Getting lost on the way to school? Or worse driving to school when you're off out somewhere special? Losing your car in a car park? Losing our way can happen more and more often in peri/menopause. Day 8 ofvthe Advent Calendar gives us chance to talk about it! #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

Do you need a gold star today? Here's how to get one from me! #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

How much does menopause cost? Day 6 of the Advent calender gives us an opportunity to talk about it. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

It's a Christmas pudding in today's advent calendar - so let's talk about alcohol and menopause! #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

It's yet another snowman in the Advent calender! Getting tricky! But still about peri/menopause!

Day 3 of the Advent Calendar. Another snowman. But this is about menopause too!

Day 2 of the Advent Calendar. What's behind the door and what on earth could it have to do with menopause? #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

It's Advent Tomorrow. Over the next 24 days I'm going to be opening an advent calendar door each day, and explaining just what that little bit of chocolate has to do with perimenopause and menopause, and specifically menopause in schools. It'll be fun. And useful! #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

Is Menopause a CPD priority? When you've got pedagogy? Behaviour? Safeguarding? Systems? The thing is, supporting colleagues through perimenopause and menopause will help them deal with all those things better and more easily. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd open.substack.com/pub/helencla...

1/3 Meet my new branding, thanks to G Sabini-Roberts It's bold, clear and fun. And you might not feel as if menopause or perimenopause are fun right now - but I promise you once you get me in a room with a group of your menopausers it will be! Tough, honest, supportive and fun.

1/2 Don't get me wrong. Face to face work is lovely - and I enjoy being in a real room with all the trust and support and laughter - but that can all happen in a virtual room too. I'm in Manchester - I do travel. When the trains work it's a great day out. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/3 I had terrible skin problems when I was in peri-menopause - rosacea, dermatographia, contact dermatitis. I spent months trying different face creams - they'd be ok for a week and then wham! I'd be red, blotchy and sore again. Eventually I landed on Aveeno.

1/2 I've had my water kefir granules longer than my boyfriend! I got them during lockdown. I keep them fed on sugar water and they make me lots of lovely water kefir. It's full of lactobacillus and other useful bacteria - and a lot easier to make than either milk kefir or kombucha.

1/2 Is it time we had a quick chat about supporting ourselves and our colleagues through perimenopause and menopause? Here's your link! tidycal.com/haclare/quic... Schools can be a really tough place to go through menopause. #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

1/2 I know. It's a terrible joke. But there's a serious side to this. Perimenopause can sometimes bring bowel issues. Our hormones can speed up the transition of food through the gut - or slow it down. We're a little more inclined to allergies - which can include food intolerances.

Waking up in the middle of the night is upsetting, but it need not be a problem if we can get back to sleep again quickly. Here's a four step method to help you do just that. open.substack.com/pub/helencla... #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

What's the most pressing problem you're experiencing going through perimenopause or menopause in a school? Hot flushes? Needing to get to the loo? Mood swings, anxiety, rage? Organisation and memory issues? Pain? Something else? #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

My (chimney) breast job took 6 months in the end - but look at the difference! I still have some more decorating to do in the room and I also have the fun job of finding more pictures to hang off the picture rail. I'm absolutely delighted with it.

1/2 It won't wash will it? Especially if your lesson plans there and you have forgotten what you meant, or your brain has lost the words that fitted in between the framework. It's really tough. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

Isn't that nice! Fortunately I just love talking to school staff about perimenopause and menopause, how to weather them in a challenging working environment - and how to support their colleagues. Would this be helpful in your school? It costs £140. Drop me a line. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

I thought a picture of Lysander being a lovely idiot might brighten up your Monday morning - he has certainly brightened up mine. Have a great week!

Sometimes it's tempting to avoid conversations about perimenopause. Sometimes those of us experiencing it find it hard to talk about it. Sometimes other people feel it's not their concern. But it's better for everyone if everyone has an awareness helenclare.substack.com/p/10-reasons...

1/2 We all need a little help sometimes - especially when perimenopause or menopause struggles land on top of an already challenging job! I work with schools to build awareness and understanding; to help those staff figure out a job way forward; #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/3 Let's be honest about this. Sometimes our health and wellbeing gets put last. We make sure our family are ok. We put off dealing with our own health during term time because we don't want to put extra strain on our colleagues. #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

1/2 Verbal memory loss is common in perimenopause and going into menopause. It can be really unnerving when it happens and for those of us who work in schools it often happens when we're at our most exposed - when we're talking to a class! #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

Schools are a unique environment. Perimenopause and menopause play out differently for those who work there. I've spent a lot of my life in schools and I understand that environment and the people who work there. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/2 In case you haven't 'met me' yet. I'm Helen and I help schools support their staff through perimenopause and menopause so that they can keep on doing the jobs they love in the way we know they can.

1/4 Yes, you need a menopause policy. 📝 You need it because you have a legal obligation to support employees through perimenopause and menopause. 📝 You need it because it enables you to consider what that support might look like - and put reasonable boundaries on it. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/2 "Go blet yourself!" "You absolute blet!" "We got completely bletted last night!" I feel that blet would be a fantastic swear word. But in fact these medlar are bletting. They're are in a box with a banana until they go brown and soggy and rather off-putting.

1/2 I have to be honest I have memories of being in staffrooms (when all schools had staffrooms) where someone sat in the corner moaning about everything and sucking all the air out of the room. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd open.substack.com/pub/helencla...

It's all about the conversations! Supporting school colleagues through perimenopause and menopause hinges on them being able to have supportive conversations - whether that's about a moment of empathy or digging into the realities of offering adjustments. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

Does perimenopause ever make you feel like this? As if there's no way out? Or maybe there's a way out, but you just can't see it? You might not be able to walk away from perimenopause - but you can find ways to deal with it so you can get on with life and feel good! #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/4 No, Michael Rosen probably wasn't talking about perimenopause when he wrote The Bear Song, but there is a profound truth in it. Sometimes we can't skirt things. We can't avoid them. We can't always find a different way. Sometimes going through things is part of our learning and growing.

1/2 Perimenopause and menopause cause significant challenges to those working in schools. Generally speaking they just get on with it. Until they can't. Until it becomes too much and it starts to affect their work, their life, their health. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

I'd love it if they'd give us all regular bone density checks! But they don't. This is a really useful tool to give you a sense of your risk factor for osteoporosis. If it's high you can talk to your doctor about a DEXA scan. theros.org.uk/risk-checker

Treating myself to a breast job - a chimney breast job! It's been a long wait but the joiner is coming on Thursday to build fitted cupboards in the alcoves - so my half term has been about repairing coving and painting the chimney breast ready. Do you like my ochre?

1/3 It can be terrifying. You're standing up in front of a class or a meeting. You know what you're going to say. You've said it many times before. It's all stacked up in your brain like slides on an old fashioned deck. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd open.substack.com/pub/helencla...

1/4 When a challenging job and a challenging time come together it can mean... 💧Not being able to leave the classroom when you need the loo. 💧Struggling to manage moods, including rage, when you're working with children and young people still developing emotional regulation. #EduskyUK #WomenEd

🌥Imagine we all recognised what was going on right away. 🌥Imagine we had lots of great strategies for coping at work. 🌥Imagine we were all confident that there was someone at work to listen. 🌥Imagine we knew those conversations would be comfortable and supportive. #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

Our colleagues in menopause need understanding, support and sensible adjustments. Want to talk about how we can do that? tidycal.com/haclare/quic... #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

1/2 The best kept secret about peri/menopause? It's all about you! Yes, really. Get a little main character energy! Something massive is happening. Your brain is rewiring itself. Your body is changing. You are being prepared for a different time of life. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/3 Apart from the question of 'does this illustrator think we go through the menopausal transition at 70?' the other question is "What is the real me?" We only spend half our lives ovulating. Is that the real bit?

Perimenopause can be the thing that scuppers a teacher's career. It can also be something that they learn from, a transition that solidifies them as people and professionals. The difference? Support. This is what I do. This is how much it costs. #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

Our anxiety can suddenly spike in perimenopause. But was it always there? Did we just call it pressure and override it? helenclare.substack.com/p/have-women...

The Menopause Cloak is finished. We're delighted with it. Being inside that hood, with it's velvet lining and lace trim and the smell of herbs is a safe place to be. Wearing the cloak feels special. You can hide in it, dance in it, play in it, speak in it, lead with it, share with it.

1/3 I'm torn on this. There is no doubt a menopause gold rush. I'm almost overwhelmed by adverts for dubious products every time I open social media. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The laughs are the best bit of my job! And they're important. That laughter is a release of stress. It's bonding. It's a recognition of something true. It means that as well as people learning and being empowered, they go home feeling better. #Edusky #EduskyUK #WomenEd

1/7 There are people who don't think that we should mention vulvas and vaginas when we talk about perimenopause and menopause. There are those that leave out any mention of genito-urinary syndrome of menopause in their menopause education and menopause policy. #Edusky #EduskyUk #WomenEd

1/4 I work in different ways with different schools. Sometimes I go in for a talk or a workshop and that's it. Sometimes I have a longer relationship with a school where I return termly - or we set up regular meetings over the length of a term. #Edusky #EduskyUK #Womened

1/5 I spent a chunk of World Menopause Day knitting a dachshund and watching Riot Women. There's a link there, I'm going to explain! Riot Women is everything you would expect from Sally Wainwright. Dark, angry, joyful - and totally Hebden Bridge. There's plenty of rage.