Re-integrating students

As my teacher training continues and develops I fortunately had the opportunity to observe how a federation schools tries to re-integrate students back into the classroom.

I have seen how a pupil referral unit (PRU) operates in a normal environment and saw how they operate. I can see and understand their importance but after my recent experience would argue are they the most effective? 

My day began and there was a huge emphasis on breakfast and target setting for the day. This involved children sitting at a table together (extremely rare in some homes) and discussing the day ahead and their targets. I found this extremely effective as most students who access this facility may not have the opportunity to have breakfast at home. 

I was offered toast and a coffee by one student who, before he arrived had to get their younger sister up and dressed and then to school and also was their mothers' full time carer! Wow, I must have been bottom of their list but they still took the time to offer others breakfast. I found this to be enlightening, as I got to know this student it made me realise what they have to go through even before they get to school. With that in mind you must be able to appreciate how minor their shirt tucked in is on their agenda. That may happen a few times throughout the day and can turn into a major issue instead of the teacher approaching that in a different way! 

The day made me aware of some students' lives and why they may have been sent to this centre. The centre listens to their issues and supports them to try and be able to integrate them back into main stream education.

The day enlightened me on how important these places are but more importantly we, as teachers, must understand that each child has different issues so we may need to approach minor things in a different approach otherwise things may escalate very rapidly. 

Evolving Philosophy

As part of my PGCE I was fortunate to observe a particular school in Bath on a fascinating journey.

Upon arrival we were informed of the background and the location of the school. This school, although being in Bath is I'm the bottom 2% of deprived areas in the country. The school had failed ofsted and were on the brink of closing before their immense change. 

The school is still in it's developmental stages but already it is fascinating to see the determination and work ethic of the staff. 

I, as a trainee PE teacher, was placed I'm the PE department and was immediately taken by the philosophy that they've adopted and the rationale behind it. Although we were merely observing we were asked to complete a card sort exercise. We were  given about 40 cards that had desirables skills of a person. Ranging from physical skills to emotional skills and we were asked to take the role of a British and lions coach and chose 10 qualities that we thought would be desirable for a lions player. The outcome was inspirational, we had chose qualities such as passion, growth mindset and inspiring others instead of skills such as passing off both hands, strength and speed!

Upon reflection how many PE lessons are skill based first? A good lesson may include an element of developing the whole child! So if we think that skills are not as desirable as skills necessarily then why are the vast majority of PE lessons skills based! 

My small experience of this school has definitely got me questioning my own philosophy and as a trainee it will constantly develop. I have been truly inspired by this one school and it solidifies my belief that this is such an exciting time to be a trainee teacher

It's a question that has so many responses and most of them a straight forward but different depending on who you ask.
Today we interviewed teachers, NQTs, students and support staff and asked them all the same question. It is very interesting to hear the different responses. Words such as consistency and honesty were key throughout. Obviously, the most important responses we received were from the children and what was interesting is they preferred teachers to personalise the learning to suit their needs, hold no grudges, be approachable and be fair in their rewards and sanctions. I feel that it is a great experience to get the opinions of the children so you can best adapt your teaching to ensure they benefit from your lessons.