Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it’s a great time to show people you care and reinforce the kind of school you are. In fact, the New Year is also a good time to do any of these too.
Here are 5 quick Christmas culture wins – pick the ones that feel true to you because culture should never be a tick-box exercise!
1) Send cards
If you have time, put a personal note in them – it can be a nice time for you to reflect on the term, what has gone well for this person, and what you’re looking forward to.
If you’ve got a large team, you can split this across your leadership team.
2) Say ‘well done’
Instead of a card, you could make sure you speak to everyone before the holidays and congratulate or compliment them on something they’ve done.
3) Homemade cakes
If you’re a baker, homemade cakes can be a nice thing to do – or maybe someone in your team is and they’d enjoy making cakes.
It doesn’t even have to be cake, maybe there’s something else you like making that can be made into a small, inexpensive but, most importantly, thoughtful gift.
4) Buy a book
There might be a book you’d like the team to read, or maybe just your SLT – now can be a good time to give it.
5) Photos
Maybe you’ve got some great photos of your team throughout the years – you could get some printed off as a gift – frame or not, it can be a nice addition to a card and put a smile on people’s face.
As you can see, these ideas aren’t expensive. Yes, they would take a little of your time, but that’s often the case when we do something thoughtful and heartfelt – but it’s not much time really.