PSHE

PSHE (73)

Supporting the children of divorce

If you’re an educator, you will know the difficulties that can come with having a child in your class who is going through, or has just gone through, a divorce. They can be moody, irrational, angry and generally act out.

Combating student stress through communication

I have spent most of my career encouraging communication and how it is, and always will be, the key to success. To many people this is obvious, though as adults we tend to forget that teenagers prefer to be non-committal and secretive, if not a little uncooperative.

Tackling anxiety among young people

Anxiety is a natural, normal feeling that everyone experiences from time to time – but it can become a problem if it is persistent and restricts one’s ability to function effectively in everyday life.

Originally published on 13th October 2015

Putting a value on values education

Three years ago I was listening to the BBC Radio 4 Education Debates. The discussion focused on what we should teach our children in school. It included a clip from an enthusiastic boy who talked about the values he had been learning: respect, honesty and determination. A member of the expert panel was dismissive, claiming a school curriculum should be about skills and knowledge, not “wishy-washy” values. Yet this was 2012: the ...

Top 10 tips to effectively teach young people about wellbeing

Teaching young people about risk taking and their wellbeing is just as critical as studying. How can we encourage pupils and students to become more aware of the risks they are likely to face as part of growing up and help them to make positive decisions?

Coaching healthy and respectful masculinity in schools

As I get older – I’m 47, and feeling every minute of it – I definitely have a sense that now is the time to ‘do it’, whatever that ‘it’ is. Having suffered a stroke not long ago helps focus the mind in that regard, as does having kids. And so I’m delighted that something came my way at work (I’m an enrichment and collaboration coordinator for an educational consortium ...

Introducing… Tiger Teachers!

I have been meaning to write this article about my thoughts after watching the BBC programme Chinese School in the summer. The documentary is about having four Chinese teachers in Bohunt School (oversubscribed mixed comprehensive school rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted) teach pupils the Chinese way. I feel that the Chinese teachers always had really high expectations of all the pupils they taught, and had sheer determination to see this ...

Essex to Bangladesh: Embracing the global vision!

We at Bower Park Academy in Collier Row, Romford, Essex continue to educate staff, students and the community through our amazing (and self-labelled) global vision. With connections around the globe, headteacher Mrs Morrison and I believe that the global vision programme will help take the school to good and outstanding. With knowledge, experience and British Council programmes, our latest venture is looking to impact how we teach Mathematics!

How to develop critical thinkers in your classroom

“Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.” Lau and Chan (philosophy.hku, 2015)

How to empower learners to live smarter

Deliberate questioning sparks curiosity, unlocks learners’ ideas and helps them to think deeply, gain clarity and make more sense of a range of topics, issues and concerns that are important to themselves, relationships, society and the environment - in short, the fast-changing world in which they are growing up. With the aid of a framework based upon Rudyard Kipling’s poetic “I keep six honest serving men” - ...