I don’t think behaviour has changed in the slightest (27 years in front of inner city kids). What has changed is funding. There is virtually no support for complex needs and SEMH. This is where the difference is visible. Our SEND provision is in crisis.

The moment someone tells me they were smacked as a child and 'it never did me any harm', I know it did.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Today the government, paraphrasing the coroner, chose “Transparency and ease of message” over “teacher welfare”.

If they had to use a single word, we wish they’d chosen ‘Compassion’.

Care of Julia Waters, the words of #RuthPerry , someone we knew, loved and respected:

'Boarding School Boys Rule Britain, At What Cost?'
New podcast in The New Statesman , intervwng Richard Beard & Andrew Motion.
'The idea is to break down the child & then to remould them in a form where they will be ready to serve the Empire unquestioningly.'
newstatesman.com/podcasts/2024/…

Our brain is a social organ,it doesn't evolve in vaccum. It cannot develop without another human being.These developmental processes are shaped by social bonds and interactions, gathering experiences & repetitions that drive growth & brain development. 🧠🌱

Action for children-📢 Introducing 'Shattered lives, stolen futures: The Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children'.

Read our full report: bit.ly/4cmVfdk

#CriminalExploitation #CountyLines #Safeguarding

‘If they don’t like it, they can go elsewhere’. This is why high control schools will never work for all.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

The Michaela ruling shows exactly why high control school environments aren’t scalable - and why problems ensure when all the schools in an area…

I find this stuff so bizarre. I can't see any justification for this level of rigidity and inflexibility.

Invited to deliver keynote at Nuffield Trust today.

Grateful direct lived experience, Not Fine in School family voice & some of the solutions we’ve helped to build was shared.

Research, thinking, policy development & delivery must include this to be effective & appropriate. 👍🏻

If you want to measure the heartbeat of a school, speak to the new kid, the new parent, the student teacher, the ECT, the supply teacher.

They will be able to tell you about the culture of the school.

Ed Dorrell An overloaded curriculum, increasingly controlled behaviour policies, stressed out teachers, shortage of staff, inappropriate levels of testing might play a part too, as well as poverty. The UK is one of the unhappiest places in the world yet other countries had lockdowns too.

It's primary school NOT university or a workplace. It's meant to be fun and interesting and not too stressful for children or staff. Focus on that and children will want to turn up and they will behave (on the whole). End.

Basically, our school is a humane place with reasonable expectations, sensible rules and nice people working hard for the benefit of children and their families. Our families appreciate this (on the whole - you can never please everyone). Our curriculum is broad too.

I'm very grateful to work in a school where this is definitely NOT the case. Our staff & pupil wellbeing surveys show vast majority feel safe and happy. Recent parent surveys show vast majority are happy with the school and way it's run. Behaviour in good shape overall. Why?🧵

This is key:'the persistence of attendance issues may speak to a wider discontent with the education system, with more students reflecting a desire for an education that reflects their diversity & the challenges of modern childhood' Centre for Mental Health tinyurl.com/yc4p6b4k

One in three school leaders in England sought help for their own mental health in 2023.

Ofsted is the number one cause of stress.

Stress, suffering, anxiety and fear should never just be par of the course.

We mustn't normalise suffering.

stevebheadteacher.wordpress.com/2023/12/17/ref…

If school uniform is about social levelling and not about preparing children for work, why the shirts and ties?

And if it’s about social levelling, why withhold education from children with minor uniform infractions by sending them to isolation?

Schools tend to be busy, noisy, crowded places. To say school is the best place for everyone is to misunderstand neurodivergence and different sensory needs. ⁦Square Peg⁩ bbc.co.uk/news/uk-688310…

What blinkin' bargain!
Mick Waters, Courageousleader, Square Peg, Dame Ann Limb DBE DL 🏳️‍🌈, Liz Robinson & so much more for just 80 quid if you work in a school 💃🏾🥳👨🏾‍🏫

The rise in school absences coincides with the rise in childhood poverty, mental health problems and longer waiting times for support. The government ‘must reduce the use of sanctions’.

Thank you for this important report Centre for Mental Health and those who contributed Square Peg.