Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act sets up a new service via the Local Government Ombudsman so that parents and children can raise issues if they are unhappy.
A pupil or parent can turn to the new complaints service where they feel they have sustained "injustice" as a result of something a head teacher or governing body of a school did or failed to do.
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Added by Mike Temple on December 23, 2009 at 10:41am —
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I read a comment from Sarah on the ning creators site describing her network. She is clearly dyslexic and has found school to be a very difficult place to cope with. I know many of our disaffected kids in schools and non-attenders have issues around reading and writing and many of them are dyslexic. Lessons which are not differentiated for the children who have these literacy issues may work up to the age of 8 years or so, but after that, there's a great growth in self-awareness and self-worth,…
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Added by Mike Temple on December 19, 2009 at 11:28am —
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It's around this time each year I really feel for some of our kids in schools. Today's a snow day for many, and that will have been a relief. How many times will they have heard 'Christmas this and Christmas that, presents, friends, family, holiday, Christmas tree, Christmas lights and yet for many of them, Christmas will be another day of struggle.
The TV has its role to play - I have just watched a little of Kirsty Alsop making presents and baskets of food for her friends. The table should con…
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Added by Mike Temple on December 18, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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I like the approach Pete Reilly has when looking at the current thinking in T & L around the world. When working with some of the most disaffected students of all ages, it seems that the style, content and pace of the lesson can very often really impact their capacity to cope for a whole lesson or day. I have many similar ideas to Pete's but I thought he put it quite well in a couple of posts on his blog
Ed Tech journeys, whi…
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Added by Mike Temple on December 15, 2009 at 6:35pm —
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I have always advocated the use of non-teaching support adults for children who have issues during the day. Too often teachers are constrained by time issues, the need to gain respect, keep distance, compliance requirements in the behaviour programme etc and all this can lead to rushed outcomes, unlistened to children and frustration all round.
So it's good to see we are celebrating the great practice of using pastoral managers. These non-teaching staff are pivotal in raising self-esteem, reduci…
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Added by Mike Temple on December 6, 2009 at 3:05pm —
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Well following the new Ofsted guidelines which include safeguarding, St Wulstan's Catholic Primary, in Wolstanton, is thought to be one of the first schools nationwide to go into 'special measures' on the back of tough new standards.
The Ofsted report reveals teachers often shout at youngsters to control their behaviour, children lack confidence in how staff deal with their problems, and the school is failing to comply with some statutory requirements.
Although the report is yet to be publishe…
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Added by Mike Temple on December 1, 2009 at 11:30am —
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From the very interesting blog
Blogush
This article discusses the issues we have with labelling children and in doing so, releasing some of the baggage we carry from our own experiences
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Added by Mike Temple on November 25, 2009 at 10:44am —
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I came across the blog
Autisable and thought it showed a good perspective from a parent's point of view.
The post I read on '
Discipline for those with autism' was interesting and it mentioned separating out behaviour that was deliberate and under the child's control from the others.
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Added by Mike Temple on November 13, 2009 at 11:22am —
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I always like to keep my eyes open to schools that use a supportive approach to managing behaviour and South Dartmoor Community College in Devon seems to be right on that track. Rather than having a punitive approach to behaviour, they use a 'parking' system to take students out of the class room and realign and repair the situation. They use these opportunities to coach and influence the students. Often this approach is take in the classroom, and there is no need for the students to be parked,…
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Added by Mike Temple on October 10, 2009 at 10:50am —
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Having read the last 3 TES papers together, I was not surprised to see a dearth of real substance around the issues surrounding pupils in school, especially those who are disaffected. Following my last post, it would seem that continued engagement in worthwhile, purposeful, goal oriented activity is essential for future wellbeing and even survival in the following decades.
The article '
Pupil views?No, let them make…
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Added by Mike Temple on August 24, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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When I saw this article,
Shut up and move on, in the TES, I thought the 'shut up' bit was a bit harsh and recall the horror from the children when this phrase was used. They all reminded that it should be 'Be quiet' so I was interested in how the article would pan out
It's a new approach suggesting ways that childre…
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Added by Mike Temple on August 24, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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One in six teenagers out of work or education for a long period could be dead within 10 years, a senior government education advisor says.
Jon Coles, director of schools for England at the Department for Children, Schools and Families quoted anecdotal research from the north of England.
He said he was "profoundly shocked" by the figures and that he hoped they wer…
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Added by Mike Temple on August 8, 2009 at 9:30am —
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I think there are many pupils in schools who find the environment very stressful and as a consequence, show what appear to eb disruptive behaviours. After all, behaviour is only a reflection of emotional state, and if environments cause poor emotional states, then it clearly follows that there may be less than desirable responses.
I do think the best schools and managers know this and make provisions for their pupils who find the rigour and inflexibility of their learning environments just too m…
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Added by Mike Temple on July 30, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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This is a great little site with some free emotional literacy games
Have a go at
spotting the smiling faces - it's not as easy as it looks, for some of us
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Added by Mike Temple on July 24, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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Many of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils in our schools also come from families with major issues; mental illness, disability, substance abuse or simply poor parenting. It is, in my opinion, a bit of a heavy-handed and less than enlightened approach to blame the parents for the behaviours of their children in school. In fact, threatening an already over-burdened, perhaps, single parent with legal action is likely to lead to far greater disaffection and disengagement with the school p…
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Added by Mike Temple on July 24, 2009 at 9:00am —
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From the
Parenting-N-Families blog - Raising Your Kids and Keeping Your Cool a great post with lots of ideas and strategies that mirror the SBM principles
Aggressive Behavior in Young Children
I like the choices aspect built in to the resolution of issues and conflicts
Time-outs - “You can either calm down or we will leave the room, you decide.” “I see a boy…
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Added by Mike Temple on June 21, 2009 at 9:00am —
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What an excellent post from the Family Insights blog on the consequences of using punishment as the short-term tool for managing behaviour. Sure, we may get the instant response we require as controlling adults, but what are the spinoffs in the long-term with attitudes to this approach. With SBM, I have always considered unwanted pieces of behaviour as just that. Not acts to initiate punishment, but more opportunities to coach the better way forward. With this in mind, we can also consider emoti…
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Added by Mike Temple on June 20, 2009 at 8:30am —
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I like this piece of work from Mrs Levin in the USA and I like how it's set out.
The statement
I would prefer to have a personal connection with a child and help him solve his problems by giving him choices and empowering him, these are valuable life lessons that a child will be able to internalize and use in daily life.
works well with the SBM ethos and aims to coach the children through the situations that occur. She also uses the Love & Logic process by making the child responsi…
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Added by Mike Temple on June 18, 2009 at 9:47am —
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Once again, the positive approach is hitting the news, this time with a project to raise attendance in deprived areas.
Trips to the cinema and family meals out may not be the most obvious way to tackle truancy, but one social enterprise is using precisely these to combat absenteeism among schoolchildren in some of the most deprived areas of the country.
Motiv aims to reduce truancy by rewarding good attendance with meals in Nando’s restaurants, family outings to Odeon cinemas and vouchers fo…
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Added by Mike Temple on June 12, 2009 at 10:05am —
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I like this list of student derived attributes for a 'good' teacher
* They treat us in a nice, friendly manner
* They recognize when we do something right
* They can have a laugh and are cheerful.
* They give out information in a fun and interesting way
* They trust us
* They're firm and fair
* They have the same rules for everyone
* They are always in control
* They are there for us, they care, they listen
read more from this article here…
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Added by Mike Temple on June 10, 2009 at 4:00pm —
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