If not now, when? It’s our children’s lives were talking about.

If not now, when? It’s our children’s lives were talking about.

The Problem  Talk from Twitter this week; A July 2020 report from the then new Children’s Commissioner (England) ‘Vulnerable teenagers; where did it go wrong?’  Shining a light on the extent and impact of child vulnerability in England, focusing in particular on children with undiagnosed mental health issues, those excluded from mainstream education and children in gangs  From these conversations there were three clear flashpoints: […]

Read Me Leave comment

Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – the way forward

Solutions Focused Coaching in Schools – the way forward

Case note 1: “Some members of my team who are in school now starting to deliver Solutions Focused Coaching sessions shocked the socks off the school and surprised the young people – two very, very good sessions with two disillusioned young people. It was an incredibly uplifting professional experience to break through that original cynicism, disillusionment, disengagement …. They actually came into school to meet […]

Read Me Leave comment

‘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 […]

Read Me Leave comment

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 […]

Read Me Leave comment

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 […]

Read Me Leave comment

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 – […]

Read Me Leave comment

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 […]

Read Me 2 Comments

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 […]

Read Me Leave comment

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. […]

Read Me Leave comment

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 […]

Read Me Leave comment