I recently shared my New Year’s Resolutions in assembly. I won’t bore you with them here – I have already done so for the students, who stoically presented expressions of interest and enthusiasm while I prattled on – but suffice to say, one of these resolutions is to continue to develop my resilience by developing my gratitude.

Being grateful for what we have is a feeling too easily shelved and re-badged as a retrospective or reminiscence, reserved for when we no longer have what we should have felt grateful for, back when we had it. I want to be grateful for something while I am experiencing it, rather than waiting to mourn its loss. Whatever that may be.

But there is another reason why gratitude matters. My colleagues and I were lucky enough to hear an inspirational speaker at our recent INSET day. Darren Edwards suffered a life-changing injury whilst climbing in 2015. He is now a wheelchair user and yet he manages to take on and complete the most adventurous challenges you can imagine. Darren told us that gratitude is fundamental to resilience. (I have booked Darren to come and talk to our children next month!).

And if we think about that for a moment, it rings true, doesn’t it. Being more aware of the cherished things we have in our lives that we love, gives us the strength and comfort to take on the challenges that we don’t love.

With the cold weather, dark mornings and major travel disruption caused by the recent strikes, we need a little more resilience than usual! But actively making time each day to reflect on, and feel grateful for, the things that bring us joy and satisfaction can really top up our resilience levels when we need it most.

One of the things I am grateful for is the opportunity to see so many smiles and hear so many cheerful ‘Good mornings!’ during my daily gate duty. It was super to see everyone this week and, as I often say, get through January and it gets better and better. Here’s to Spring.