Author Archives: admin

Settling in to a new term- excerpt from my making a difference book

Posted on September 7, 2020 by admin

Settling in Focus for the half term For this half term we are going to be focusing on and thinking about getting to know and build relationships with the children in your class. The first half term is crucial for … Continue reading →

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Back to school

Posted on September 8, 2019 by admin

Thought this might be useful to help children’s transition back to school and in the coming weeks.

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Behaviour that may indicate more support is needed with transition

Posted on June 30, 2019 by admin

As transition approaches in school, look out for the following behavioural changes that may indicate a child needs extra support: Start to become clingier to you Demonstrate a difficulty managing change Begins asking about their new class and new teacher … Continue reading →

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Free Reflective Language Poster

Posted on May 19, 2019 by admin

This free poster introduces the concept of reflective language with some examples for you to try in school.  Reflective language is a highly effective and easy to use behaviour management approach which I teach to staff in primary schools across … Continue reading →

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Is this child being dramatic or is it a lack of resilience?

Posted on April 28, 2019 by admin

I observed some behaviour from a 10 year old this week which was referred to as being dramatic and overreacting, which made me wonder about how this child was feeling and what he may have been trying to communicate. He … Continue reading →

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Try a different way of responding to behaviour this week

Posted on March 10, 2019 by admin

Instead of the usual way of responding to behaviour which usually involves giving an instruction, try a more exploratory approach and see what happens Instead of: Try  this: Sit still I can see you’re finding it hard to sit still, … Continue reading →

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“I might get it wrong….”

Posted on January 27, 2019 by admin

This week a teacher asked me what he could do about a 10 year old boy in his class who kept finding excuses why he couldn’t do much writing in class. The child was often preoccupied, daydreaming and never produced … Continue reading →

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How to help a child who can’t sit still at carpet time

Posted on October 14, 2018 by admin

I am constantly asked by teachers in school how to manage a child who can’t sit still at carpet time so thought it would be useful to share some ideas. I often observe children at this time and these children … Continue reading →

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How survival strategies can be misinterpreted

Posted on September 30, 2018 by admin

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how behaviours in school can be misunderstood, its so important that we try and understand the feelings behind the behaviour, rather than making our own judgements and interpretations Hyper-vigilance = being nosy … Continue reading →

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The Child who won’t put pen to paper

Posted on September 16, 2018 by admin

Does this sound familiar… I’ve had a few conversations with teachers this week about children in their class who are producing very little or no work.   There may be several possible reasons for this behaviour including children being worried … Continue reading →

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