Navigating Menopause in School

I recently had the chance to work collaboratively with a wonderful group of women from WISE; a network founded by friends Katie and Thea at British School Manila, to develop a policy aimed at supporting women during menopause.

On the back of this, I’ve now put together some information which I think, more so, hope, will be useful. This is a downloadable PowerPoint that you can fully edit and use in your own school environment. You can obtain a free copy of the policy to edit for you school here.

I did this because I truly believe we all need access to good information. Research shows that when we understand what’s happening to our bodies, we can manage any changes so much better. And honestly, I think we have a social responsibility to share this knowledge with others; so please, do that! A big reason behind me writing this is Laura, an incredible friend and always the one to lift my spirits, which is why it broke my heart to see her in tears and feeling so lost; I only wish I’d known how to help back then.

Reflecting on my own experiences, and those of my friends and colleagues has been quite something. Some stories made me laugh out loud, others brought me to tears, but all of them reminded me how real and deeply human this experience is. I have to thank Tiffany for our many conversations and for expertly guiding me on how to slip out of work unnoticed when my uterus staged a dramatic exit on a random Thursday. And a huge shoutout to everyone who endured my anxiety when that hit. Quite the shock for someone who’s never been anxious about anything… except being late!

Let’s open up the conversation, talk about this more, share our experiences, and make sure no one feels alone. I’ll happily dive into deeper conversations about this and how it’s brought on a sugar habit I can’t seem to kick.
Consider sharing some things you’ve found useful here: Padlet

There’s so much more I could have included, but I also feel like there’s already a lot here. In fact, too much! Please take what you need and leave the rest. I’d love to hear your thoughts; let me know what works for you and how I can make this resource even better and more useful.

I’ve also put the below “Cheat Sheet” together which you’re welcome to share; if you’d like a version of this that you can edit to make it more your own, please reach out and I’ll pass it straight to you.

If anyone is interested in taking this challenge with me, let me know!