Subtitles
Associated Teachers TV programme

The Children's Champion: Helping Children Stay Mentally Strong

0001 10:00:10:01 10:00:14:07

I'm the Independent Children's

Commissioner for England.

0002 10:00:14:07 10:00:17:22

There's been an increase in the

numbers of children and young people

0003 10:00:17:22 10:00:20:16

who have behavioural

and emotional difficulties.

0004 10:00:20:16 10:00:24:05

This programme looks at

the approaches taken in two schools

0005 10:00:24:05 10:00:27:23

to help children and young people

have greater emotional resilience,

0006 10:00:27:23 10:00:30:21

and to cope with the stresses

in their lives.

0007 10:00:30:21 10:00:33:07

My first visit

was to Alison Peacock,

0008 10:00:33:07 10:00:36:10

who's headteacher

of WroxhamSchool in Hertfordshire.

0009 10:00:36:10 10:00:39:17

I asked her, how can we make

children mentally resilient?

0010 10:00:39:17 10:00:44:14

Here we have a culture which is

all about listening to children,

0011 10:00:44:14 10:00:48:24

and also, hopefully, the staff feel

they have an important voice too.

0012 10:00:48:24 10:00:51:00

So there's a community

0013 10:00:51:00 10:00:56:08

where everybody is engaged in the

business of teaching and learning.

0014 10:00:56:08 10:01:00:23

The children are a crucial part of

that in terms of decision making,

0015 10:01:00:23 10:01:04:14

and also the activities

they engage in.

0016 10:01:04:14 10:01:06:13

Because they're given

so many choices,

0017 10:01:06:13 10:01:10:20

they're also taught how to make

informed choices, which seems to...

0018 10:01:10:20 10:01:15:06

It has created a very happy, vibrant

school that's very successful.

0019 10:01:15:06 10:01:18:13

The children are listened to,

but are they heard?

0020 10:01:18:13 10:01:20:14

Yes, absolutely.

0021 10:01:20:14 10:01:23:19

The way that we ensure

that every child is heard

0022 10:01:23:19 10:01:27:16

is that we have a system

which is a whole-school democracy

0023 10:01:27:16 10:01:29:17

through mixed-stage circle meetings.

0024 10:01:29:17 10:01:32:14

So every Tuesday,

instead of an assembly, at 10:15,

0025 10:01:32:14 10:01:35:21

all of the children up and go

to their circle meeting.

0026 10:01:35:21 10:01:39:04

Circle meetings

are led by year 6 children.

0027 10:01:39:04 10:01:42:03

The staff participate

as equal members of the group,

0028 10:01:42:03 10:01:44:19

and the children have

a shared agenda for the week.

0029 10:01:44:19 10:01:49:12

So every week, we talk about things

that are important to the children

0030 10:01:49:12 10:01:54:07

that may have been brought up

by children, governors or staff,

0031 10:01:54:07 10:01:58:19

or all three, and we come to a

decision about how to move forward.

0032 10:01:58:19 10:02:02:22

Can you give me an example of

a decision that changed something?

0033 10:02:02:22 10:02:07:23

At the moment, all the children

are engaged in den-building.

0034 10:02:07:23 10:02:10:15

That came about because last year,

0035 10:02:10:15 10:02:14:04

I went to the children and said,

"The weather is incredibly hot."

0036 10:02:14:04 10:02:17:22

"The only place on the school site

that is cool is the woods."

0037 10:02:17:22 10:02:21:14

"Can I trust you?"

They said, "Yes, of course you can."

0038 10:02:21:14 10:02:24:21

That led to the children

wanting to build camps and dens,

0039 10:02:24:21 10:02:29:02

and then we needed to negotiate

how can we make this fair

0040 10:02:29:02 10:02:30:19

and are there safety issues?

0041 10:02:30:19 10:02:33:01

The children themselves

came up with a code

0042 10:02:33:01 10:02:36:14

of how they could work in that area

and in that space,

0043 10:02:36:14 10:02:41:02

and that culminated this term

in every class having a week

0044 10:02:41:02 10:02:44:18

when they could use the space

to build these dens.

0045 10:02:44:18 10:02:49:10

How do you get the balance right

between fun and serious time?

0046 10:02:49:10 10:02:52:15

I was talking to some year 6s

just last week, actually.

0047 10:02:52:15 10:02:56:24

They were telling me that they learn

how to make the right decisions.

0048 10:02:56:24 10:02:59:04

They learn

how to challenge themselves,

0049 10:02:59:04 10:03:02:11

they learn to cooperate

with other individuals,

0050 10:03:02:11 10:03:04:19

whether it's sharing a maths task,

0051 10:03:04:19 10:03:07:13

or whether it's within sport

or on the playground

0052 10:03:07:13 10:03:10:05

or doing something on the field.

0053 10:03:10:05 10:03:14:12

All of those are life skills to do

with developing that resilience

0054 10:03:14:12 10:03:17:16

that allows you to understand

that it's OK to make mistakes,

0055 10:03:17:16 10:03:22:04

that you learn from mistakes

and that we all experience conflict.

0056 10:03:22:04 10:03:25:05

The issue is not to pretend

that conflict doesn't happen,

0057 10:03:25:05 10:03:28:10

but to deal with it when it arises

and to have strategies.

0058 10:03:28:10 10:03:33:24

Some sceptical adults might say

this is a recipe for mayhem.

0059 10:03:33:24 10:03:38:21

Surely it's better for them

to have a narrow range of choices.

0060 10:03:38:21 10:03:43:12

When I came here four years ago,

the school was in special measures

0061 10:03:43:12 10:03:47:03

and Ofsted had described

the children as unteachable.

0062 10:03:47:03 10:03:49:09

We're now an outstanding school

0063 10:03:49:09 10:03:53:04

and we have

very high standards of learning.

0064 10:03:53:04 10:03:57:19

The children, if you ask them, will

say they don't need to misbehave

0065 10:03:57:19 10:04:01:00

because there's no reason to.

They're treated with respect.

0066 10:04:01:00 10:04:04:11

Everybody is engaged in the business

of being part of Wroxham.

0067 10:04:04:11 10:04:06:13

It's something

that we all do together.

0068 10:04:06:13 10:04:11:13

So you've transformed the school

with the support of your staff.

0069 10:04:11:13 10:04:14:20

The children are in an environment

where they are respected.

0070 10:04:14:20 10:04:18:17

They'll be moving on to secondary

school. What will happen to them?

0071 10:04:18:17 10:04:22:09

Are we creating unreal expectations

that this is a normal life?

0072 10:04:22:09 10:04:25:17

And will it be confounded

when they get to secondary school?

0073 10:04:25:17 10:04:29:09

The children understand that

they are building a resilience,

0074 10:04:29:09 10:04:31:18

an understanding

that there is another way.

0075 10:04:31:18 10:04:34:24

And you won't always

have an opportunity

0076 10:04:34:24 10:04:37:05

to be able to

have your views heard,

0077 10:04:37:05 10:04:40:14

but if you have experienced

a culture where that works,

0078 10:04:40:14 10:04:43:22

hopefully you've understood

that democracy can work

0079 10:04:43:22 10:04:49:04

and you've understood that there are

ways of having your voice heard

0080 10:04:49:04 10:04:52:13

which don't have to be ones

where you resort to anger

0081 10:04:52:13 10:04:56:04

and storming around

because no one's listened.

0082 10:04:56:04 10:05:01:02

We're also working with

all our local secondary schools.

0083 10:05:01:02 10:05:03:16

And are they

picking up your philosophies?

0084 10:05:03:16 10:05:07:22

It's not about our philosophy. It's

about everybody learning together

0085 10:05:07:22 10:05:10:10

and seeing what the issues are

for young people.

0086 10:05:10:10 10:05:12:16

I've worked in a secondary school

0087 10:05:12:16 10:05:15:24

and the pressures

are very different,

0088 10:05:15:24 10:05:18:22

although I would say

that the values should be the same.

0089 10:05:18:22 10:05:22:12

This approach doesn't prevent you

from reaching your targets?

0090 10:05:22:12 10:05:27:11

We've gone from E star to A star.

Our SATs results are excellent.

0091 10:05:27:11 10:05:30:16

We had 97% level 4s and above

this year,

0092 10:05:30:16 10:05:35:13

so that's great because it means

I can carry on doing what I'm doing!

0093 10:05:35:13 10:05:38:10

And I do think

there is a real issue for schools.

0094 10:05:38:10 10:05:41:06

If the standards are high,

0095 10:05:41:06 10:05:44:17

then there is a sense,

"They might be a little bit wacky,

0096 10:05:44:17 10:05:47:06

but they're getting the results,

so it's fine."

0097 10:05:47:06 10:05:52:04

And in schools where standards

aren't as high as they might be,

0098 10:05:52:04 10:05:54:16

the pressure that schools

are placed under

0099 10:05:54:16 10:05:58:02

by external people

such as advisers and Ofsted

0100 10:05:58:02 10:06:02:16

is to say, "Close down. Don't be so

creative. It's too much of a risk."

0101 10:06:02:16 10:06:06:09

The opposite is what happened here.

We went with a risk-taking approach

0102 10:06:06:09 10:06:08:22

and we achieved

more and more success.

0103 10:06:08:22 10:06:13:03

(Sir Al) Judy Sebba, professor

of education at SussexUniversity,

0104 10:06:13:03 10:06:18:00

has been studying Wroxham as part of

her research on personalisation.

0105 10:06:18:00 10:06:22:21

Why is it important to do hard-

nosed, serious academic research

0106 10:06:22:21 10:06:25:02

in schools

on these kinds of programmes?

0107 10:06:25:02 10:06:29:03

I think there are

a number of reasons.

0108 10:06:29:03 10:06:31:16

The main two are probably

0109 10:06:31:16 10:06:35:12

that we are investing

public money in schools

0110 10:06:35:12 10:06:38:21

and we need to know

whether we're spending it wisely

0111 10:06:38:21 10:06:43:02

and whether we are in fact getting

the results we think we're getting.

0112 10:06:43:02 10:06:46:24

There's an awful lot

of hearsay in education

0113 10:06:46:24 10:06:48:24

about what is happening

and what isn't,

0114 10:06:48:24 10:06:52:01

and we need to

test that out regularly.

0115 10:06:52:01 10:06:55:23

The other side is that really

teachers themselves want to know

0116 10:06:55:23 10:06:59:07

whether what they're doing is

the best thing they could be doing.

0117 10:06:59:07 10:07:02:06

Can this approach be extended

to schools with problems -

0118 10:07:02:06 10:07:05:16

transient children,

many ethnic-language backgrounds?

0119 10:07:05:16 10:07:10:01

It's been particularly appealing

to schools who are most challenged

0120 10:07:10:01 10:07:15:20

because it has provided a real means

of changing the culture,

0121 10:07:15:20 10:07:22:15

and a culture in which children who,

perhaps, would be very disaffected

0122 10:07:22:15 10:07:24:24

have engaged, and have felt

0123 10:07:24:24 10:07:30:02

that even if their behaviour

or their way of functioning

0124 10:07:30:02 10:07:33:09

is sometimes rather different,

that isn't a problem.

0125 10:07:33:09 10:07:37:08

That diversity can be accommodated

and even valued.

0126 10:07:37:08 10:07:42:08

Are there any children who can't

do well with personalised learning,

0127 10:07:42:08 10:07:45:08

who need structure in their lives

and not so much choice?

0128 10:07:45:08 10:07:48:19

The interesting thing

about the personalised learning

0129 10:07:48:19 10:07:51:09

is that it's provided an opportunity

0130 10:07:51:09 10:07:55:14

for children to create

that structure more themselves.

0131 10:07:55:14 10:07:59:07

And I suppose that what

we would be looking for would be

0132 10:07:59:07 10:08:04:10

an undertaking of responsibility

by the pupils,

0133 10:08:04:10 10:08:07:24

understanding that

they do need that structure.

0134 10:08:07:24 10:08:10:09

I wouldn't have said

that the schools

0135 10:08:10:09 10:08:14:23

who are pursuing personalised

learning to maximum effect

0136 10:08:14:23 10:08:17:01

are necessarily less structured.

0137 10:08:17:01 10:08:20:23

Are children brought up in this

environment going to be betrayed

0138 10:08:20:23 10:08:23:04

when they move into

secondary schools?

0139 10:08:23:04 10:08:26:19

Hopefully they will become

the catalysts for change.

0140 10:08:26:19 10:08:33:00

Whether they feel betrayed

or challenged or surprised,

0141 10:08:33:00 10:08:36:21

I think we'll be able

to see that in the future.

0142 10:08:36:21 10:08:39:14

For that to work, we need

staff in secondary schools

0143 10:08:39:14 10:08:43:12

who are prepared to listen and to be

challenged, and not to be affronted.

0144 10:08:43:12 10:08:48:07

There is still an established part

of the profession

0145 10:08:48:07 10:08:52:14

who were trained to teach

on their own, without other adults,

0146 10:08:52:14 10:08:57:21

behind closed doors. People call it

the second most private profession,

0147 10:08:57:21 10:09:00:12

and it's really very difficult

for them to adapt

0148 10:09:00:12 10:09:04:21

to a more pupil-led

curriculum and teaching.

0149 10:09:04:21 10:09:07:24

However, I think teachers

who are being trained at the moment

0150 10:09:07:24 10:09:09:23

will be much better prepared

for this.

0151 10:09:09:23 10:09:14:01

So what's your message to teachers

and headteachers watching this

0152 10:09:14:01 10:09:15:14

about this approach?

0153 10:09:15:14 10:09:20:17

I think that they could find much

0154 10:09:20:17 10:09:24:14

in the schools that are adopting

a personalised-learning approach

0155 10:09:24:14 10:09:26:10

that they would get excited about.

0156 10:09:26:10 10:09:29:21

I think that the teachers

we work with in these schools

0157 10:09:29:21 10:09:35:05

are excited by this.

They find it empowering

0158 10:09:35:05 10:09:41:08

or invigorating, in the sense

of being less constrained.

0159 10:09:41:08 10:09:46:05

But that shouldn't, I think,

communicate lack of structure.

0160 10:09:46:05 10:09:51:15

I think that's really about getting

back to some of the basic values,

0161 10:09:51:15 10:09:55:02

not necessarily the curriculum

we had before, but the values

0162 10:09:55:02 10:09:59:05

dear to teachers' hearts

in terms of making sure that

0163 10:09:59:05 10:10:04:00

we are developing young people

who have the capacity to learn

0164 10:10:04:00 10:10:06:16

and to continue learning

throughout their lives.

0165 10:10:06:16 10:10:10:01

And these schools really seem

to be demonstrating that.

0166 10:10:10:24 10:10:14:02

(Sir Al) Resiliency programmes

are also high on the agenda

0167 10:10:14:02 10:10:16:07

of KingsLangleySchool

in Hertfordshire,

0168 10:10:16:07 10:10:18:23

whose headteacher is Gary Lewis.

0169 10:10:18:23 10:10:23:18

The transition is huge

from primary to secondary school.

0170 10:10:23:18 10:10:26:14

We need to get as many partners

involved as possible.

0171 10:10:28:10 10:10:32:11

Good morning. Thank you

for welcoming me here this morning.

0172 10:10:32:11 10:10:34:21

I'm not quite sure

who's more nervous, you or me.

0173 10:10:34:21 10:10:40:20

It's actually quite nerve-racking

for me to be at a primary school.

0174 10:10:40:20 10:10:43:06

I visited Abbots Langley

Primary School

0175 10:10:43:06 10:10:47:16

as a sequence of visits that I do

at this time of the year.

0176 10:10:47:16 10:10:51:05

In my position as headteacher

of a large secondary school,

0177 10:10:51:05 10:10:54:22

I suppose I have a little bit

of a fearsome reputation,

0178 10:10:54:22 10:10:58:05

and a lot of youngsters

are almost frightened of the fact

0179 10:10:58:05 10:11:02:09

that Mr Lewis

from the big school is about.

0180 10:11:02:09 10:11:05:23

So I've tried to use

the visits to the primary schools

0181 10:11:05:23 10:11:10:14

to do an assembly showing perhaps

the warmer, softer side of me,

0182 10:11:10:14 10:11:15:05

and to engage with the youngsters.

Not just the year 6 students,

0183 10:11:15:05 10:11:19:00

but also the younger ones,

so they become slightly more relaxed

0184 10:11:19:00 10:11:20:19

about the concept of moving on.

0185 10:11:20:19 10:11:24:16

When we relaunched this school

five years ago -

0186 10:11:24:18 10:11:28:18

it was a school in

an underachieving Ofsted category -

0187 10:11:28:18 10:11:32:12

I was quite clear that the relaunch

was going to be about the ethos

0188 10:11:32:12 10:11:36:11

and the focus on happy children

and the complete individual.

0189 10:11:36:11 10:11:40:17

And our exam performance,

although it's progressed,

0190 10:11:40:17 10:11:43:13

not as significantly

as one might expect,

0191 10:11:43:13 10:11:45:23

but we are now

four-times oversubscribed

0192 10:11:45:23 10:11:49:23

from a position where we couldn't

fill up half of the places.

0193 10:11:49:23 10:11:53:19

We're quite excited about a new

project from September onwards.

0194 10:11:53:19 10:11:57:14

It's called the Resilience Project.

It's an American-based project,

0195 10:11:57:14 10:12:01:18

and in its simplest form,

it's really saying

0196 10:12:01:18 10:12:05:15

that youngsters need to be taught

assertive behaviour,

0197 10:12:05:15 10:12:08:13

how to deal

with stressful situations.

0198 10:12:08:13 10:12:12:07

So not removing the stress,

but dealing with it as it crops up.

0199 10:12:12:07 10:12:17:08

And three of my teaching colleagues

are going across to Philadelphia

0200 10:12:17:08 10:12:21:00

to spend two weeks in the States

studying this programme.

0201 10:12:21:00 10:12:23:01

The Penn Resiliency Programme

0202 10:12:23:01 10:12:25:10

is a school-based

intervention curriculum

0203 10:12:25:10 10:12:29:10

designed to build resilience,

promote adaptive coping skills

0204 10:12:29:10 10:12:31:20

and to teach

effective problem solving.

0205 10:12:31:20 10:12:36:17

The idea is to promote the idea of

optimistic thinking among children.

0206 10:12:36:17 10:12:41:07

Many of our children growing up

in the media age that it is today

0207 10:12:41:07 10:12:46:07

seem to believe that the idea

of being successful in life

0208 10:12:46:07 10:12:50:22

is to be stick-thin,

wearing the right pair of trainers

0209 10:12:50:22 10:12:53:02

or having their hair

in a certain style,

0210 10:12:53:02 10:12:55:11

which is the whole idea

of the course.

0211 10:12:55:11 10:12:58:23

They've got to be happy with what

they are, what they're capable of

0212 10:12:58:23 10:13:03:00

and what they're going to achieve.

I hope it will make an impact

0213 10:13:03:00 10:13:05:13

not just for the next

three or four years,

0214 10:13:05:13 10:13:09:08

but for the next generation

of children in Hertfordshire.

0215 10:13:09:08 10:13:11:13

Then hopefully, if that is the case,

0216 10:13:11:13 10:13:14:14

it can be pushed across

the whole country.

0217 10:13:15:14 10:13:18:20

Stress really matters

to children and young people.

0218 10:13:18:20 10:13:21:08

We've seen here

two outstanding examples

0219 10:13:21:08 10:13:23:10

of how,

in an appropriate environment,

0220 10:13:23:10 10:13:27:04

students can be given the toolkits

to have better emotional resilience

0221 10:13:27:04 10:13:29:23

and to be able to cope

with the stresses in their lives.

0222 10:13:34:17 10:13:37:16

Visiontext Subtitles:

Paul Murray

0223 10:13:37:16 10:13:39:16