A resource for staff at St Paul’s Grammar School
Space To Reflect
Teaching gives us much to learn from: lessons, conversations, relationships, decisions and ordinary moments that stay with us.
Our time together offered space to pause, consider what this year has held and think about what would help us finish it well. This page brings together the key ideas and questions for you to return to in your own time.
Why make space for reflection?
Reflection means looking closely at an experience so we can understand it more fully and choose how to respond. It includes what happened around us and what happened within us: our feelings, assumptions, expectations and values.
Reflection can help us:
Recognise strengths and understand what is working.
Consider other explanations before settling on a conclusion.
Learn about ourselves and our responses.
Identify a useful conversation, adjustment or source of support.
Carry learning from one experience into the next.
Successful moments deserve our attention too. Asking “What helped that go well?” can reveal something worth continuing.
A simple practice: I Notice • I Wonder • I Choose
Choose one specific experience from teaching or school life. It might be something that went well, a conversation that stayed with you or a situation you would like to understand.
Give yourself five to ten minutes. You can write, think quietly or reflect with someone you trust.
I Notice
Begin with what happened, then pay attention to your response.
What did I actually observe?
What did I say or do?
What feelings or reactions did I notice in myself?
What mattered to me?
What went well?
Try to distinguish observation from interpretation. “Two students did not begin the task” gives you a clearer starting point than “They did not care.”
I Wonder
Make room for curiosity.
What assumptions am I making?
What do I know, and what am I still guessing?
What else might explain this experience?
How did my expectations or previous experiences influence my response?
What helped, or what might help me understand this more fully?
You do not need to settle on a complete explanation. Sometimes the useful discovery is that you need more information or another person’s perspective.
I Choose
Identify a thoughtful response.
What is mine to do?
What could I influence with others?
What is worth continuing?
What support or conversation would help?
What is one manageable next step?
Complete this sentence:
“Because I have noticed __________, I will __________.”
Add make a note of when you will do it. Sometimes your choice will be to just recognise what happened and how you felt about it, continue a helpful practice or consider how you want to respond diffrently in the future.
The year so far
What I’m carrying, what I’m learning, what I need
Return to this exercise when you would like to consider the wider picture of your year. Allow around 20 minutes, with additional time if you choose to talk with a colleague.
1. Looking back
Draw a simple line from the beginning of the school year to today. Mark a few experiences that stand out: a success, a change, a meaningful conversation, a challenge or an ordinary moment that mattered.
Consider:
What has brought me satisfaction or renewed my sense of purpose?
What has stretched, challenged or surprised me?
What has stayed with me beyond the moment itself?
2. Noticing the impact
Look at the experiences you have marked.
What feelings arise as I return to them?
What have they revealed about what matters to me?
How have they affected my confidence, energy or relationships?
What have I learned about myself as a teacher?
What deserves acknowledgement: something to appreciate, something difficult or something I’m still making sense of?
Complete this sentence:
“As I look back over this year, I’m beginning to recognise…”
3. Looking ahead
Finishing well will look different for each of us. Think about what matters in your role, alongside what would help you remain thoughtful and present.
What would finishing this year well look like for me?
What is worth continuing because it is helping?
What needs my attention before the year ends?
What support, conversation or adjustment would help?
What expectation might I need to reconsider?
Complete these sentences:
“For the rest of this year, I want to give attention to…”
“Something that would help me is…”
4. A conversation with a colleague
You may find it helpful to talk through an insight or next step with a colleague. You can share only what you feel comfortable sharing; you do not need to explain the experience behind it.
If you are listening, give the speaker time to finish. Ask a question that helps them think, and ask before offering advice.
You might ask:
“What stands out to you as you hear yourself say that?”
“What would that support look like?”
“What feels like a manageable next step?”
Keep student and colleague details private. You can also choose to continue reflecting on your own.
5. Something to carry forward
Write down:
One thing I want to remember from this year:
One thing I need to finish the year well:
One step I will take, and when:
When reflection feels like it’s going nowhere
Reflection can include uncomfortable feelings. A useful question is whether your thinking is helping you understand the experience, consider possibilities or identify a response.
If you find yourself repeatedly replaying the same moment, pause. You might return to what you actually observed, speak with someone you trust or decide when to revisit it.
Give your reflection a stopping point:
“For now, I understand __________. My next step is __________. I can return to this at __________ if needed.”
You do not need to resolve everything before you stop.
Make it a small, regular practice
Choose a moment that fits your week: after a significant conversation, at the end of a teaching day or before planning the week ahead.
Begin with one question:
“What is one experience from this week that deserves my attention?”
Notice what you are learning, draw on the support around you and choose one response you can carry into the next day.The Decision Circle is a simple guide for approaching a significant decision through six stages:
Notice → Interpret → Pray → Decide → Communicate → Release
I find the final step particularly helpful. We can make a decision thoughtfully and prayerfully, then still find ourselves replaying it or trying to manage everyone’s response.
Release invites us to recognise when we have carried the responsibility that belongs to us—and entrust the outcome to God.
I’ve made a one-page guide with the circle and a question for each stage. If a decision is occupying your thoughts right now, you might like to take a few quiet minutes to work through it.
Continuing the conversation
My hope is that the reflections we've explored today will be useful well beyond this workshop. Not as another thing to add to your working day, but as a way of making a little more space to notice what's happening, understand your experiences, and respond thoughtfully.
If you'd like to continue exploring reflective practice, I've gathered some additional reflections, questions and practical tools on my website.
From time to time, I share new resources and reflections on professional practice, leadership, personal growth and the value of making space to think.
If these are things you're interested in exploring further, you're very welcome to join my mailing list through the sign-up at the bottom. There's no expectation — just occasional encouragement and practical resources that I hope you'll find helpful in your own work.