Heading outdoors As we approach our long-needed summer break, it’s a good time to look back and celebrate our achievements over the past academic year. Transition arrangements are well underway and a raft of enrichment activities are enhancing that feel-good factor. As a former headteacher and SENCo, I know these are crucial to wellbeing, but also that funding them from ever-dwindling budgets can be a challenge. So I was heartened by Gravesend Grammar School鈥檚 social media feed this week, which flipped that on its head. Their enrichment programme actually raised money for their school improvement fund and for charity. The school community raised over聽拢20,000 through their annual whole school sponsored walk, a proportion of which went聽 to the Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund, a charity that provides access to mental health counselling for young people aged 13-18 in the local area. This year's Sponsored Walk is raising funds for the Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund and the School. The Elliott Holmes MF provides mental health counselling support for young people in Gravesend allowing them to self-refer.聽 You can support us by giving here –— Gravesend Grammar (@Gravesend_GS) Shouldering the burden Sharing the joy of school events like these on social platforms allows schools to showcase their accomplishments to a wider audience. It鈥檚 an opportunity to celebrate the hard work of students, teachers and staff beyond the immediate school community. However, as headteacher Dave McPartlin pointed out this week, rising complaints against schools have increasingly centered around these very experiences. Though they are funded by fundraising and donations, not everyone perceives them as reasons for celebration. Every time we鈥檝e done something I鈥檓 really proud of (Christmas No. 1 attempt, BGT, FlakeFest & the Coffee Shop), I get anonymous complaints that I鈥檝e been made to address – they have crushed my mental health & ruined the experience. If anyone is thinking of sending any letters鈥� — Dave McPartlin (@dave_mcpartlin) Sadly, this puts children鈥檚 wellbeing and their teachers鈥� in tension with each other. While creating happy memories is a fundamental aspect of school life, it should also be a joyous one for us. But complaints have an impact on our mental health that can鈥檛 be neglected. It can be difficult, but it鈥檚 crucial to differentiate between genuine complaints, which are important to address, and malicious ones, which can be emotionally draining and divert our attention from our core purpose. And we must not let these challenges deter us from sharing our achievements. Instead, we should use them as opportunities to promote a more positive and supportive community spirit. On our knees Not that the profession isn鈥檛 prone to do this kind of thing to itself, as edu-Twitter consistently demonstrates. So when the arrival of summer weather was met by a discussion about knees (Yes, knees. Men鈥檚 knees in particular.) I feared the worst. 25掳C+ and we're still wearing suit trousers?! It's about time to normalise this summer attire for male teachers in secondary schools. — Kalil (@Kalil_R91) However, what ensued was a good-natured thread that was more concerned about what shoes to wear with the outfit than whether it would infringe policies. Great! Now let鈥檚 do school uniform! Not toeing the line Perhaps it鈥檚 the sunshine that has brought about a more light-hearted atmosphere to education social media. Because instead of falling out on the subject of the rise of term-time holidays, we got a humorous take on the matter. With the rise in holiday costs during term time, we鈥檝e noticed a surge in holiday requests this term, as have many schools 鉁堬笍馃寧But this today was a cracker鈥�Me: Where are you going on holiday? Child: I think we are going to 鈥楢nnual Leave鈥� I鈥檝e seen it on the calendar.— Alex (Mr Bramley 馃崕) (@Alex_Bramley3) More seriously, however, shows that 20 per cent of students are persistently absent from school. Moreover, the days students struggle to attend school the most are Wednesdays and Fridays. Coincidentally, Friday is also one of the days that teachers are most likely to be absent, the other being Monday. So while there鈥檚 lots of talk about a 鈥榖roken social contract鈥� between schools and families feeding the attendance crisis, there鈥檚 arguably something else going on that needs to be dealt with. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose And where better to hear and add our voices to this and other important debates than next week鈥檚 Festival of Education? Now in it鈥檚 14th year, one thing is certain: the conversations are sure to be on the nose. 馃摙馃帍 Festival Keynotes 2024 馃帍馃摙We are thrilled to reveal our initial lineup of captivating keynote speakers, including and many more!Discover the full confirmed line-up here:馃敆鈥� — Festival of Education 馃嚞馃嚙 (@EducationFest) This year, as a trustee for the BAMEed network and co-lead of BAMEEd SEND, I鈥檓 honoured to have organised a strand of five sessions weaving together important threads of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the programme. Sadly, this will be the first Festival in a long time when we won鈥檛 be joined by the legendary Sir Tim Brighouse. The outpouring of appreciation for his dedication to education continued last week with an event to celebrate his life, which made Schools Week鈥檚 front page, and I am certain his absence will be noted next week too.