How to develop positive behaviour and erase bullying at playtimes and lunchtimes

Left to their own devices during playtimes and lunchtimes, some children will play in a very positive way. They will work together, mutually acknowledging the rules of their own games, helping and supporting each other and gaining much from the experience.

Unfortunately not all children do this. Some become isolated, some race around letting off steam and occasionally colliding with innocent by-standers, some become the victims of bullies, others become bullies.

A straightforward way to enhance positive play in the school grounds is to teach the children one game a week which they can then work on together. Some games will catch on and become continuing favourites. Others by the nature of things will fade after a few days.

But two great benefits will emerge from teaching children one game a week. Firstly the initial playing of the playground game by a group of children is always a highly rewarding experience. The sorting out of the rules, agreeing the fundamentals and, above all, working together are all fundamental to the development of the social aspect of each child’s life.

Secondly, although the suggested games will not motivate and engage all children, they will enthuse many, leaving teachers on duty a much smaller number of potentially problematic situations to deal with.

As a further benefit, extracts from the book can be given to parents so that they can encourage their children to play these games when friends come around at weekends or after school, or to give a greater structure to birthday parties.

PSHE in the Playground is a photocopiable book (also available on CD so that it can be loaded onto the school’s network) which incorporates enough games to last a full school year and includes games that are suitable for both key stage 1 and key stage 2 children. Most games can be taught to children in a matter of minutes.

Because the book is copiable only one copy needs to be purchased for the book to be used by all teachers in the school throughout the year.

An extract from PSHE in the Playground, ISBN 978 1 86083 726 5, order code T1691EMN is available at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/T1691.pdf

Prices

Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…

By post from First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, NN17 4HH
By fax to 01536 399 012
On-line with a credit card at http://tinyurl.com/npqers
By phone with a school order number or a credit card to 01536 399 011

When ordering the book please quote the reference T1791EMN.

Justin King strikes Gold thanks to the Sixth Form College, Solihull Former college student awarded an Association of Colleges Gold Award

The Sixth Form College, Solihull was celebrating today as Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s and one of its former students, was awarded a prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Gold Award by Lord Willis of Knaresborough at the House of Commons.

Staff and students from the Sixth Form College, Solihull were present at the awards ceremony which is held each year to recognise further education alumni as well as acknowledge the vital role that colleges play in the careers of the winners and of their continuing achievements.

Justin King was nominated by the College where he studied his A Levels in 1979. Armed with his grades from the College, Justin undertook a degree in Business Administration at the University of Bath. After graduating in 1983, he worked for a number of prominent food manufacturers such as Mars Confectionery, Pepsi International and Haägen Dazs before becoming Director of ASDA in 1994. In 2001, King moved to Marks & Spencer where he managed the food division.

Justin joined Sainsbury’s in 2004, charged with improving sales and halting its declining market share . Within six months, King had launched his recovery programme under the banner, “Making Sainsbury’s Great Again” and has recently been able to announce that the company has achieved 30 consecutive quarters of sales growth.

In January 2009 Justin was appointed to the Board of the London Organising Committee for the Olympics by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. He was then made a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group and awarded a CBE in the Birthday Honours in 2011.

On receiving his award, Justin said, “I am very honoured to be presented with this award. My time at Solihull Sixth Form College was key to my decision to go to University and study business, and as such, pivotal in my career. I am delighted to say that more recently my daughter has successfully attended the college too.”

Justin King was among eight former students whose careers have been positively influenced by their former Colleges. The other winners are Trevor Baylis – Inventor and Entrepreneur, Idris Elba – Actor, Katy Etherington – Graphic Designer and Founder of PA Pool, Peter France – Chief Executive of Rotork plc, Justine Greening MP – Secretary of State for Transport, Amir Khan – Professional Boxer, and Sir Kevin Smith – Chief Executive of GKN plc.

To highlight the important role further education continues to play for today’s students the AoC Charitable Trust runs a ‘mini me’ campaign alongside the Gold Awards. The nominating colleges each select a current student who shows promise in a similar field to their Gold Award winner.

Toby Railton, from Solihull, is currently studying A Levels in Economics, Politics, Mathematics and Further Maths. He has secured a prestigious 6-year apprenticeship with accountancy firm KPMG, which will see him complete a 4-year Accountancy degree at the University of Birmingham and start work at the firm.

Toby, 18, had the opportunity to meet his muse at the award ceremony at the House of Commons on 13 June and find out what it takes to carve out a successful career and about the role that their college played in their success.

Toby commented, “It’s great to hear about Justin King’s success and good to know that he started where I am now. It shows what you can achieve if you are willing to work hard. I hope my apprenticeship at KPMG is the start of a successful career for me in business.”

Paul Ashdown, Principal of The Sixth Form College Solihull, added, “We are delighted to see Justin King being recognised for his achievements by the AoC. We believe that Justin is an outstanding role model for our current and future students, because he demonstrates what can be achieved with hard work and dedication. We hope that many more of our students go on to achieve similar success in their chosen fields.”

What is the point of literacy?

It is often the case that literacy games (as in “change one letter at a time to make ‘hat’ into ‘cap’ in two moves”) enhances an interest in and an understanding of the language.

When we go further and link such games to the world of work, we broaden the horizons of the children not only in terms of literacy, but also in terms of the wider world.

Most children find questions such as “change ‘this is the way to the park’ into a question” interesting in themselves. But when correct answers take the children forward in a board game based on careers, the enthusiasm, and the level of learning, is enhanced.

Career Detectives – a teaching resource centred around a board game – does just this by providing a range of stimulating information about careers across all sectors within the context of a set of literacy and other activities that can be completed in the classroom.

When we ask, “What is a migration?” and suggest the answer might be “a bad headache” (as well of course as the correct answer,) we are taking the children into the very essence of the language with all its curiosities and oddities of connection.

But while we are also working within the format of the game we enhance and raise awareness of key skills including team work, communication, leadership, creativity and confidence.

Career Detectives has within it enough material for an entire term’s work. It also works on a diverse range of issues from key skills to healthy eating, from personal attitudes to citizenship.

At the same time it helps pupils to discover all about the world of work and which careers may interest them.

What’s more, using Career Detectives can also enhance your outcomes when Ofsted inspect as it enables you to demonstrate spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in your school. It also helps in a number of other areas, details of which can be found on our website.

In a world in which many people are perceived to be successful irrespective of their education, Career Detectives offers a stimulating alternative vision.

There is more information available on Career Detectives here.