Re-engage

Importance of positively reintegrating students back into school

Dec 8, 2022 | Pupils | 0 |

Reading time: 4 minutes

Whether returning to early childhood programs or school for the first time or beginning them for the first time at all may provide additional hurdles for students, especially during times of increased stress. Adults and children feel greater anxiety because of the risk to their lives. This is an experience of communal trauma on a scale that has never been seen before. Children have simultaneously seen a rise in the stress levels of adults and the community as they have lost their routines, structures, and social networks. During this lockdown period, families have lived through various experiences. While some of these experiences may have been relatively positive, others may have experienced bereavement, ill health, elevated stress and anxiety, increased mental health difficulties, domestic abuse, or other forms of abuse.

5 behaviour management strategies to help classroom management

Oct 19, 2022 | Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

As teachers, we release that we cannot have direct supervision over every single student when delivering a lesson resulting in lapses in concentration for some. This is why it is crucial that students are aware of what is expected in terms of good behaviour within the school. Here, we discuss our top 5 strategies to help with behaviour management in the classroom.

1. Know the school behaviour policy inside out

Our first tip is to ensure you are fully aware of the whole-school behaviour management policy. These vary widely from school to school, so it is essential that you know the wording of the policy, whether it be a “C1” or a “first warning”, and what this means for pupils. This is imperative for two reasons – firstly, to ensure that you are applying it fairly and correctly, and secondly, to remove any discussion or protests from the child.

Why alternative provision can help SEND learners

Nov 5, 2021 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Students with special educational needs deserve an equal chance at education and alternative provision can be a viable option for them.

Having a positive alternative provision where students are learning

Sep 10, 2020 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

A positive alternative provision provides students with meaningful learning activities with meaningful learning activities which improves self esteem, engagement and subsequently quality of life and their relationship with those around them.

A positive alternative provision backs EDClass’ ethos of education for all. By providing a one-to-one support with a person or through a system they like, they are more likely to engage in education, learn and develop.

This blog post takes a look at the benefits of having a positive alternative provision where students are learning.

Assessing and tracking students accurately and continuously

Sep 10, 2020 | School Improvement | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Tracking students is essential, especially in modern times where students are behind and the race to catch up is on.

By tracking students accurately and monitor your school can:

Find precisely where individual students are in their learning against a set of learning intentions and success criteria
Help students know what their next steps in learning are, which facilitates significant increases in their students’ achievements

Parental and pupil engagement are boosted by confidently and accurately reporting performance feedback to them. But why is it critical at the present moment in time to track and assess students accurately and continuously? This blog post explains.

Threatening and negative behaviour, resulting in isolation, fixed term exclusion or possible permanent exclusion

Sep 8, 2020 | Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Covid-19 is threatening and negative behaviour, resulting in isolation, fixed term exclusion or possible permanent exclusion could follow as a result.

That is the view of the Department for Education which stated last week: “It is likely that adverse experiences or lack of regular attendance and classroom discipline may contribute to disengagement with education upon return to school, resulting in increased incidence of poor behaviour.”

Low level disruptive behaviour which could occur could include refusal to wear a mask, increased bullying and threatening staff and pupils. This blog post takes a look at the issues, the consequences and how they can be avoided.

Raising standards of behaviour: an EDClass guide

Aug 25, 2020 | Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: < 1 minute

Raising standards of behaviour remains a significant challenge for many schools.

Many actions can be taken in order for schools to improve. No matter how skilled the teacher, intervention at a policy level from a senior leader can have far greater an impact than a classroom teacher can.

How can your school create a culture to raise standards of behaviour? This blog post explains.

Students in inclusion units: are you getting the most out of them?

Aug 10, 2020 | Inclusion | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Are you getting the most out of students in inclusion units?

According to the Department for Education, over half of secondary schools use internal inclusion units.

An inclusion unit is a specific resource which ensures parity of opportunity for all by allowing teachers to teach, students to learn, and those learning with additional needs to be supported. According to the Welsh Government it should not be used as a sin bin, dumping ground or holding cell.

Inclusion units provide schools with an opportunity to address pupils’ individual needs. But are they effective in doing so? This blog post explains.

School catch up: changes to literature and history curriculum

Aug 5, 2020 | Exams | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

A school catch up plan is in operation within many schools in the UK. Scotland have announced plans to get all pupils back to school over the next two weeks. In England, pupils will return full-time from September.

But the need to get children caught up on many essentials means changes to the curriculum in others.

Exam body, Ofqual, said they had “significant concern” about school’s abilities to cover all the subjects that form the basis of exam questions.

What could this mean for how education looks in 2020-21? This blog post explains.

Every pupil to benefit from Government school funding

Jul 21, 2020 | School Management | 0 |

Reading time: 5 minutes

Every pupil can benefit from Government school funding – with schools set to receive a £4.8 billion boost in 2021 compared with 2019.

The school funding settlement is worth a total of £14.4 billion over three years – the biggest increase in a decade.

How will the funding work and how does it link to catch up premium? This blog post explains.

Alternative provision while excluded: all you need to know

Jul 17, 2020 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 5 minutes

Alternative provision while excluded is education and support which should be provided to children who are not able to attend school.

According to the Government: “Alternative provision is too often seen as a forgotten part of the education system, sidelined and stigmatised as somewhere only the very worst behaved pupils go. All pupils deserve high quality education, and while this is often the case, too many pupils are failed by the system and they are not receiving the education that they deserve.“

It is a legal requirement that alternative provision must be arranged for an excluded child from the sixth day of their exclusion from mainstream education (sixth day provision). But not every child in alternative provision has been excluded. This blog post is all you need to know about alternative provision while excluded.

How to reduce persistent absence – a quick guide

Jul 13, 2020 | Attendance | 0 |

Reading time: 4 minutes

Reducing persistent absence is an objective for almost all attendance officers.

Maintained schools must meet for 380 sessions or 190 days during any school year – and if schools are prevented from reaching this target they must find a way of holding extra sessions.

But what are the requirements for meeting attendance and what can be done to reduce persistent absence? This blog post explains.

Improving attendance: 5 top tips

Jul 8, 2020 | Attendance | 0 |

Reading time: 4 minutes

By improving attendance you can directly influence improved academic outcomes. Regular class attendance means students are provided with live teaching to both a whole classroom and can also receive tailored feedback.

The Ofsted framework judges schools in four areas: 1) Quality of education 2) Behaviour and attitudes 3) Personal development and 4) Leadership and management. Attendance is included in the Behaviour and attitudes judgement – so it is essential for schools to keep attendance high.

This blog post will explain how attendance is judged by Ofsted and 5 top tips for how attendance can be improved.

Common barriers to learning and how to eradicate them

Jul 7, 2020 | Inclusion | 0 |

Reading time: 4 minutes

A student’s ability and performance in education isn’t a simple issue of motivation. Barriers to learning are the barriers which stop students from achieving their goals.

Barriers to learning can be common or may be a one-off associated to individual students.

This blog post takes a look at common barriers to learning and how to overcome barriers to learning.

Behavioural repair – a quick guide

Jul 3, 2020 | Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: 7 minutes

There is a wide range of research on the ramifications of poor pupil behaviour and behavioural repair.

Though there may be a common perception that the younger generation is “worse than their predecessors“, due to behaviour repair the opposite is true.

When surveyed, 70-76% of teachers say that behaviour is good or better in their school. How is behavioural repair contributing to this and what can you do to ensure behaviour support in your classroom?

Set up alternative provision for non-attenders

Jun 26, 2020 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Alternative provision can be defined as education arranged outside of mainstream schools, by the school or local authority.

Schools can use such provision to try to prevent exclusions or to re-engage students in education.

Some students spend a significant proportion of their week away from their school or unit.

But why are they ideal for non-attenders?

Teaching Your Students Live From Anywhere

Jun 22, 2020 | Attendance | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Teaching from anywhere has become the new normal during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ability to keep your students learning, even when not together, is fundamental to your school’s offering and your children’s development.

This blog post explains how to utilise digital skills to create a virtual classroom in order to enable teaching from anywhere.

Government announces pupil catch up plans

Jun 20, 2020 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

The Government has issued a £1 billion fund in order to help children in England catch up on lost education.

Two funds have been announced: one for disadvantaged pupils and one for all pupil groups.

Estimations are that pupils have been left 12 months behind following the coronavirus pandemic. So the catch up plans have been welcomed, but what do they mean for students?

Do schools understand vulnerable pupils

Apr 1, 2020 | Pupils | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

It had been the case that some vulnerable pupils are deemed not suitable for mainstream classroom, relying on platforms such as EDLounge for their education.

Vulnerable children are now being encouraged to attend schools. Along with children of key workers, schools are taking in a small number of pupils. The majority stay at home isolated with their families.

But what do schools know of vulnerable pupils that have been off-site all year and how does this impact their education?

5 simple strategies…to increase parental involvement in schools

Oct 19, 2018 | Parents, School Improvement | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Between 1997 and 2007 parental involvement in schools sky rocketed. Over the course of a decade, more parents and guardians attended general meetings, had a meeting with a teacher, attended a school event or volunteered.

Improve attendance through effective behaviour management

Jan 22, 2018 | Behaviour, Attendance | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Poor attendance is seen by many as the simplest and most fundamental indicator of the overall quality of a school and its teaching.

And it’s not only appearances that schools with low attendance should be concerned about, as pupils who have low attendance are far more likely to fail their qualifications, and struggle to pick up the skills they need to successfully progress in adult life.

Vocational qualifications for disengaged students

May 11, 2017 | Curriculum, NEET | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

The negative connotations that come along with a student who is disengaged do little to help the pupil or school in tackling underlying issues, and in fact there has long since been a link between low teacher expectations and a self-fulfilling prophecy of a student who underperforms.

Allowing students to struggle in the traditional classroom setting has now been recognised as counterproductive for all – for teacher, for pupil and for fellow pupils.

How to Encourage Quiet Students to Participate in Class

Feb 16, 2017 | Teaching, Participation | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

There is often frustration among teachers who cannot get the quiet students to participate in class, and as a result it is not uncommon for their names to be called out randomly in class – which can be very damaging to their confidence, especially if they do not know the answer.

So when it comes to teaching a class that has a couple of quiet students, here are a few tips for getting them to participate in class.

How to Teach School Refusers

Jan 16, 2017 | Teaching | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Being a teacher is not an easy task, and while a good number of parents may tell you that you have an easy job, there are many who understand just how difficult things can be.

Of course, every teacher has their own methods, their own ways to connect with a class. However, this can be a lot more difficult when it comes to school refusers – the ones who rarely show up for your classes. Now this can be for a number of reasons (health, lack of interest/motivation), so here are a few tips for teaching different types of school refusers.

Under Pressure: Supporting Catch up Students

Jun 25, 2015 | Pupils, Inclusion, Teaching | 0 |

Reading time: < 1 minute

Last week at the Festival of Education held at Wellington College, Dame Stella Rimington, former head of MI5, ‘criticised the pressure put on children to perform in school and the rivalry this breeds between them’ (The Independent).

Disruptive Behaviour

May 28, 2015 | Behaviour | 1 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

As we have covered in blog and journal articles, along with our recent White Paper, disruptive behaviour can be relatively low level; such as repeatedly getting out of seats or ‘needing’ to go to the toilet as often as possible. However, it is the low-level disruption that can slowly bring the teacher to boiling point; and result in little or no learning taking place within the classroom as a whole.

High-level disruptive behaviour, such as aggression, abusive language or violence, endangers other pupils and staff; and brings everyone’s learning and teaching to a shuddering halt

Engaging Parents

May 26, 2015 | Parents, Participation | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

The dream for many a school is a cohort of students who all have supportive parents. Teaching would be effective, behaviour systems supported and funds raised by the PTA would enable trips to The Louvre for everyone. Well, maybe utopia is asking too much, but it is possible to engage your students’ parents and so improve their learning.

The first step is to work towards engaging parents in their child’s learning rather than trying to engage them with the school. This may sound like a petty distinction, but it is one that may mean the breaking down of many of the barriers to effective communication.

Strategies to Educate School Refusers

May 8, 2015 | Attendance, Alternative Curriculum, NEET, Participation | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

With the statutory requirement to report attendance figures comes the additional need to look at why pupils aren’t attending. School refusers make up some of these statistics and this covers those who simply don’t want to go to school or those who are phobic and become incredibly anxious when attending is suggested.

It’s important to get to the centre of why a child refuses to attend, it’s also crucial to put support in place through educational strategies.

In-House Alternative Provisions

May 6, 2015 | Alternative Curriculum, Behaviour, Pupils | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

For pupils with emotional and behavioural issues who find they are at threat of exclusion from their school, there are now a number of in-house alternative provisions which have been set up. These look to work with pupils and parents as a support mechanism without the need to move the pupil offsite.

The initial goal is to pinpoint the central problems if not already known and to then work over a period of time with the end target being the move back into their previous ‘mainstream’ year group.

Raising Self-Esteem in Students with Low Literacy and Numeracy

Apr 22, 2015 | Literacy and Numeracy, Curriculum, Life Skills | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Students who struggle with literacy or numeracy barriers can often have low self-esteem as they become more and more aware of their differences to their classmates who do not have the same struggles. This lack of self-esteem then becomes a barrier to them overcoming their difficulties, as they lose the will to try new tasks or commit themselves to activities that challenge them.

Raising the self-esteem of someone who has a genuine barrier is tricky, as their doubts have a basis in truth. You need to avoid false praise or platitudes and instead target things they really are good at to begin with. Build up their basic level of confidence and some of this will transfer onto their academic work.

Tackling gang culture in and out of school

Apr 3, 2015 | Behaviour, Life Skills, Pupils | 1 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

In previous years, gang culture was an issue which was a part of only inner-city life. Things have changed though and now schools in all environments; cities, towns and rural locations are looking to find ways to tackle gang culture. It’s an issue which can affect pupils whilst both in and out of school and whilst gang prevention work is happening, it’s more often than not a series of short term programmes rather than an ongoing realignment of the wider school environment.

Raising Aspiration with Parental Engagement

Mar 31, 2015 | Parents, Achievement, Alternative Curriculum, School Improvement | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

When schools are looking to raise aspiration, parental power is an invaluable and powerful way to enhance and introduce enthusiasm and motivation.

Success is seen at its highest when schools and parents work together as a partnership, but whilst almost all schools involve parents in activities at the school itself, this is parental involvement rather than engagement and does not directly affect achievement as opposed to direct parental engagement which increases aspiration for all the family.

Innovative Ways to Encourage Students to do Homework

Mar 11, 2015 | Homework, Behaviour, Participation | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

The success of a lesson can often depend on how many of the class have completed their previously set homework. If some haven’t attempted any or all of it, they are at an instant disadvantage in their knowledge of the activities ahead and they lack the achieving of set targets and goals.

The solution is to try to find innovative ways to encourage all the class to complete their homework on time. This way they stay up to date, their learning increases and they feel comfortable with tackling the next steps of the curriculum.

5 Simple Strategies…for Whole School Approaches to Reduce Exclusions

Feb 26, 2015 | Exclusion, Alternative Curriculum, Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Creating safe spaces, perhaps manned by learning mentors, empathetic staff members or even older members of the student cohort can provide a place that feels safe and supportive for students who are about to ‘blow’.

A system can be agreed in advance with students likely to use such a resource to allow them to exit a lesson or situation that is proving triggering for them, on the understanding that work must be caught up and that consequences exist for the misuse.

Preventing Persistent Absence and Truancy

Feb 17, 2015 | Attendance, Behaviour, Bullying | 2 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Truancy rates in the UK are among the highest in the developed world. One fifth of all UK teenagers admit to missing half a day of school in a two week period; in China it is less than one in 100.

Schools have been working hard to reduce truancy rates in line with current government policies. There are certainly signs that there are positive steps being achieved in that persistent absence figures reduced by a third between August 2013 and March 2014; in real figures this is a total of 7.7 million fewer school days lost.

Social Learning

Feb 10, 2015 | Teaching, Life Skills, Technology | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Social learning is a big trend within education. For any students using Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook as part of projects and research work, they are already participating in this area of teaching.

Many teachers may be unaware of the underpinning basics of what social learning is and how it can best be utilised in lesson time.

5 Simple Strategies…for Overcoming External Barriers

Nov 20, 2014 | SEND, Behaviour, Teaching | 1 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Routines will help in so many ways. They reduce stress levels in pupils on the Autistic Spectrum. They provide containment and structure for pupils with ADHD or social issues. They speed up your planning because you will know what type of task you are doing and when ahead of time: everyone’s a winner!

You may choose to have specific types of lessons on specific days, or to have a bank of structures that you draw on, which can be signposted to the class either ahead of time or at the start of the lesson. Find the system that suits you and your group(s).

Removing barriers to learning

Nov 20, 2014 | SEND, Teaching | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

The new SEN reforms have, more than ever, placed the emphasis on all classroom teachers to be ‘teachers of SEN’. This is not new information; in fact it is a sentence that has been repeated in almost every discussion about the reforms. It is the impact of this catch-all statement that will really be news.

Increasing numbers of children who would have been considered to have additional needs, and would be placed at either School Action or School Action Plus will now simply be members of the class.

Preventing Pupils Becoming NEET

Nov 6, 2014 | NEET, Alternative Curriculum, Life Skills | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

One fifth of all young people aged 16-24 don’t make the leap from school to work, a situation which can quickly become a cycle of failure and despondency.

The long term outlook for this group is one which will affect their wellbeing in a number of ways; their mental and physical health and their poor economic forecast. Typically, these pupils will come from a background of low-income and long standing issues and so there is a need for the best support possible to help this disadvantaged group to achieve as much as possible academically.

Using Technology to Engage Hard to Reach Learners

Aug 5, 2014 | ICT, Alternative Curriculum, Behaviour, Teaching | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

Whilst every year the media applauds those who attain incredible achievements with their GCSE or A level exams, there are many students left in the shadows who are unable to even dream of attaining similar success or may not be interested in attending school.

For many who fall into this category, a disadvantaged background is almost certainly a key element in the issue, there those who require assistance to learn even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills and there are those who become bored because they don’t feel challenged.

5 Simple Strategies…for Reducing Exclusions

Jun 18, 2014 | Exclusion, Attendance, Behaviour | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

Reducing the number of exclusions within any school always serves as a key priority, with many different schools employing a wide ranging form of techniques to greater or lesser success.

Here we will be looking at 5 of the simplest strategies that serve as essential elements to the reduction of any school’s exclusion rates.

EDLounge Case Study

Jun 6, 2014 | Alternative Curriculum, Attendance, Behaviour, EDLounge | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

The Rodillian Academy and EDLounge came together in September 2013 to look at how we could improve our existing online provision. This needed to meet national guidance on the use of alternative provision and, more importantly, provide high quality, appropriate work for students who were not accessing mainstream education for a fixed period of time.

We have developed a unique package to support students who are out of mainstream education, providing them with appropriate, accessible work that is accessed through a secure online platform.

Learning Outside the Classroom

May 8, 2014 | Homework, Behaviour, Life Skills, News | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

How often do you take lessons outside? The benefits of taking pupils outside the classroom to learn are well documented, with research conducted by Ofsted outlining advantages such as making subjects more vivid and interesting for pupils, enhancing their understanding, and developing pupils’ personal, social and emotional development. (Learning Outside the Classroom, 2008)

Repetition for revision

May 6, 2014 | Exams, Assessment, GCSE, Homework | 0 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

In this month’s issue of ED Journal, we explored a few methods we believed would be beneficial to a pupil’s revision programme. Although the majority of the article focused on technological aspects, the use of certain websites for example, there was one suggestion we included that did not require any kind of technology (although it certainly could be incorporated). I would like to look a little more in-depth at this strategy and the theory behind it.

How should we cater for different learning styles?

May 2, 2014 | Alternative Curriculum, Curriculum, EDClass | 10 |

Reading time: 2 minutes

I have recently been conducting some research around innovation in education. With ever-advancing technology, there seems to be new ideas cropping up daily which would be fantastic to utilise for education, whether it is in the classroom or for individual study.

Are you ready for assessment without levels?

Apr 30, 2014 | Assessment, Curriculum, News, Ofsted | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

September 2014 sees a major shakeup in the secondary school curriculum and assessment methods – and the indications are that many schools are still not fully prepared.

Admittedly, there has not been a great deal of time. It was only in June last year that the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, dropped his bombshell.

He announced at the NCTL ‘Seizing Success’ conference that the new National Curriculum to be introduced in September 2014 would not involve existing National Curriculum assessment levels.

Creativity in the classroom

Apr 15, 2014 | News, Life Skills | 0 |

Reading time: < 1 minute

During World Creativity and Innovation Week April 15 – 21 people are acknowledged, informed, inspired and encouraged to use their creativity – to be open to and generate new ideas, to be open to and make new decisions and to be open to and take new actions – that make the world a better place and to make their place in the world better too.

Setting Up An Ideal Alternative Curriculum

Nov 29, 2013 | Alternative Curriculum | 0 |

Reading time: 3 minutes

In 2003, the lack of vocational education had been an “historic weakness” of the English education system, said the then School Standards Minister, David Miliband.

Indeed, teachers of disengaged or disinterested pupils have long argued the need for a suitable Alternative Curriculum that serves to educate and prepare young people for life in the real world.

Using the alternative curriculum to re-engage pupils and reduce exclusions

Sep 28, 2013 | Alternative Curriculum, Behaviour, Exclusion | 0 |

Reading time: 4 minutes

The reason I set up EDLounge was to help combat exclusions using an alternative curriculum. I strongly believe that every child under my care should have the appropriate learning tools available to them.

Ofsted states that “a supportive and stable school environment, and strong relationships between the school and parents were found to be important factors in preventing very young children from being excluded.”

Re-engage

1. Know the school behaviour policy inside out

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