But I'm also not a fan of anything like that, any type of show like that. I do like some musicals. You know, I I did actually fall into the Hamilton thing. I I I liked that.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

There's a big difference between Hamilton and Pepper Pig Live.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Uh thank you for thank you for clarifying. But uh, you know, I loved the Les Miserables, um the Boubil and Schumberg uh musicals, uh Miss Sagon, I loved all of those things, but not really for the storyline, more the quality of the music.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I I I don't think you'd have enjoyed Pepper Pig Live. I've actually seen the Big Four this year, uh Peppa Pig, the latest, uh I saw Bluey Live not so long ago. I don't know how you do it. Gabby's doll's house live, and of course the uh the inimitable Paw Patrol live. So that's the big that is the Big Four as far as I'm aware.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Although I I have to admit, I took some students to see a pantomime last year that starred Mr. Tumble. Now I uh Justin was not I really was an apologies to Justin for this, I was really not looking forward to it on any level. But I have to say the pantomime dame was excellent, and Justin did actually make me laugh uh on a number of occasions.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

I mean he is a gifted performer, we don't necessarily subscribe to what he does. That's that is pitched at the at the four-year-olds. Yeah, maybe, yeah, it's a fair enough point. Although on that note, on that note, but both my children have struggled to spot the difference. Or rather, they struggle to understand that Justin is the same person as Mr. Tumble. Right. Mr. Tumble is Justin with a red nose, and genuinely, both my children have believed him that to be two different people. So uh you know, uh anyway, uh brilliant. Okay, probably time to get on with a show.

Registers, Detentions, And Being Heard

SPEAKER_00 5:39

So as ever, time for the register. I'm James and I feel particularly present this week. But I'm pretty sure we have a Ben here as well. But I had better do the statutory attendance register just to make sure. Ben Oh me? Um well if you are Ben. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, so actually we have both had experiences of that register being taken.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah, I mean it's not a difficult concept, is it? I do have to explain this to the students. I say to you. Yeah. How it goes, let's say, Harry. How it goes, Harry, is I read the name and you say yes or present or yes, sir, or whatever it is. You know, it needs to be audible.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah. Um particularly relevant, the detention, we both done a detention duty in our time and the amount of friends. You stand there, and there's a there's a room full of uh a lot of students who've been who've been gifted the C2, uh otherwise known as the detention, who fail to answer their name and then are marked as not attended, because I don't know who they all are. And then we'll come up to me three days later and go, You didn't mark me in. PS we'll answer your name then. Yeah. Anyway, we're on episode five, and it's quite possible that by the time this airs, we'll actually have some listeners. And uh if we do, they'll potentially have listened to you four episodes of us, not really dealing with any of the big issues, uh, because we haven't yet. And I'd like to reassure them that we do plan on doing that at some point in the world. Oh, yes, very much so. And there are some big issues in secondary education, and we need to be mindful

Why Teacher Wellbeing Feels Fraught

SPEAKER_00 7:22

about the stress and anxiety that talking to them might cause both our listeners and ourselves. Yes. So I think it's important that before we touch upon them, that we take a little bit of time to think about teacher well-being and our own well-being. Absolutely. Because it's very high on the agenda at the moment, teacher well-being. It is. You might argue it's lip service, given the workloads and pressures that seem to be ever present in the profession. But if this podcast can achieve anything, then promoting self-care amongst teachers would be high on my list of priorities. So I've done another deep dive on the internet, and uh I've found a seven-point guide. Oh designed.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

What would life be without a guide? I mean, I I love these guides.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

We can't we can't do it on our own. So I found a seven-point guide designed to help teachers to improve their own well-being. It's from it's from a website called Education Support. So I mean, you know, we're in safe hands here. Well, it sounds like, doesn't it? And the guide is called Seven Ways to Feel Good This School Year. And the subtitle is Avoid Burnout with these seven evidence-based, readily available strategies for teachers and education staff.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Well, I'm feeling pretty close to burnout, so this is going to be very, very useful.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

So brace yourself for some top wellbeing tips. Okay. Uh let's not forget, before we get on with the uh the guidance on well-being, that uh we've got a uh a postcard available this week. This one is simply entitled Marketplace. So what do you make of that?

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Uh well, again a slightly weird photograph.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Some buildings, essentially.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Some buildings.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I think the focal point's almost the space between the buildings.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah, which has a lamppost in it. And an unsuspecting man just sort of mid-walk, obviously, as one would be when a photograph was taken. Um staring off camera and approaching a lamppost. And it's got on the back again, I think, um explore reading, five dots. Then it just purely says, as you said already, and sorry to to repeat it, marketplace. There is no market in the place, just to be clear. No, and it it doesn't the marketplace is the space in between these buildings which is not featured in the photograph. Anyway, haven't we got an education support guide? Seven ways to feel good, to sort of um That's right.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So we are looking at the uh we're looking at well-being, and we're looking at the guidance from the uh website education support. Seven ways to feel good this school year. Be quite specific on the seven there, haven't they?

SPEAKER_02 9:57

There are seven. Is this like the sort of opposite to the seven deadly sins of something? Nothing deadly about these at all, no.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

They're life enhancing. They are they're designed to have. Well that would be opposite, wouldn't it? It would be. Yes, yes. Yeah, no, I mean I think we've we've we've agreed with each other there without sort of realizing it.

A Seven-Point Wellbeing Guide Reviewed

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah. Uh point one. Point one, let's get on to point one. Point one. I've got the pen out.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Uh what do I need to do? Point one to improve my well-being. Move. Move. What move house?

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Uh no, not about relocation. It's not about moving jobs. It's not about moving out of teaching. It is just about moving around a bit, just moving, moving physically. Uh, because uh I don't know about you, but I always find teaching to be quite a sedentary job where well, not drama teaching, no, but but yours, I think, yeah, very much so. No, I know. I mean, I was that that was I I don't always want to be explicit or signpost the sarcasm, Ben, but that was sarcasm. Sorry, yeah, just too nuanced. Generally speaking, uh, you would say that teaching is not a profession in which you sit down all day. In fact, there's we move a lot. If you're doing the job properly.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

Absolutely. So actually, this is useless advice.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Absolutely, uh, absolutely well, no, not it's good advice to move, it's just that I think the vast majority of us already do it. Or certainly should be. Yes. In terms of moving around the room and yeah, it's certainly good advice for the teachers that aren't doing it, and it's less about their health and more about just be better at your job. Does it give any advice on how to how to move or anything, anything, you know, yeah, just move around.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

So a bit of octogenerian chair Absolutely fine.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Aerobics. Anything you like.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Just keep that blood flowing. It's not very specific about what kind of movement, it's just any sort of movement is good for you.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

About 30 minutes a day, which, as I say, if if as a teacher you're only moving for 30 minutes a day, you're not actually doing the job properly.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

So I'm not sure it's education specific, this, but then anyway, okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

It says it in the title. Yeah, I know. Seven evidence-based readily available strategies for teachers and education staff. Yeah. These are not aimed at other people, these are aimed at teachers.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

I think you're getting a bit irritated there in your delivery because the last time I didn't get that it was sarcastic, and this time you're making sure that I do know.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Potentially, yes. It is um it is from a website called education support as well. So let's not uh it's for teachers. Right move. Number two interaction.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Try again.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I'll do my best. Number two. I don't know if I can. I'm gonna try. Social interaction. Oh god. Talk to each other, for goodness sake. Not to the kids, obviously. Talk to your colleagues.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Social interaction.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

What particularly it tickled me as well, but what particularly tickled you about that? I don't know. Other than I think we just we just touched upon the fact that uh that number one wasn't really teacher specific.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

This would apply to old people sitting at home. In fact, it would apply to anybody, wouldn't it? Because it's anybody anywhere on the planet is good advice, but yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Education support guide, this is absolutely nothing to do with education. Points one and two, just general medical advice. You know, if it was the NHS saying this, you could understand it, couldn't you? We wouldn't be laughing so much, probably. It's not what we're laughing at all, actually. If you said this was from the NHS, yeah, would you? No, but there's nothing funny about it. No, I wouldn't have laughed when you'd have said social interaction if they'd have produced it. But the fact that this is education specific. And actually, the whole job is about interacting with people all day long.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

That's the job. Let's let's not t let's not dwell on that. Let's move on to point three. Yeah. Uh remember point two was social interaction. Yeah. Point three.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

I don't know why I'm laughing. I don't even know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Which is more difficult than I thought it would be. Uh I read this last night and I did laugh, but um Not as much as that. I'm struggling now. I'm trying to share this with you. This now won't be funny. Okay, no, uh, so point two. It was social interaction. Don't forget.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Point three. Education support guide is I've just killed an ounce. I've got so excited.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Point I'm sure a bit of love.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Come on, it's not that can't be that funny. Educated in the book. I can't I can't I can't read the education.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

I haven't seen it. Connect with others. What the fuck do they think social interaction is? That's why I've struggled really to point through.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

It's not as funny as that, but actually that it is, it is, isn't it? Really? It's ridiculous. To me, that's the same. I mean, if you've looked up now, we haven't got the computer, but if you've typed social interaction, it would take connecting with other people.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

It's absolutely so connect with others, right? Can you go on and give us now? I mean, on the website, it does it does talk about hugging. Hugging, which not the students, for God's sake, but the police will be turning up. I'm not even sure that colleagues would welcome that. No, uh no. So yeah, so point three, connect with others. Obviously, completely different to social interaction. Oh, does talk about hugging on the website, but uh that does seem to be advice beset with potential problems. Again, nothing to do with education. Absolutely nothing. In fact, I would argue if if hugging's the advice, keep it out of education.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Uh the hugging out of it. Point four, and I'm gonna try and compose myself, but it this has proven of all the lists I've gone through, this has proven the most challenging. Yeah. Uh point three. No, four. Four, four, don't read three out again, and we'll be back round to square one again. Right. I'm not sure point four is gonna Okay, it's a different point. Yeah. Point four is different to points two and three, which were the same. Yes! Point four is breathe. Oh my god, so it actually just says that as one word. Now it yeah, but so they're all titles, and then there's a little bit of a extra interval. Yeah, but the marketeers have been on this again, haven't they? So breathe. Now I'd say we all do that, um, because otherwise we died. You shouldn't need to be encouraged to do it, should you? No, they obviously they're talking about doing special breathing exercises, and and that's obviously you know, working in a school, that's easy to find time to do that. I like to do it when I'm covering a year ten English lesson. Move social interaction, connect with others, breathe.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

In at five. Sleep. With nothing to do with education again. In fact, I would argue you shouldn't sleep at school. Absolutely not. Well, there are one or two teachers we've come across who do.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

It's not unheard of, but uh yeah. Um no, so sleep, I presume they mean do that at home. As if we're forgetting to go to sleep. If we're not sleeping, it's because of stress, anxiety, workload. Uh or yeah, people like me who have kids, frankly, that they get in the way sometimes too.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

I mean, teacher burnout is now being tackled the modern way with a mindfulness colouring sheet and absolutely no reduction in workload.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

That's uh that's the size of it. Anyway, it's alright. It's alright because point six is here to save us. Oh, good, good.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Well, they've got two points to redeem themselves in, and I I hope these are going to be education specific. So obviously Because this is the education support guy.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Uh a brief title with it with a little bit of extra information, but uh the title, point six, the one word to sum it up is cry. Well in the early days there's a lot of that, I think. Yeah. I mean, nothing gains the respect of your nine set five than having a good old cry in front of them, does it?

SPEAKER_02 18:20

But uh Oh yeah, I mean that would help you no end in the classroom, wouldn't it? Because I always find if you have a good cry in front of the students, their respect for you just grows. It just goes through the roof together.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

The next time you you'll find it at least ten times harder. Yes. Um, I have known over the years, and I'm sure you have too, I've known a lot of colleagues who embrace the strategy of crying. I used to worry about them, but now I know they're just taking affirmative action to manage their own well-being. I can rest easy and just ignore them uh when I see that. So that's good news for me and for them. Uh, because the crying apparently is is is actually their goodness me. Using one of the seven ways to feel good about themselves. Cry. Well, we've only heard six. We've only heard six, perhaps number seven. Yeah. Well, it's all hanging on this.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Get creative. The great thing about teacher well-being is it's the only crisis in Britain where the official response is have you considered gratitude?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

That's not on the seven points, but yes. Uh or breathing or sleeping or crying. Do you know what they did miss out there though? They've included Or getting creative. They've included crying. They haven't included laughing. No.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

To me. That is the absolute key. If you're going to do a general well-being thing, laughter is And if you can't laugh in teaching, then Well.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah, you really are in trouble. So uh anyway, that's the seven-point guide. Uh I can see you're already feeling better about things.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Well, I mean never mind over

Pastel Platitudes Versus Real Support

SPEAKER_02 19:52

to me. I mean, I think we've we've started tackling this together, haven't we? I mean move. I d I don't want to repeat myself, but I'm going to repeat myself. If this guide had been about any aspect of well-being, although I actually think a lot of it is bloody obvious or silly, I w I would still have accepted it as a sort of health guide. This has absolutely nothing to do with education whatsoever. There's nothing specifically related to education here. How is this gonna help people to feel good in their job specifically in teaching role?

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Uh it's a good question. I don't have an answer to that because uh I mean obviously when I look for these things, I am looking for things that we can easily make fun of. Ultimately, I didn't have to try too hard to find this.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

Yeah, I mean but the whole thing of teacher well-being is an extremely important thing. It's a stressful job. It's a challenging job, as we've discussed before. It's not nine till three, five days a week and seven weeks off in the summer. It absolutely is not. If you're doing the job properly, it is not. But I do remember my first introduction to staff well-being uh came from an SLT member in a previous school who sent an email entitled Looking After Yourselves at 10.48 on a Friday evening. So I I think there's a lot of stuff being said to teachers by the government that is both patronizing and generally unhelpful, I would say. And and not actually meant.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

No, I mean, well, as I say, if again, I think like all of the advice that we've looked at over the last five weeks, this this stuff isn't I'm not making this up, this stuff is pitched at people who work in schools. It's aimed at people who work in schools, and it's it's essentially saying we think you're idiots.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Nothing to me says we care more than a well-being page with 14 clicks uh to find advice like, have you tried having a nice cup of tea? You know, this this sort of stuff. This is exactly the same sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

And you know, I actually do think, and I I've experienced sort of you know, real, real examples of people caring about staff well-being. And it's much more kind of person-centred than actually a colleague being aware that you're not having a particularly good day and just taking a few minutes to to check, because that means quite a lot for because they've noticed that you're not feeling okay, and actually they're probably busy and stressed, and the fact they've taken time out of their day to check on you, that that means something. That makes a difference.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

But I've worked at schools that love talking about staff well-being and then arrange a sort of inset on resilience during the lunch break. I don't know where to start, really. You know, as if staff are sort of sitting around saying, I don't want less marking, I don't want less data or fewer meetings. You know, what I want is a pastel infographic that reminds me to notice clouds more. This kind of thing. You know, it's just and I'm not anti-well-being, by the way, and I'm not anti-mindfulness.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

No, well, I think that's that's the point you made is that these these are all, I mean, this is a very banal list of things that are patently obvious, but they're all things that absolutely are. I mean, apart from the fact that point two and point three are exactly the same point, I don't understand the difference between social interaction and connecting with the others. I think that's the same thing. But they're things that make sense if you want to the the thing that it doesn't account for is where do you find the time to do these things? Where do you find the time for a 10-minute breathing exercise? Because I don't have those 10 minutes available actually. And if I did, I'm gonna have a coffee, if I'm honest with you, which is probably not good for my well-being, but actually in the short term, makes me feel a lot better. Of course, who doesn't want coffee and cake? No, and in fact, yeah, what happens is when there's cake, when there is cake in schools, we have cake's bad for it. That improves well-being, doesn't it? But the cake is in the staff room and all the staff turn up and have the cake and then we have a chat. So that's actually quite nice.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

And most of these well-being resources are not written by teachers for teachers, as we can see here.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

No, that I don't even was that even written by a person? I I don't know. I mean, I'd feel a lot better if I knew that was written by AI.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

I genuinely believe you've got to believe, haven't you? If you're a senior leader, I'm not one at the moment, but I have been, that the teachers are the most important resource. The most important people in the school are the students. Right? And that is often forgotten with all this student-centred discussions that never seem to involve a student. They're never they're never anywhere near the room. But again, staff are the greatest asset, that's what I was saying.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

And we need to protect that resource for a school to function well. Well, this is often missed, isn't it? That uh you know, if a staff member isn't feeling well, the impact will be not just on the students that member of staff teachers, but on all the colleagues that work with that member of staff. The impact can be quite big, and actually sometimes it doesn't take a lot to make that member of staff feel better, feel more able to manage their workloads. The the the the like the general advice, you know, talking to people, etc. That's all fine, and actually having an outlet to do that, and when we I mean we do have that here, and that's really good. But there's lots of really good things happening for wellbeing, but none of it's on that list, isn't it essentially? Yeah, I do see teachers supporting other teachers who do see that. That's great. That's great. But that's not uh that's not what that list is.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

I did work for a head teacher once who stood up in a staff briefing and said, I don't give uh expletive about staff well being. Stop talking about staff well being. I'm interested in outcomes.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Well, we we definitely that world has existed in education, it may still exist in some institutions.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

But that but that's kind of kind of like the beatings will continue until staff morale improves. Yeah. What's that what uh but if you can sort staff well being out, the outcomes will be better.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, but that what you're referring to, that outcomes first mentality and staff well-being comes second. That that does go back to Michael Wilshaw, doesn't it? Yeah, give me outcomes. Yeah, and like, you know, staff leaving the Oh I mean that's that comment that's yeah, the staff leaving the the car park at 3.30. You have to be on site when the students are here. Of course you do. That's quite important. Once the students have left the building, you can work from home. And sometimes people work better from home. I don't personally, I tend to stick around mainly to have a chat with you, in fairness. Oh, that's very kind of you.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

I've just just looked at a comment on one of these websites from a teacher saying uh on one of these teacher support websites that gives nothing apart from these pastel platitudes of if I may call them that. And it says, I clicked on a teacher support site hoping for rescue. What I got was the digital equivalent of somebody rubbing my shoulder while the building burned down. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

That's that's what this is.

Laughing Over Crying To Finish

SPEAKER_00 26:57

So having gone through those seven points, Ben, and we've discussed them at length, how are you gonna make sure that you take care of your well-being and that of your colleagues moving forwards?

SPEAKER_02 27:07

I'm going to do exactly what I normally do, and I don't think I'm gonna take any notice of anything, mainly because I'm moving, socially interacting, already connecting with others. I do breathe almost every sort of few seconds. That's good that you do that. I do go to sleep. I try not to cry, I try to do more laughing than crying, and I'm creative all the time. So actually, thanks, but no thanks to the education support guide.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

You're you're doing really well then. I mean, my take again is that I will continue to respire, just as a general matter of principle, really. Yes, um I'm I I like you, I'm gonna avoid the crying, try and do some laughing. Yeah, and don't do the hugging, will you? If our listeners want to laugh, then they could do worse than tuning into next week's episode. They absolutely could. They they might not be laughing with us, but listening to two men trying to survive a midlife crisis by continuing to make a podcast might at least allow them to laugh at us. Yeah, and I'll take that for now. I'll definitely take that. So until next week then. All the best. Bye bye.