Can we control the storms of life?

Some people are fascinated with storms – whether it’s following the weather forecasts religiously, chasing twisters or watching all the relevant news reports. My youngest son has a real interest in Tsunamis at the moment – watching them on You Tube and talking about them. What is this fascination about I wonder? Storms are powerful […]

We’re always being assessed

Two of my children are now in Secondary School and the assessing begins – in fact it started way back in Primary School. Assessment of levels of achievement each year, targets to reach, standards to maintain, constant measuring and assessing where children are against the average child. What is an average child though? I don’t […]

Playing to your strengths

The summer holidays have well and truly ended as this week we’ve seen the children go back to school and for many of us we’re gone back to work. I started workshops again this week with three brilliant schools in Bradford, Redditch and Walsall. I was struck again by the amazing commitment from teachers and […]

We all need a witness to our lives

I was watching a film this week and someone was asking this lady why she had married her husband, she said in reply “because we all need a witness to our lives, the ups and downs and comings and goings”. This has made me ponder a lot this week on that thought – that we […]

Can we take a different approach in education?

I hear many times from educators that they are constrained by the government targets and drives these days. I can see that in how they feel they have to run their schools. But my question today is – do they HAVE to run them like that? Are we really so constrained that we can’t take […]

Brick by brick

This weeks theme for our blog buddies post is ‘build’ and a song by Newton Faulkner has been running around my head – especially these few lines:- Look how far we’ve come Look what we’ve made Started from nothing, building Brick by brick by brick by brick by brick by brick by brick. Of course […]

This is my childhood: there will be no other

‘This is my childhood: there will be no other’ was the title of a conference I attended today in Bristol run by BASPCAN (British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) and DNA (David Niven Associates). It was all about the importance of early years intervention and the fact that those […]

A different way to ski the mountain

I recently listened and watched a talk from a 13 year old on TED Talks which I wanted to share. It amazed me for a number of reasons: His confidence and the way he articulates his ideas. The ideas themselves – the fact that he has created his own learning environment and seems to be […]

What will people remember of you?

With the passing of Nelson Mandela this week there’s been so much said about the impact one man has had on a world. It’s made me think some more about the power of one person – one persons life on another. As people working in education it can be difficult sometimes to see the impact […]

High School hates

Mine is a somber reflection on school life tonight – I came across this quote recently and it really resonated with my experiences with my two eldest at High School. ‘I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that’. Dick Gregory  Schools seems to be a place for learning […]

What should a 4 year old know?

There was an article in the paper this week that was passed around Facebook and it got me thinking about when our children start school and what they actually do in those first few years. I know with most adopted children, and other vulnerable children I’m sure, those first few years at school can be […]

A shout out to the Teaching Assistants

I would like to give a shout out to the Teaching Assistants today.  They are the much loved, much forgotten and much needed people within our schools.  I know that without them my children would not be able to learn a thing! With the recent news item stating that the government are looking at reducing […]

There’s a hole in my bucket

“He’s just attention seeking, if you give him attention it won’t do him any good” – this phrase and words to these effect are typical words we hear as parents  and professionals. When you see a child tugging on their parents clothes, demanding to be seen and heard it’s very often felt that the child […]

When do we stop running?

My kids love to run. They run from the bedroom to the bathroom, they run downstairs, they run to the car, they run from the car into school. All day they run. It struck me this morning as I dropped them off – when do we stop running? When do we think it’s inappropriate to […]

Self-Regulation in traumatised children in education

Enabling children to be in the right frame of mind, or state of mind more like, to be able to learn is quite difficult for traumatised children. Due to the anxiety they feel and the reptilian part of the brain that is fired up when they are anxious, being able to then access the front […]

How to recognise an Avoidant Attachment Style

Those of you who work with vulnerable children in any capacity know that understanding their needs is the bedrock of being able to connect with them.  A child who has experienced trauma in their early life will have developed coping strategies to help them get through their schooling. In primary they are protected a little […]

Relationships in Learning

What would you say is the most important attribute to being a good teacher? The knowledge needed on the subject you teach? The ability to maintain control and discipline of a classroom? Being up to date on the current issues children face? All important aspects. However undoubtedly at the top of that list would be […]

Dr Bruce Perry on Education

Dr Bruce Perry is one of my favourite gurus on early trauma in children.  Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., is an internationally-recognised authority on children in crisis. Dr. Perry is the Provincial Medical Director in Children’s Mental Health for the Alberta Mental Health Board. In addition, he is the Senior Fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy a […]