‘Stop school exclusions’ says DfEs mental health tsar

‘Stop school exclusions’ says DfEs mental health tsar

The important thing about science is not much to obtain new facts but to discover new ways of thinking  about them  – Sir William Bragg (1862-1942) 21st century behaviour science is presenting us with a wealth of new facts about children and young people, demonstrating the close linkages between their mental health and what they show us through their behaviour. It’s become clear that physical […]

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How does kindness figure in school for the 2020s?

How does kindness figure in school for the 2020s?

Performance is currently the clear front runner when it comes to assessing school effectiveness. Accountability is the keyword, evidenced by exam results backed up by a consistent discipline regime. This was emphasised this month in the English education secretary’s reference to children’s behaving in ways that promote performance, “… if they choose not to do so, then they need to be held to account where […]

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Children’s behaviour; why kindness matters

Children’s behaviour; why kindness matters

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong” H.L.Menken Recently I wrote about the essential place for kindness in schools. In 2021 we have a  mountain of evidence accumulated over the last four decades which points to the need to take into account the biology of kindness in how we respond to children’s behaviour. In the middle of the […]

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Kindness in schools – the key to learning and success for 2021

Kindness in schools – the key to learning and success for 2021

I support children who struggle in school, and their schools, in a practical, evidence informed way, by increasing the capability of school staff to respond to children’s needs at the earliest opportunity, before turning to outside specialist services. Intentional, structured kindness is at the heart of what I do, and what I offer to schools as continuing professional development with my new online course – […]

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Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – structured kindness for fast and effective Early Help for all children with challenging or withdrawn behaviour

Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – structured kindness for fast and effective Early Help for all children with challenging or withdrawn behaviour

Children and young people who struggle to meet the demands of school are facing the additional stresses and changes brought about by the pandemic. Many of them who were struggling before the virus appeared will have suffered loss, bereavement and the effects of social isolation and ruptured relationships. We now have clear scientific evidence on the links between stress and behaviour; learning is only possible […]

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Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – a new online course for 2021

Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – a new online course for 2021

The need to find solutions to the complex problems children face has never been more urgent. We’re in a time of high stress, constant change and stretched resources. The same holds true for the school staff who are working hard to keep students on track for learning, safely and productively. Usually we can hold most children securely in school, we teach them the rules and […]

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Part two; Exclusion, behaviour, mental health and happiness – a Nightingale moment for children?

Part two; Exclusion, behaviour, mental health and happiness – a Nightingale moment for children?

Responding to Covid19 Recently I wrote about the distinctly different responses we could take to the changed practices and new thinking Covid19 is demanding in schools. Option 1, routinely promoted by the DfE, is to put everything into the pre-pandemic box, with the routine use of punishment to control ‘bad’ behaviour, hitting children hard with exclusion as the weapon of choice if they go wrong. […]

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Exclusion, behaviour, mental health, happiness and children – a Nightingale moment?

Exclusion, behaviour, mental health, happiness and children – a Nightingale moment?

Emotional health in childhood ‘is the key to future happiness A London School of Economics study “What Predicts a Successful Life? A Life-course Model of Well-being” (Economic Journal 2014) offered “a completely new perspective on which factors contribute most to a satisfying life”, namely wellbeing, challenging “the basic assumption of educational policy in recent years – that academic achievement matters more than anything else”. (Guardian […]

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Early Help in schools – focusing on solutions

Early Help in schools – focusing on solutions

Covid19 and early intervention; understanding the impact, preparing for recovery  A story of success St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic High School in Swinton, Greater Manchester is showing what’s possible by providing Solutions Focused Coaching Early Help, to support students and their families during the Covid19 crisis.  What is it about SF Coaching that makes it able to meet the needs of young people, their families and […]

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Reading “Inventing ourselves – the secret life of the teenage brain” by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore; meeting 2

Reading “Inventing ourselves – the secret life of the teenage brain” by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore; meeting 2

  The ‘Follow the Arrows’ reading group* is a new initiative, helping bridge the current gap between published evidence and school practices around behaviour, inclusion, mental health and wellbeing in schools.  This week we were discussing chapters 5 Inside the living brain, 6 The ever plastic brain, 7 Social mind, social brain, and 8 Understanding other people.  The book covered a broad sweep of neuroscience […]

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