Category: Uncategorized
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The Rituals That Root Us.
There are days when the world moves too fast.When our minds spin, our feet hover above the ground, and the question returns — Where do I belong? Sometimes, the answer doesn’t come in words.It comes in the lighting of a candle.The pouring of tea.The kneeling down.The touching of earth.The passing of bread.A breath, taken in…
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Improving Attendance – more than just a statistic.
A Guest Blog from Olly Jefferies – Headteacher. USJ is a small primary school in the heart of a coastal town. Half of our families are in receipt of the Pupil Premium grant, 54% of pupils are on the SEND register, and 6% have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Each of these figures…
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When students feel like they belong, they are ready to learn and grow
A Guest Blog by Lisa Hanifan On a non-uniform day, Ilyan did not wear his street clothes like his peers; instead he proudly entered the classroom wearing his thobe. He didn’t just arrive that day; he showed up. And as he confidently made his way to his desk, he sat a bit taller and held…
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Children don’t behave for teachers they like, they behave for teachers they trust, and who trust them.
I have read a number of blogs recently, some by significant educational heavyweights, that equate relational behaviour management to ‘children only behaving for teachers that they like.’ This, overly simplistic and inaccurate view of relational behaviour management exemplifies a total misunderstanding of the deep and hard work that goes into relational behaviour management. In this…
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The Dog Who Learned Through Love.
A short fable about relational education. A puppy, beaten and neglected, was brought at last to a rescue home. Its body healed, but its heart still trembled at every sound. One day, a man came to adopt it. At first, he spoke kindly, but when the dog chewed his shoes through fear and confusion, the…
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Navigating the Seven C’s of Belonging
A framework for securing belonging in your school or classroom. A rising tide does not lift all boats. Some boats are full of holes, some have rotten timbers and others are rudderless, adrift in stormy seas. In order for the tide to be able to lift each boat and keep it afloat, the sailor must…
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Belonging- The Results Are In!
What does Belonging feel like for students and teachers? Over the last term, I have been working with a group of colleagues across a city to talk about Belonging and how we might harness it as a superpower to generate enhanced outcomes both educationally and in terms of wellbeing for our young people. We know…
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Belonging is the Answer – What’s Your Question?
Having interviewed many candidates, for many posts, over many years, when asked for advice on interview technique I have always said, if you are stumped for an answer, the answer is always relationships. How do you raise standards in a school? – Relationships. How do you improve student behaviour? – Relationships. How do you improve…
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The Business of Belonging
WHAT DID PETER DRUCKER NEVER ACTUALLY SAY? ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ Peter Drucker (possibly, but probably not, more likely Steve Jobs or Jack Welch That is to say, belonging matters just as much in business as it does in education. Human beings need to belong, they need to find significance and they need to…
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The Song of Belonging.
Ever since I can remember, I have loved music. That’s not unusual, we all have a deep, primal connection with sound and rhythm. It’s in our DNA, our neural systems are wired for sound. The music we like however, and the music that we don’t is more inspired by our history and experiences than our…
The Belonging Collective 