@helenaclare.bsky.social
I help schools support their staff through perimenopause and menopause so that they can keep on doing their jobs in the way we know they can.
It's yet another snowman in the Advent calender! Getting tricky! But still about peri/menopause!
04.12.2025 07:48 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Day 3 of the Advent Calendar. Another snowman. But this is about menopause too!
03.12.2025 06:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Day 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...
3/3 I also read the other day that Orcas scratch each other's backs with seaweed.
That's just the kind of mutual support that gets us through the menopausal transition!
2/3 And the Orca? They're a great menopause role model. Females live longer than males and have a long post-reproductive life. Females often lead pods and when times are tough it's their wisdom and experience that helps the pod find food and survive.
28.11.2025 08:14 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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.
2/2 But there's often less of a cost implication for the school if we work online.
And it's incredibly effective.
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
3/3 Now I'm in full menopause and my skin's not so reactive I've added in a few other serums such as hyaluronic acid and retinol but I still use Aveeno as the basis of my skincare.
But for years, it was Aveeno and Aveeno alone that kept my face from flaming
2/3 When I told the dermatologist I'd had several appointments with they said 'yes, that's the one we always recommend'.
Miraculously I didn't swear at them.
We're all unique in the way our skin reacts to things, especially in perimenopause, but I talk to many people who can only use Aveeno.
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.
2/2 I generally flavour it with frozen berries and it's delicious!
It seems to help my gut health - and it might also help with my overall menopausal health.
But to be honest, I just like growing things, and I've become very fond of these little crystals with their collection of micro-organisms.
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.
2/2 When our colleagues struggle with memory loss, mood swings, anxiety as well as more symptoms such as hot flushes then that can disrupt their work and damage their confidence.
Then you've got the 'I need to get to the loo' now thing!
Supporting them improves the school for everyone.
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
2/2 Our gut biome can also change - it's even possible that those changes can make perimenopause symptoms worse.
Fibre will help feed 'good' micro-organisms. Probiotics and fermented food and fasting might help.
My advice? Eat your greens and get a school dog so you've someone to blame it on!
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.
2/2 What routines can you create so you have less to remember?
Do you need to annotate your lesson plans differently?
Do you have a way of occupying the class to give you a second to catch up with your own thoughts?
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...
2/2 to help managers navigate difficult conversations when support is required:
to set up support groups;
to train menopause champions;
to help schools create a menopause policy that works for their school and really means something.
Drop me a line and we can get started!
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
3/3 When the cracks start to show it has an impact on everyone around us, because we are crucial to so much.
If there's a lesson that perimenopause and menopause can teach us, it's that it's time to look after our own wellbeing. If we don't, the consequences don't just affect us.
