Author Archives: admin
Settling in to a new term- excerpt from my making a difference book
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
Posted in Making a Difference
Tagged relationships, settling in, strategies, transition
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Back to school
Thought this might be useful to help children’s transition back to school and in the coming weeks.
Posted in Behaviour, neglect, primary school, Reflective language, Relationships, self regulation, Stress, trauma
Tagged anxiety, new year, primary school, settling in, strategies, transition
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Behaviour that may indicate more support is needed with transition
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
Posted in anxiety, Behaviour, Making a Difference, primary school, Relationships, Transition
Tagged anxiety, behaviour strategies, primary school, strategies, transition
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Free Reflective Language Poster
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
Posted in Making a Difference, Reflective language
Tagged behaviour strategies, child, children, emotional well-being, managing behavour, primary school
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Is this child being dramatic or is it a lack of resilience?
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
Posted in anxiety, Behaviour, emotional wellbeing, self regulation
Tagged emotional distress, emotional responses, resilience
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Try a different way of responding to behaviour this week
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
Posted in Uncategorized
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“I might get it wrong….”
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
Posted in anxiety, Behaviour, Helping, Making a Difference, Relationships
Tagged emotional well-being, resilience
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How to help a child who can’t sit still at carpet time
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
Posted in anxiety, Behaviour, emotional wellbeing
Tagged feelings, resilience, school, self regulation, strategies, well being
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How survival strategies can be misinterpreted
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
Posted in adoption, Behaviour, emotional wellbeing, foster/adoption, fostering, LAC interventions healing, Relationships
Tagged adoption, anxiety, behaviour, emotional well-being, fostering, LAC
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The Child who won’t put pen to paper
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
Posted in anxiety, Behaviour
Tagged anxiety, behaviour, Making a Difference, reflective language, well being
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