With the New Year upon us, it’s that time of year when everyone is talking about resolutions. A quick internet search can provide you with hundreds of ideas of things to give up – meat, alcohol, dairy, carbs, chocolate, sugar – the list goes on. But how many of us can say that they have ever kept their resolution all year? I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of New Year’s. I’ve never even made a New Year’s resolution to give something up because bans and zero-tolerance approaches make me miserable.
The real point of New Year’s resolutions, I think, is to give you a chance to take stock of your life. To reflect and review your choices, your lifestyle and your priorities. To ask, what’s important to me and my family, what matters most and how do I put it first? For most of us the answers are simple and universal – spending time with our loved ones, health and happiness. So how do we get more of these things? Certainly not by setting unrealistic and punishing resolutions that are doomed to fail then fill us with guilt!
This year I am taking a different approach. I’m following the lead of my school by making my New Year Priorities (definitely not resolutions!) all about Enrichment. I am asking myself and my family, what can we add to our lives to enrich it, to increase our health and happiness in simple ways?
At Coppice Valley our curriculum includes something we call the Coppice 50 which are fifty wonderful experiences we provide children in their seven years with us. The fifty activities include vital life skills like first aid and safety awareness, essential childhood experiences like camping out and learning to climb a tree plus cultural experiences such as a trip to the pantomime and hearing a live orchestra. Recently, we began reviewing the experiences to check they were still fit for purpose i.e. enriching our pupils’ lives. It was this process that got me thinking about 2020 being the Year of Enrichment for my own family.
Month by month we are adding in, not taking away, something to enrich our lives. Here’s the first 3 months we have planned. In January, we are going to take a walk after dinner every night, even if it’s only round the block, to get moving more together. In February, we’re going to buy a newspaper every day to learn more about what’s going on in the world. March is about getting out somewhere new each weekend. I’m taking inspiration from the 1000 Hours Outside Campaign and am going to log our hours walking and being outdoors. https://1000hoursoutside.com/blog/free-1000-hours-outside-tracker.
So, if you’re yet to make a resolution or are looking for a more positive approach, why not look at things a little differently this year. Make 2020 a Year of Enrichment for your family and say yes to more not fun and quality time together. Let us know if you have any great ideas for enriching family life, we’d love to hear them!
Written by Emma Meadus – Head Teacher at Coppice Valley Primary School. Proud to be part of the Red Kite Trust. To discover more, follow Coppice Valley on Facebook or visit www.coppicevalley.com
