1. Thank you Jenny - many of your ideas have formed the basis of transforming our former 'failing' school and building self esteem, positive behaviour and a 'can do' ethos. I am now concerned about the staff and looking for ways of ensuring their well being. What should I be doing to ensure this?
JENNY MOSLEY -
You are absolutely right to be concerned! (firstly, though thank you for your
encouragement)..we believe that raising staff self-esteem and morale is the
key to unlocking a schools potential. If you look at my model - it's given top
priority and on our training days, we devote a lot of time to team-building.
I suggest to all headteachers that they need to establish circle time for some
staff meetings. It is essential that the same ethos that teachers are trying
to promote in their classrooms ie. valuing, empathy and problem solving permeate
selected staff meetings that carry the theme of "what can we do to cheer
ourselves up". Once staff get used to sitting in a circle with a round
of "One thing that went well this week" and/or "one thing I need
help with" - if the ground-rules have been established first with all the
staff and are kept to - then the ethos becomes safe enough to explore more fragile
issues such as 'how we can find different ways of responding to children' -
'building relationships' - 'supporting each other without being judgmental'
etc etc I don't initially say to staff that we are using these meetings "to
do team-building" as this puts them off and raises to much alarm. Initially
we structure staff meetings with specific topics. In Turn Your School Round
pages 48 - 71 - I concentrate on circle meetings for staff. if these were run
in the safe structured way that I suggest they would create a safe foundation
on which to build other staff meetings where there is no agenda and it is about
feelings. All research shows that teachers with low self-esteem can fall in
to the usual low self-esteem patterns of nagging, irritability etc - teachers
with sound self-esteem (and that doesn't mean that they are arrogant or 'pushy'
- it just means that they keep life in perspective and don't get overwhelmed
by difficult days - are then able to find the energy to boost the self-esteem
of others. If we don't look after ourselves, or we fail to treat each other
with respect - teachers will begin to burn out - you can't keep on 'giving out'
if you don't 'put back in'. What we say on our courses is that we must be careful
with the language we use with each other. As language can build courage and
energy or it can demoralise with its flinty sharpness. I hope that this helps.
Jenny
2. Hi, think this is a good question as we should be moving forward. I agree it is too easy to slip into unchallenging mode! Should we be doing circle time for staff to engage with the more difficult questions for the management team?
JENNY MOSLEY
Hi, I hope you like the above answer as well. I believe that 'challenge' is
a healthy and positive mode - but it won't work if classrooms or staff rooms
lack emotional safety first. It's best to build up safe experiences for staff
first by talking in a circle, about issues to do with children, rather than
focusing on themselves straight away. As we get more comfortable with each other
and we trust people to keep to the ground rules (one of which I include is '
no moan without a suggestion for change!) and another is - 'to take responsibility
for whether we contribute or not'. So, just like circle time for pupils - circle
time for staff must have its own agreed ground rules to ensure that at all times
we interact respectfully with each other. Good luck! Jenny
3. Welcome to the Hotseat Jenny and thank you. I am Head of a very small (90 pupils) school in a rural area of Hampshire. We are involved in the Healthy Schools Partnership and one of our areas of focus is Emotional Health and Well Being. Circle time is used throughout the school and I feel we have very good relationships all round. As a result I often find when I am working with my Year 5/6 class, they want to turn the Circle Time topic into a general discussion. Is this OK or should I restrict them and stick to the rules, perhaps allowing more general discussion afterwards?
JENNY MOSLEY
Thank you …... Before I move into your question - just as an aside, I would
like to say to Heads of small schools that depending on the number I will often,
once a month, do a family circle where we bring the whole school together. You
have 90 - it would be possible to do a key stage 1 cycle and a key stage 2 cycle
- with 45 in each. I know it sounds huge numbers for circle time - but as their
relationships and behaviour quickly effect each other - they need to have a
sense of team building which is what circle time is. I wouldn't advocate it
every week - but at least once a half term if possible. This brings me to your
real question - regarding the structure of circle time - We are very concerned
about some of the circles that we see and hear about in different schools. For
example, some schools only have circle time when there has been a fight in the
playground or another problem - the children like circle time so much - that
they hype up their fights to get more circle time! Some teachers just sit around
and have a chat - some Ofsted inspectors see a circle of chairs and think that
this must be a positive strategy - not necessarily. I believe that circle time
should have structure and rigour we advocate a particular 5 Step Model which
takes pupils through different stages in the discussion and is an emotionally
safe structure. If we are not careful sometimes the discussion becomes so intense
that we forget the time and the bell goes. Then children go out without being
emotionally ready for the next stage of the day. We bring children down 2 steps
- away from what we call 'open forum' so that they are calm, positive and ready
for whatever is next on their agenda. We do have what's called a circle time
suggestion box - so any pupil can put in, anonymously, any suggestions they
want talked about in circle time. We then structure these into our 5 Step lesson
plan - so they still feel that their ideas are shaping discussion. I hope this
helps - at other times you may well want to move into a general discussion -
but not within the type of circle time I am suggesting above. Just for your
interest, you may want to know that this model was featured in the healthy schools
partnership newsletters both in primary and in secondary. Jenny
4. Jenny, your presence has lured me back to talking heads! I'm head of a smallish (140) primary which has quite literally "turned round" largely due to the ethos developed through talking and listening, and due in no small part to your inspiration (god I sound a real creep!) there is a question however- we are looking towards implementing a strategy of peer mediation as a step on from circle time- what are your thoughts/suggestions? Thanks
JENNY MOSLEY
Don't worry ……., I love people who creep to me - they are obviously
intelligent people!!! I am thrilled that you see 'peer mediation' as being "a
step on from circle time". We have a lot of concerns (I have a big team
now of consultants who go into hundreds of schools) that many Heads are grabbing
the idea of peer mediation and school councils and putting it in to their school
without having the right framework. We do courses on peer mediation but only
once the school has got the full model in place. For example, if a school has
not worked really hard on their lunchtime policy and there are still children
who are bored and restless - and in comes peer mediation - then they learn that,
often their bad behaviour is rewarded by concerned listening faces. A school
needs to earn its right to peer mediation by first of all making sure that they
have, in place three pro-active listening systems for all children, and then
they have playground friends (a trained group of pupils who meet weekly with
a teacher) a very sound lunchtime policy ... and only when this system is in
place will peer mediation flourish. Just to be a 'creep' back - we have written
a new book called 'All Year Round' - exciting ideas for peaceful playtimes -
which outlines what a happy playtime would look like and help staff consider
the best type of peer mediation strategy to move forward with. The overview
of the systemic approach is on page 32 of QCT in the Primary School and page
12 in QCT in the Secondary School; we would want this spine in a school first
before they moved on to school councils and peer mediation. So go for the whole
school approach in circle time in its fuller sense and then, as you say, move
on once you have reviewed this progress. Jenny
5. Welcome Jenny. Like many other contributors I am already a convert to Circle Time and have a firm belief that you raise standards by raising self esteem. I do have some small doubts though creeping in about rewards especially after having read Punishment by Rewards. I want the self esteem of the children, staff and parents to develop from within and so we have stopped giving stickers, smiley faces etc. instead we encourage children to put themselves forward by saying what they are good at and how proud they are of themselves. One member of staff has suggested that Golden Time is a reward and as such should be stopped. I agree that it is an entitlement! I'd like to hear any comments you may have on this.
JENNY MOSLEY
Dear … I am loving this hot seat as I keep meeting old friends. There is
a huge debate about extrinsic and intrinsic awards. I do not subscribe to the
theory that extrinsic rewards prevent children from moving towards inner locus
of control; I believe they create the right ethos in which children can move
towards esteeming their own work and relationships. In an early book I wrote
about how children should be encouraged during circle time to bring to the circle
any piece of work that they wished to award themselves a special dot - or they
could draw a picture of a behaviour that they had engaged in which they were
proud of - as long as they could justify their choice they were entitled to
receive their own special reward. But more importantly than this - on step 4
of the 5 Step Circle Time model, we have a script for teachers to encourage
children to nominate other children who are very calm, create a lovely working
atmosphere by not shouting out, are learning to walk away from fights etc. etc.
Once they are nominated, if the majority of the class agrees (which they 95%
of the time always do) the whole class signs something called a 'Class Team
Honors Certificate'. These rewards etc. are on page 44 - 46 of the book called
Photcopiable Materials for Use With the JENNY MOSLEY Circle Time Model (1995).
If the child, or the class don't feel they quite deserve the certificate yet,
the child places him/herself on the achievement ladder at what they feel is
the appropriate rung. Golden Time is a different issue, it shouldn't be earnt
- the children should walk in shining with it on a Monday morning because the
whole school trusts them to keep to the Golden Rules. In this way every 'middle
plodder child' receives their just entitlement. It is an entitlement because,
as I explain to the children - if they keep to the Golden Rules, they save the
teacher and the mid day supervisor so much time, that it is only fair that they
are allowed to enjoy that time by celebrating together once a week. There are
some complicated issues in all of this and, as ever, not quite enough time or
space to answer in depth, but I really hope I've helped. Jenny
6. Hello Jenny. We met a long time ago in a school in Salisbury and I remember distinctly you telling us the importance of just 'listening'. The one thing that really stayed with me was your 'peer listening meeting' for heads of year who are often overloaded physically and emotionally - (30 mins for you, and I'll listen, and another time in the week when I have 30 minutes when you will listen to me). I am currently head of a large school -(1500)- where circle time and time for listening do not exist. It is a school that is large and extremely complicated (including split site) and where communication is something we need to improve significantly. I would be interested to learn what things work in such a large school. Think big, start small? What works best in the first instance? Special tips to get started?
JENNY MOSLEY
Hi ……, I remember those early days in Wiltshire - the first courses
I did on listening were in 1986 - doesn't time fly when you are having fun(!!!)
Think big, start small is an excellent maxim - I love the quote from Mother
Therese (although I am saying it clumsily( I cannot do great things! I can only
do small things with great love. Large comprehensives are my emotional Waterloo
- it is so difficult to get whole school approaches working. As you and I know,
I have been working with secondary schools now since the late 80's and I have
become very pragmatic. Firstly, if you want to put listening systems such as
circle time in for your pupils - I would start with the year 7 tutor team. I
would train them up, get them to visit the year 6's in their primary school
for a circle time on how they feel about moving up (this helps the tutors to
see the importance of bridging the circles). Train the team properly and then,
in five years there is more hope that you can turn the school around as these
pupils will have come up through a respectful listening ethos. It is too hard
for some teachers to be asked to take these ideas back to a recalcitrant year
9 class. But this is not really answering your question. It's a huge, huge issue.
But you are right - you do need the vision and then an idea of what Tiny achievable
tickable targets, may take you towards that vision. I believe you need to commit
to good inset training and make this approach a huge priority. Peer listening
- which I teach still to Headteachers and Heads of Year, will help these members
of staff and if they are feeling listened to, they will more likely to see the
value of listening to children. But its all about training people in the right
skills - people can listen badly - my own children can say to me "stop
putting on that listening face - and listen properly!" If senior management
can be brought on to share your vision, there is real hope. However, before
you can bring in listening systems for staff and pupils (peer listening for
the one to one system an circle time for the group listening system) You need
to make sure that other systems - such as your rules, rewards, sanctions and
lunchtime systems have been overhauled and checked for 'emotional safety' -
otherwise, as some pupils said to me recently "we're fed up with your circle
time - everyone's listening to us - but no one is doing anything about it"!!
There is no point in children speaking up each week about the fact they get
hit by the football or whatever, if the school is not working on their lunchtime
policy with the help of the school council. So, as we keep on peeling the layers
of the onions back - the picture gets deeper. You are the one who would most
need a skilled listener on a weekly basis - just to keep your energy and morale
going - and to help you make sure you don't lose the vision. This is not a plug
- but seriously - you would need some excellent training for all aspects of
the ideas and strategies I have touched on. It needs to be done by consultants
who are prepared to demonstrate the approach with pupils with staff observing
- and with staff themselves so they can feel the benefit. Secondary teachers
are tired and sometimes cynical - their trainers must have 'street cred'!! The
other key issue is that we do a lot of work in secondary schools - but it can
get lost if the school fails to review the initiatives regularly. Without review,
everything falls down. I feel sure, Fiona, that you know all the above and I
have not told you anything new - but my heart is with you on it as it's a big
mountain -(the book Quality Circle Time in the Secondary School, may give you
some support, but a listening ear would be better. Forgive yet another metaphor
and adage but I also love this quote from Nelson Mandella - " A vision
without action is just a dream, Action without vision just passes the time,
Vision with a small action can change the world." Good luck - good luck
- good luck. Jenny
7. Hello Jenny, Having used Circle time and other ideas successfully in another school, I have moved and now have a much lower base to start from. My problem is that prior to my arrival, circle time has been haphazardly introduced as a quick-fix with little understanding or consideration of the key purposes. How would you suggest I proceed?
JENNY MOSLEY
…… - your 'story of haphazard circle time' is a familiar one across
the country. Even some of my best schools have become haphazard as staff have
left and new staff replaced them without the infrastructure or training to come
on board, alongside the others. You would need to organise some whole school
training. We take, on a training day, all the teachers, assistants, mid day
supervisors, and admin staff to try and help them all share the same vision
of a respectful listening school. They also need a vision that this model is
a 5 year model and only with care can you proceed from one level to another.
Once you have all had the training, then you need to time table certain teachers,
who are very enthusiastic, confident and skilled to go and support other teachers
in different classrooms. You need a co-ordinator for each level of the model
ie. your PSHE co-ordinator needs to supervise and monitor circle time - you
need a working part for the regards, sanctions and rules and another teacher
each term to act as a lunchtime co-ordinator. I hope this helps - but I agree
totally that lots of people have latched on to circle time as a quick fix which
will only cause them a back lash later one. One tip - you do need to use accredited
trainers as some of the training on my model has been given by people who have
never attended any of my days - consequently there is too much dilution and
pollution!! All our schools are able to cover their costs as they either go
in as a cluster to buy training or they host training in their own school and
sell places to teachers or mid day supervisors from other schools. Good luck
. Jenny
8. Hello, Jenny. Like (….) I have come back to TH especially to find you! We have been using Circle Time and Peer Mediation for some time, and the comment from Lorna (above) has struck a chord with me. I am concerned both about the possibility of overusing rewards and also about ensuring that some children (often the 'middle' ones), who are sometimes a little overlooked despite our best efforts, receive adequate recognition. We use structured reward systems with our more challenging children and it is often difficult for other children (and their parents) to understand the reasons behind these and to appreciate that some children need help and support in learning how to behave in the same way as other children need help with reading or maths. Because the behaviour of these more challenging children is so public and visible, then their rewards can be too. Although their peers are generally supportive and often involved in setting up and sharing the rewards themselves, there are occasions when being convincing about fairness is hard. I'd really appreciate your comments - thanks.
JENNY MOSLEY
Dear ……- I hope my answers above will answer some of your questions.
Those headteachers who have worked with myself or my team and are using Golden
Time properly (and many schools aren't - as it has become a bit of old rusty
time at the end of a Friday afternoon when a teacher marks her books)!! - will
tell you that Golden Time if it follows our precise recommendations can meet
the needs of all 'middle plodder children' i.e. all the children who may not
distinguish themselves through particular academic efforts or particular behaviour,
but merely, every day do something very wonderful which is just to keep to the
rules of the school. In fact they create the ethos of the school in which everyone
may flourish. This is why we promote Golden Time - as every child walks in on
a Monday morning sparkling with it. They don't have to earn it - they merely
have to keep the Golden Rules - and then the teacher doesn't have to remember
who they are (as she/he will only have kept a list of the ones who have lost
it). Therefore, all the others must have kept the rules and then Golden Time
must be golden. Any child who does not lose Golden Time automatically receives
a Golden Time certificate sent home to their parents or carers. In this way
the message of the school is that 'we value all our middle children and celebrate
them loudly' (you can now get the pads of golden time certificates and these
save the teacher a lot of time and trouble). Your difficult unhappy children
may well receive other Golden Leaves stickers, badges etc. but they will not
be able to earn the Golden Certificate as that is only for children who keep
the Golden Rules every day. I hope this helps. Jenny
9. Hi Jenny, Sorry second question already. Do you think that the effective use of circle time methods and the raising of self esteem in children depends on the self esteem of the adults. If they are the "walking wounded" themselves, how do they deal with the needs of the children?
JENNY MOSLEY
……, if the other answers I gave concerning staff self esteem doesn't
quite answer your question, I am quite happy to talk a bit more about the subject.
We do help staff, on the training days, construct their own personal care plan
to help them try and keep some balance between their home and work life. If
people constantly work too late, and have no boundaries between home and work,
then they will become exhausted. The first staff meeting in a term that we take
is on the above energy plan. We cannot do for others what we are not doing for
ourselves, ie. we can't raise self esteem if we are ignoring our own needs.
It is vital we spend time and money on ourselves! Jenny
10. I have just launched the school council and it's working well. As a new head I know the school has had training in Circle Time and was hoping they might use that time for Class Council work. Should they or should it be separate? Also how can I softly softly monitor circle time as it is without intruding on the special atmosphere and confidentiality that allows it to be successful? I'm not sure that all staff are operating it in the way I would prefer.
JENNY MOSLEY
Hi ……., I hope some of my other answers regarding circle time and
school councils are useful to you. I actually think that school councils themselves
can be run in a very similar way to circle time; in that they should also have
a structure that incorporates problem solving along with relationship building
and celebration. I worry sometimes when I talk to the children who attend councils
that they appear to find it very onerous and sometimes boring – I think
that injecting excitement through the inclusion of some structured games and
activities will maintain the vibrancy. Now to your actual question - I believe
that circle time, if structured properly on a weekly basis, releases two fountains
of issues. One stream of issues is to do with school management – such
as dining halls and playgrounds. The other stream of issues is to do with relationship
and behaviour issues and needs to be sorted out by the class themselves. I encourage
teachers, at the end of a circle time, to record the issues with the class identifying
which they need to deal with and the ones that their two representatives need
to take to the school council. I think your concern is probably right –
some teachers may not be running it in the way you like. If you look in the
photocopiable book – we have invitations to circle time. I encourage classes
to invite midday supervisors, parents…and headteachers. If you write circle
time lesson plans you would know which ones would lend themselves to inviting
others in – and which ones could easily be opened up to other people. I
think if you were to encourage this approach it would give you some insights
into what is happening. Equally the staff may themselves want some more support
and confidence before they feel okay about asking people in. You could have
a round in your staff meeting…of "One thing that is going well…and
One thing I need some help with in my circle time"…again I wish you
lots of luck. Jenny
11. Hello Jenny - welcome to the hotseat. I am head of a Junior School in ….., and two years ago one of your colleagues, Maggie Grayson, worked with us to develop improved systems of circle time and behaviour management. Best thing we ever did - especially the whole-staff day later on when we looked at ways to improve our own esteem and well being so that we were at our best in working day to day with quite challenging children. We implemented Golden Time and have been consistent in our use of this strategy alongside the Golden Rules. We revisit regularly, review progress. Is Golden Time still the best reward system? Have you developed any other rewards?
JENNY MOSLEY
Hello ….. Thank you for your warm words – I have a great team of consultants
and I know that they really make a difference. We invest a lot of time working
with whole school staffs on raising their energy levels and developing their
own self esteem first – otherwise it is almost impossible to help them
respond positively to challenging pupils. In some schools we go to teachers
have become so tired that their own behaviour is really very challenging. In
these instances we are more likely to bring in yoga teachers and masseurs to
help the staff first! Golden Time certainly reduces teachers stress levels as
they do not have to use up all their energy by being cross or disappointed,
they can just calmly put down a warning card….. I think some of your issues
may be talked through in my response to Clare Fletcher about Golden Time. I
think it is the core system – the very best system there is – but
it needs constant overhauling and shining up to make it truly a sparkly golden.
We constantly have review circles with pupils to have a round of ‘one thing
that would make Golden Time better’ As I said to Clare – we need to
bring in different people from the community to celebrate – Sixth Formers
too can come in and work with the pupils – learning mentors can come in
and play football during Golden Time, it needs to be the most exciting weekly
community effort. Golden Time Certificates are the key as well as these constantly
reinforce with parents the importance of the Golden Rules as these are printed
on the certificates. Some schools move on to creating Golden Time clubs (once
children get used to making wise choices). The only thing you have to watch
there is that you don't put the children who lose Golden Time into a separate
room – as this will become the Sin Club which some children with low self
esteem subscribe to as it gives them a temporary notoriety. You need to make
sure that the empty table with the sand timer is in the actual club that the
child would have been if they hadn’t chosen to lose that privilege. Don’t
forget that we try and help children back from the brink of losing it by talking
through how they can use their Earning Back Contract – our job is to see
if there are any children beyond this approach (very few)…there are some
children who need some extra therapeutic support. Regarding your question if
there are any other incentives – we do use a range of parallel incentive
systems – these are best described in Turn Your School Round pages 28 to
32. Amongst these are the Happy Family Tree – it is one of my favorites.
You can either use a real branch into a pot or cut out a tree and put it on
a wall – the children receive golden leaves for any golden rules they have
kept such as being gentle or honest…so many golden leaves can lead to a
golden acorn and three golden acorns leads to a red squirrel…isn’t
life abundant and amazing!!! Jenny
12. Hi Jenny we use circle times and a weekly golden time, alongside other systems of rewards and time out. In the younger classes children lose a minute for wrong choices but a teacher in year 3 feels the children , as older pupils, should have a more stringent sanction and is currently using 10 minute blocks of time for each wrong choice. I am concerned but he is equally convinced the children are older and need a bigger sanction than the youngest. What are your feelings on this?
JENNY MOSLEY
Hello …… It is great that your school are using our weekly Golden
Times…it is the pivot around which the whole model turns…but we have
a lot of problems in trying to help schools to make sure it is truly ‘golden’…and
not a rusty old time at the end of a Friday afternoon with a teacher who is
marking their books having handed out some old bits of computer paper and jigsaw
puzzles with bits missing!!! To make it truly golden – and therefore truly
powerful – it does need to have different people in the room. We match
up an older class with a younger class, invite older people in, invite parents
in and generally make it Community Time. It therefore has very high profile…now
to your question. With young children we will use the golden sun and the sad
cloud with one minute sand timers (Page 53, 54 More Quality Circle Time). So,
if a child breaks a rule we put the peg with their name on onto the middle warning
sun (this is a sun with a cloud going over his face). The child then has to
choose if they want to come back to the happy sun by keeping to the golden rules
or, if they break another rule they will go to the sad cloud. At the older level,
and this is very important, there has to be a yellow warning card placed beside
the child (on the wall there will be an example warning card which above it
says ‘Behaviour is your choice’ They then have the choice (if I find
that children choose to break another rule regularly if often means that Golden
Time is not exciting and motivational enough). It’s always very difficult
when a member of staff wants to interpret things their own way. I think a compromise
could be reached. For most children we do not leave the warning card down for
very long – maybe till the coffee break or lunchtime…maybe in his
case he could leave the warning card down for a shorter time and then they lose
the usual five minutes. (The only time children bypass the system is when they
lose their temper completely and no warning card works – this is the only
time they would be sent to the head and the incident written into an incident
book and read back and signed by the child and the adult who witnessed the incident
– this is a more serious scenario and parents may well be contacted –
and it would probably need to be accompanied by a chill-out session to help
the child calm down – in these particular incidents the child loses 10
minutes Golden Time as that is seen to be fair by the other pupils – but
the real consequences will be followed through from the incident book). It is
very difficult explaining all this in email as it is very complicated…but
I will keep trying! So, back to your teacher, perhaps you could show him my
above ideas and see what he says, however if he is committed to his line of
reaction, your best bet would be to help him make his Golden Time so absorbing
and wonderful – that no children lose any – and then the 10 minute
rule won’t matter!!! Just on another note – has your staff remembered
that for all the children who do not lose any Golden Time – they will receive
a Golden Time certificate sent through the post with their parents. This is
the heart of the model as it means that all the middle plodder children are
now celebrated. I hope all the above helps you – it is probably best explained
in the 1996 QCT book…but I think it is brilliant that your staff is all
ready using it and that you are debating some important issues. So well done
to all of you. Jenny
13. Hello Jenny. I am in my third year as a headteacher and I have seen many very positive changes and moves forward. As a school (180 rural village school) we have embraced the concept of Purposeful Talk - we are becoming a Community of Thinkers. I was interested to see your headline question about Circle time values being integrated into staff meetings. Some of the most successful staff meetings we have had have been centered around A B talk. So I try and include an element of purposeful talk in every meeting - however a member of staff said to me recently that I was over doing it. What do you think?
JENNY MOSLEY
Hello ….. To be very honest I don’t know about the approach called
Purposeful Talk…however as you probably know my own model promotes the
whole concept of teachers echoing the principles of circle time in their own
staff meetings. I would imagine that your concept of purposeful talk is very
similar to the heart of our circle time (which is the third step of circle time
called Open Forum)…but once we have discussed core issues we go down one
or two steps to get away from the impact or ‘heaviness’ of dealing
with important issues. Would it be a good idea if you also balanced the seriousness
of discussion with a slot for celebration i.e. a light hearted time when we
celebrate what has gone well, what we have achieved this week, what made us
laugh this week, what we are looking forward to when we leave the staff meeting.
We have a range of what we call ‘rounds’ when we move away from serious
issues to having a bit of fun. We also in some staff meetings have a success
slot where individual teachers or midday supervisors or teaching assistants
are asked to present 5 minutes at the end of the meeting on something that has
gone well or a child who has made a breakthrough or a system that is working
well. I don’t know the structure of your staff meetings…but I would
imagine that the member of staff who felt you were "over egging the pudding"
(do you remember that wonderful saying!!)…was probably needing something
a bit light hearted to balance it all out – but this is just a guess –
but my recommendation to all heads is to make sure that the staff meeting always
ends on a positive note. If the last thing that staff hear is ‘one more
thing we have got to do is….’ then everyone goes out on their knees
and the energy is lost for tomorrow as you are not drawn to skip back in the
next day!!! Jenny
14. How would you suggest we develop circle time in a secondary EBD school Jenny? any ideas welcome
JENNY MOSLEY
Hello …..Your question is a nice simple one liner – the answer if
probably five books! Interestingly I started my teaching career in an EBD school
from 4 –….in the dim distant past! Circle time is only one of nine
features of this model – although I call it The Quality Circle Time Model
it includes recommendations for staff self esteem, the implementing of three
pro-active systems, golden rules, rewards, sanctions, lunchtime policy and extra
therapeutic and behaviour management support systems for pupils who cannot respond
to the above. A lot of the work I do is just common sense and most schools are
already, quite naturally, implementing some of what I suggest – but it
is just pulling it together into a well organised consistent and structured
systemic whole which is the hard, hard issue. I would definitely if I was a
head teacher of special schools bring in a gifted facilitator to work on weekly
circle times with the staff first – if staff feel valued and listened to
they are more likely to want to try out circle time with the pupils. I would
make sure that you have a very sound motivational rules, rewards and sanction
systems, so that the staff have the energy to want to listen to pupils. If the
above is not in place first, pupils will just sabotage the teachers attempts
to get circle time going. Staff need training and support to take on group work
of this nature…when our consultants go in we would, prior to the closure
day for all staff, go in on a ordinary day to work with the Year 7 pupils and
Year 8 pupils with teachers observing.
We recommend putting all the energy into the Year 7’s when they first come
up as they will think that this is then the natural ethos and approach of the
school and take to it more naturally. I have just myself been working in an
EBD secondary school in Dublin for two days – the work with the pupils
was the most motivating for the staff. In their particular case we brought the
pupils back on an actual closure day. However the whole notion of EBD schools
has its own problems for circle time – I believe that pupils learn more
from each other than they do from the adults, therefore it is very important
to have pupils within the circle who also have very good social skills. If the
pupils only all have challenging ‘acting out‘ behaviour, then they
will all model this behaviour. It is therefore a good idea to look carefully
of the mix of social skills within the circle. It is also a good idea to sometimes
combine two small classes as it can make it seem more special and exciting and
you have more adults to help facilitate it. Your head of Sixth Form in a local
secondary school may be able to suggest Sixth Formers who would come and attend
your circles (many sixth formers want to study psychology and are really happy
to join in these type of projects – and they can bring in with them some
good social skills). I am only throwing ideas out to you – what you would
need would be to look at an overview of the whole model and see where you would
need to put your energy first. Organise some training and go slowly at it. I
don’t ask a school to all adopt a whole school policy until there are sufficient
enthusiastic teachers within the staff. You may need to get one or two teachers
very excited about the idea, especially those who are respected by other members
of staff, and then time table them to support other circles. It is a five year
model and sometimes it is best to move slowly through with your Year 7’s
as role models. In Circletime for EBD we interweave a lot of creative arts and
meditation as they need different ways of expressing themselves and also to
learn strategies for calming down. When I was working in this field I trained
as a drama therapist as well as I was so fascinated with how unhappy trouble
pupils were less tense and angry if they were given different ways of expressing
themselves through drama and the arts. I have always woven these into the circle
and my books have many ideas for keeping circletime exciting. If it was just
about talking children would be turned off. I don’t think I will have helped
you very much but hopefully I have given some ideas that you could think about.
We have a range of books (but nothing replaces good training in schools!)…but
one book that maybe very helpful, is a book called Effective IEP’s Through
Circletime – practical solutions to writing IEP’s for children with
emotional and behavioural difficulties’ – it is written by Margaret
Goldthorpe who is one of my senior consultants…equally you may find a book
I co-wrote with a former consultant called Quality Circle Time In Secondary
School helpful as well. Good luck good luck good luck. #9;
15. Just want to say how useful circle time can be in reducing the isolation of our asylum seeker children where actions often speak louder than words .
JENNY MOSLEY
Thanks …… for your positive contribution - I really think it helps
when other schools can tell people about their worthwhile experiences. Certainly,
because circle time interweaves a range of physical games with miming actions,
parachute work, puppets and drama - it has the potential to unite every child
in a feeling of being part of the team. If teachers only used circle time for
a chat - it excludes some children. This is why it is so important that a teacher
has a kitbag of ideas beside her. We know a range of travellers’ children
who have benefited - there are hearing impaired children who still join in and
autistic children are fascinated by their peers ... so we have an empty chair
and that child will sit outside with a support assistant and, when they feel
ready, they will come into the circle and join in. The circle offers true inclusivity
- I try and encourage pupil referral units to integrate their pupils into mainstream
through the circle. It would be very helpful for that child if the teacher from
the PRU came and worked with their mainstream teacher to co-facilitate the circle...
a gentle way back into building relationships with the whole class. Thanks Trish
for sparking off that train of thought! Jenny
16. Sorry Jenny, third question! Only one year in my school and already used your methods successfully in previous schools. My staff "guard" their time and hoard it, they do not spend it generously on the school or the children. How can I get that exciting spark? It's my third headship and honestly I'm a nice person! PS Also just printed out this dialogue so can imbibe at leisure!
JENNY MOSLEY
………. don’t worry….here is the third answer coming up!!!
(emailing responses is quite difficult as the issues are often multi-layered
– but I will do the best I can!) I find that if I start with the self-esteem
of the staff it creates that spark you are talking about. How about a staff
circle meeting on ‘what would cheer us up!’ If you brought in, for
some staff meetings, some complimentary therapists or creative workshop leaders
and everyone has a laugh and fun together…they are more likely to want
to pass that fun onto the children. Recently I have brought in a massage therapist
to teach all the staff hand massage. We lit candles and played music –
and they learnt about all the pressure points and how to get rid of headaches
through massaging the webs between the fingers!!! Later we have used a dance
and movement specialist to a background of exciting, blasting music…all
these experiences create shared memories – that have occurred within the
school. The school therefore becomes a place not just of work – but a place
where we laugh together. I hope these ideas help you. I have many many more
but sadly so few minutes to give the lengthy chats I would love to engage in.
Jenny
17. More comments than a question Jenny. The dialogue here is great almost another book I'd say thanks for your very good answers. We use Golden Time and it is mostly successful (only one member of staff who doesn't give wholeheartedly!) but the idea of widening the community is great - thanks. We also have a group hug every Friday morning where we share positive experiences in the week. I'd like to do a whole staff circletime but we can only get everyone together on development days as the rest of the staff are part time. What alternatives can you suggest.
JENNY MOSLEY
Hi ….…You are right…I definitely feel another book coming on
after warming up in the hot seat! Trying to get everyone together so that each
person feels part of the vision is very hard. If you want the midday supervisors
for example to come to a twi-light staff meeting…it is important that we
offer a creche and pay them for their time. Certainly it is possible that they,
with plenty of warning can make arrangements to come. Next week I will take
all my admin. staff out for a staff meeting – we will go to a local ‘tea
house’ and at £4.50 per head we will all have a fantastic tea and
a sense of ‘occasion’. All my golden schools hold circle meetings
with the midday supervisors and support staff for just half an hour twice a
half term. Often it is not the head that takes the meeting – in fact it
is better if a different teacher did it for a term as they can then get to know
their colleagues and feed back to the main staff all their worries and ideas.
In Turn Your School Round – mentioned in the staff action plan for self
esteem was their determination to have coffee and cake for all staff on Fridays
and a buffet lunch once a fortnight for all staff. It is great if everyone is
invited…and if the staff are feeling very positive about their lunchtime
policy, occasionally they are happy to take a lunchtime duty in order to free
up the midday supervisor to come in and share the buffet lunch with the staff.
I hope these ideas help – but sadly they cannot solve the problem of the
fact it is so difficult to get everyone together often enough to make it feel
relaxed and fun. Jenny
18. Hello Jenny, I was a convert to circle time as a class teacher. As a Headteacher I introduced the whole staff to circle time for the children and this has had a positive effect on children's self esteem/ behaviour in school. Behaviour and personal development ( or lack of it) had been a key issue for our school in a November 99 Ofsted however a very recent Ofsted reported children's behavior and personal development as strengths of the school. I have been very interested in reading about the Whole School Model and circle time for staff and now feel energised to develop the whole school model further. No need to answer this question as you have already provided info in other answers above. I just wanted to record my interest and say THANK YOU.
JENNY MOSLEY
Hi ….…I can’t bear not saying thank you as it really does help
when people tell others about their successes. Just for your interest a few
years ago I decided to do some research into the effectiveness of the QCT model.
I sent a questionnaire to 300 primary schools who had received inset from us.
We had 161 answers. I wanted to check how many schools had been inspected by
OFSTED and whether the OFSTED had given positive feedback in the area of pupils
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and/or behaviour and discipline
and/or relationships… and whether the headteacher perceived the QCT Model
to have contributed to the successful OFSTED comments. 75% of the schools had
been inspected – and 99% (119 schools) had received positive feedback in
the aforesaid areas… 83% of the schools perceived the QCT model to have
contributed to the schools success…. My worry is that OFSTED inspectors
have had no training in the model and yet they assess the effectiveness of circle
time. Unless you have training you would not know what a safe structured circle
time looks like. I think some inspectors see a circle and think it must be being
helpful – but there are some destructive and/or woolly circle times –
there are some shame and blame circles with no element of shared success –
there are some circle times which are just sitting around for a chat… if
any of you headteachers have any ideas for how I can ask OFSTED to look for
rigour and excellence in circle time please let me know! Meanwhile Pat, thanks
again for the encouragement. Jenny
19. Jenny a conversation I had today has set me thinking - it goes like this. "We don't believe in humiliating the children in front of others do we?" "No" "So isn't sitting waiting for your time up before Golden Time just the same as standing the 'naughty ' children up in assembly" Must admit I found this one difficult to answer so as I knew you were in the hotseat I thought I'd pass it on. Help what do I say?
JENNY MOSLEY
….…In the early 70’s I also worked in a special school (for pupils
with severe EBD) and we also had a weekly circle meeting with a psychiatrist
as a facilitator…and it was enormously helpful. From the list you have
given me of circle meetings they engage in – I would say that you have
fantastic systems to support the mental health of the staff. However, it is
all groupwork that you are offering…and some people find it painful to
be honest in front of others. When you are working with challenging children,
your self esteem can diminish. These children are able to spot our weaknesses
and feed them back to us publicly and humiliatingly. Once self esteem becomes
low adults develop corresponding behaviour – low self esteem means that
you doubt yourself, rarely ask for help, defend against admitting the truth,
deny issues to yourself…and blame others. It is a strange and complex condition.
Sometimes people feel so bad about themselves they put on a mask that everything
is fine and they ride roughshod over other peoples feelings…but if you
feel good enough about yourself you should never need to put anyone else down.
So as head it means that you personally would need to have weekly mentoring
or supervision to keep your spirits up and to help you not take anything personally.
The staff could also do with some one to one work with a trusted mentor. In
industry they have one to one success coaching which is very useful. You could
draft in someone from the LEA or you could teach your whole staff how to do
peer counselling properly…or you could put some funds over to bringing
in an outside facilitator; but that could represent a large part of the budget.
So somehow we have to build the self esteem sufficiently of staff so that they
can then accept and work on their own needs. Sometimes it helps to think of
the staff like hurt children…sometimes, after they have had lots of support
they need to take responsibility for their own personal growth. It is a tough
issue…and the one who needs most support is the head teacher. Good luck,
good luck. Jenny
20. Dear Jenny I have read with interest most of the discussion so far. I have recently become a headteacher of a relatively traditional "successful" secondary school(NOR 1000). I find that the school has been run autocratically with a successful but very rigid Positive Discipline system in place. A vociferous minority of middle managers subscribe to the 'hang em' brigade and many date back to the grammar school days. This is making the issue of inclusion a difficult one to crack on occasions. Given that I am completely in tune with the principles of your circle time work( as I understand them)but with no personal experience, where would I start, bearing in mind the background of the school? Do you have any secondary contacts who have faced a similar situation? Which books, training opportunities would be useful to us in planning and delivering this transformation? Help!!
JENNY
….….Phew !…over the years I have spent some extraordinarily difficult
and challenging training days with similar staff to the ones you describe. I
have a team of consultants who work with me – and my directive to them
all – is that whenever we are asked to do secondary training for a whole
staff they must bring in a circle of pupils on the closure day. We have been
doing this for years now and it is a very powerful tool. You bring back a large
tutor group of Year 7 pupils who have never done circle time before – tutor
groups are truly inclusive of children who have a range of needs and strengths.
Cynical, rigid staff rarely fail to be moved by observing young people. For
one hour, often the first in their whole career, they have to sit outside the
circle and observe children without speaking…what they see and hear is
the depth of children’s wisdom and generosity of spirit – and it rarely
fails to move them. Once they have connected with their original vision of why
they were drawn into teaching in the first place – they become much easier
to work with. More open and responsive. So a typical training day would be a
session before coffee on the vision and values of a school, after coffee a circle
of pupils…and once mellowed the afternoon session can focus on ways forward
that the school could take to put these values into action. One day’s training
is not enough – it is a great way of shaking people up, encouraging debate
and opening up hopes and dreams…but it needs to be followed through with
careful consultancy. We have a range of secondary schools who we have worked
successfully with – but the whole secondary system is flawed – and
the issue of whether the values and practices stay embedded is all to do with
staff support, turnover and induction. As you have been specific in your request
for training opportunities I can be specific in my answers ! I would suggest
you negotiate a training package with us (our website is linked to this one
with all the contact details) you would need to talk to the project director,
Ginny Sutton. I would also suggest that once you have organised the training,
you send a key member of staff on our secondary Train the Trainers Accredited
week course. This is expensive but a very good investment. It is taking place
in September and will draw together secondary school staff who are currently
engaging in excellent practice within our model. At a ‘lessor level’
there are two books that are available Quality Circle Time in the Secondary
School and Important Issues in the Secondary School…so, I hope this helps…but
my heart is with you on this issue of the management of change with these particular
people – you need to reconnect them to a moral vision, so good luck good
luck (I would also refer you to a response I made on the 11th March to Fiona
– currently a new head of a large secondary school. Jenny
21. Jenny a conversation I had today has set me thinking - it goes like this. "We don't believe in humiliating the children in front of others do we?" "No" "So isn't sitting waiting for your time up before Golden Time just the same as standing the 'naughty ' children up in assembly" Must admit I found this one difficult to answer so as I knew you were in the hotseat I thought I'd pass it on. Help what do I say?
JENNY
….…I love the dialogue and debate that is going on in your staff room…but
I can respond with confidence !!! An essential feature of the model is that
we do a visual warning before a child loses five minutes of Golden Time. The
younger children have a golden sun, followed by a golden sun with a cloud going
over his face, followed by a sad cloud. When a child breaks a golden rule their
little peg from the golden sun is put on the warning cloud – with the question
– do you want to come back to the Golden Rules by stopping that kicking
– or do you want to break another Golden Rule and go to the sad cloud,
which will mean that you will lose one minute of Golden Time. With older children
the yellow warning card is on the wall with a statement above that says "behaviour
is your choice" Then an arrow goes from one side of the warning to a bubble
that says "break another rule and you lose five minutes Golden Time"
… and the other arrow says "come back to the Golden Rules and we will
celebrate in Golden Time". What I am trying to get at, clumsily, is that
children must learn that behaviour is their choice. The whole model concentrates
on helping children move towards inner locus of control – where they learn
to take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of the actions.
When they have lost five minutes or one minute and are looking at a sandtimer
they will be very clear, if the visual warnings are properly carried out, that
they chose that consequence. They are reflecting on their behaviour – they
are reflecting on the fact that they have lost a part of their privilege –
and that this was their choice. So, I believe that punishments uphold the self
esteem of children because it gives them safe boundaries and shows them that
adults care enough about them to put the consequences into action. If there
was no visual warning I would not be so confident. If there is only verbal warning,
given that one in five children have a high level of chaos in their minds, it
is highly likely they did not hear the verbal warning…and then, yes, life
would seem unfair. But with the above system it is explicit, clear, visual and
therefore they chose the consequence. Also they never lose all of it –
if they have blown it all on Monday – they get the opportunity to use the
Earning Back Contract (in the ‘Photocopiable Materials for use with the
Jenny Mosley Circle Time Model’ Page 4. ) So they have that choice also…if
a child is unable to work within this system – it may well be that the
level of inner chaos is so high that they have moved into the ‘child beyond
category’ and need to work on Tiny Achievable Tickable Targets (page 30
– 45) in the same book. Wow.. I hope all this helps. Good luck with Deepening
the Debate !!! Jenny
22. Jenny - many thanks for your participation. Although I haven't been actively asking, like many others I have been following the debate with great interest. I have tried to print the questions and answers out to share with staff - a marvellous addition to PSHE resources / and staff development. Your time with the community very much appreciated - hope the facilitiators will consider inviting you again!
JENNY MOSLEY
….…I can’t resist responding to appreciation and enthusiasm –
it just feels so good! Certainly we have free resources as well that we offer
from our office that you are most welcome to have for your staff (any head teacher
from Talking Heads is welcome to contact my office for the same resources).
We have a slim booklet called Quality Circle Time – the Heart of the Curriculum
which evolved from a conference opened by David Puttnam – and is a brave
attempt to synthesize the model succinctly! The white video has snapshots from
a range of television programmes about our work – and shows circle times
with different ages of children in different schools and a lovely six minute
slot on how children and teachers turned their school round through using our
Playground Friends and Friendship Stop scheme…so do contact the office
and they will send them out to you. Did you have luck printing out the questions
and answers as I am sure that Gill Roberts will help if they don’t flow
smoothly ! Thanks again Jenny
23. "Is a progression for circle time in existence for foundation stage through to year 6? Thanks for your help "
JENNY MOSLEY
…..…as politicians say…"it is an interesting question !!"
There is a lot of debate as to whether this is a sound psychological move or
not. We don’t advocate a planned progression for all the key stages –
on the basis that children are at so many different emotional levels of maturity.
There are so many issues that crop up for different classes to do with their
own team building – and, ideally circle time should be a vibrant process
reflecting the needs of the class and school. We teach a five step structure
– on each step you can put different activities that are suitable for the
needs of the class. We also have a suggestion box in each class, where children
can anonymously put in any questions or worries. We teach teachers to build
these into their PSE circle times through a series of games and metaphor and
structured activities. Having said that we do provide, through our books, circle
times around themes e.g. in Quality Circle Time we have a series of lesson plans
around the theme of – Getting To Know You, Feelings, Listening and Concentrating,
Kindness, Friendship, Solving Problems, Resolving Conflict, Achieving Changes,
etc…and yet any of these themes may need to be revisited by classes at
any stage depending on how their relationships are maturing and the problems
they are facing. I think the issue is to help teachers become confident in what
a good circle time looks like – it has five steps, it is pacey, it incorporates
creative structures, it has set ground rules and a particular positive approach.
Once the teachers are confident in this then they are able to structure plans
which are just right for the class. Having said all this, we are just about
to publish a book called Stepping Stones to Success – which is a two year
planned progression of circle time for the foundation stage. Maybe, this is
the way we will go – but it is an issue for debate and real careful thought
as I prefer confident teachers able to respond to topics etc. that are naturally
part of ‘the whole’. So Janet all you needed was a straight yes or
no…and you got a rambling answer. I hope it helped a bit. Jenny
24. Jenny, Thanks for your earlier response. Education staff all have 1-1 time (supervision) with myself, either weekly or fortnightly, at times of real stress they can access 3 or 4 sessions with someone trained in psychotherapy - maybe we need to look at more frequent sessions with someone other than me!! I like the idea about peer support-definitely worth a try. As for me....I have recently pointed out that I am the only member of staff who doesn't get supervision/support and they have agreed funding to provide some time-just need to find someone mad enough to take me on now
JENNY MOSLEY
….…well, it seems to me that they have the highest level of supervision
and emotional support I have come across in this area of special ed. for some
time…maybe training in peer counselling is the answer, so they begin to
look within themselves for ways of solving the problems – and as part of
the whole team. Good luck with finding a good sound supervisor. In the past
it sometimes takes me three or four interviews before I find someone I feel
I can trust. I have always found the updated BAC (British Association of Counselling)
Counselling and Psychotherapy Resources Directory of trained counsellors with
their specialisms, very helpful…and you need the best. Jenny