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.
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