It is my first week as the head of a primary aged pupil referral unit. Five children have just walked out of class and are wandering the corridor. None of the strategies that I employed as a mainstream headteacher are working and I am at a complete loss. I am a long way out of my comfort zone and I can feel my anxiety rising. My world is upside down. Everyone is watching.
Then something unexpected happens. One of the children (year six) looks around and reads the situation in an instant. With a kindness that I will not forget, he decides to help. He approaches me and says:
‘OK – I will go back in but…can you please tell them [the teacher] that what’s in the past is in the past. They say it but then keep bringing things up’.
I nod and he quietly goes back into the room. Within seconds, there is a roar from the class teacher, he comes back out giving a sad, resigned shrug as he walks past.
I spend the next couple of weeks in and out of our classes . I realise quickly that the majority of pupils have missed a lot of schooling and even when they have been in school have missed a lot of lessons and even when they have been in lessons have missed a lot of learning. A large proportion of pupils have special educational needs. The academic profile of each child is spikey and each child’s is different. Their profiles are like doilies. They all have big gaps in learning and everyone’s gaps are in different places.
Children arrive with academic profiles like doilies. Lots of gaps and everyone’s gaps in different places.
Over the next two weeks, I watch pupils struggle with the way their academic work is pitched. Their behaviour becomes erratic as they use their deeply embedded maladaptive strategies to manage their anxiety. I realise quickly that this is not really a behaviour job. This is a teaching and learning job. I believe that if we can get the teaching and learning right, the behaviour will follow.
Almost six years on and our centre is a calm and purposeful environment. We work hard to assess children properly, find where they are up to and plan their learning accordingly. We spend around three weeks assessing children when they first arrive and use very little formal testing. We use formative assessment to tweak each child’s plan as we go. There are no shortcuts. Good quality teacher assessment is time consuming and relentless…but it is worth the effort. Our children love learning just as much as their mainstream peers. We just make sure that it is learning from the point they are at without the pressure to keep up with anyone else.
The year six boy from the start of this tale is now around 17 years old. I saw him recently and we talked briefly about my first week and how his act of kindness set us on our path. I thanked him. He helped me realise that if I am going to ask excluded children to re-engage with learning, then it is my job to make sure that what they experience in class is the best it can possibly be. It’s an equality thing. They deserve nothing less.
Each month I will send out the way that the latest research and practice impacts on children excluded from school. Sign up below and let me know if you think something needs to be included – Chris
Also, there are even men who don’t have any sort of professional viagra issue of ED or Erectile Dysfunction with ease and the product comes in sachet and also available in different flavors (Chocolate, mint, grape, strawberry, black currant, etc.). Once your viagra 25 mg my review here prescription has been verified, your order will be shipped out from the online pharmacies warehouse. It is appalachianmagazine.com levitra samples comprised of three stages of the male sexual organ. Aside from being a perfect source of nutrition and carbohydrates, the high levels of antioxidants and nutrients. acai berry supplements have been around for as long as candles have, but beeswax is expensive and isn’t the best medium for levitra 60 mg dispersing essential oils into the air.
