“Education is the kindling of a flame,” said the almighty Socrates so our workshops for staff inspire a love of learning and maximise student potential.

Research tells us that a more creative approach to learning improves results. We have combined scientific evidence on how the brain learns with a dash of creativity and imagination, and our experience as teachers to design an innovative workshop for staff, Maximise Student Potential.

This bestselling INSET demonstrates our creative study skills and how they can be incorporated into lessons daily to help make learning easier.

We also run Positive Behaviour Management workshops written and devised by the wonderful Sue Cowley, author of the bestselling “Getting the Buggers to Behave.”

We do get incredibly busy during the Autumn term so don’t miss out contact me today on 01903 872849 or email carrie@learningperformance.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

The behaviour of pupils and students is not just a matter of social class and educational achievement. There’s always more to it than that.

There is a classic experiment in the history of managing the behaviour of school pupils and schools in which a school in a high poverty low-expectation area of Maryland USA, adopted the syllabus and teaching methods of an extremely conservative nearby private school.

The experiment proved once and for all that a key factor in determining the behaviour of pupils was not so much the syllabus or the background of the students, but rather the unification of the view of the staff.

In short, where different staff hold, implement (or indeed fail to implement) different approaches to behaviour then behavioural issues arise. Where there is a true unification of purpose via one selected approach, then matters progress quickly.

The book, Improving attitudes, managing behaviour and reducing exclusions, builds from this finding, a finding which puts the power to change pupil and student behaviour totally back in the hands of the school and its teachers.

The view of the book is very clear: schools improve when those in the school decide to improve the school, not because of government initiatives, curricula, inspectors, naming and shaming or anything else imposed from without.

For, once a school has its own unified policy, it is able to project that policy to parents and students alike and thus extend the unity of purpose to all members of the school.

Through this unified approach everyone within the school is able to be proud of the school through knowing exactly what its approach to behaviour is, as much as everyone will know what its approach to teaching and learning is.

Within such an approach, everything is covered. A parental complaint about behaviour, for example, is immediately seen by everyone involved within the context of the school’s policy to which everyone has signed up. Through this approach the issues of teaching and learning, motivation and behaviour all start to exist in a unified concept. Each issue is related to the others, and everyone knows where they stand.

But the key issue is not just the development of a new policy to which everyone agrees. It is the implementation and maintenance of the policy every day of the school year.

And it is this issue of seeing both the introduction and the maintenance of the policy as being of equal importance that marks out this approach from so many others. For whatever changes are introduced to the school, there will be objections, which as often as not are simply objections to change rather than objections in principle as they are so often expressed.

It is the overcoming of such objections and the insistence on the maintenance of the new approach that ensures that in the end the school is operating in the way that everyone wants.

You can see some sample pages at http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/education/T1813.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1813EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 821 7

Prices

• Photocopiable book £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• CD £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• Book plus CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1813EMN

• By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
• By fax to 01536 399 012
• On-line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=287

SEALSONGS is a collection of assembly songs which aims to get children engaged through the experience of making and creating music. The lyrics were written with considerable input from Year 4 and 5 pupils, so speak from children to children, and the musical backing tracks were professionally recorded.

But the resource goes further and offers teachers detailed advice on writing new lyrics, leading singing and other ways that SEALSONGS may be used in the classroom. Thus it enables teachers to give young children the positive experience of working with others in creating new songs within the SEAL framework. There is also guidance for non-specialists in how to teach songs.

The SEAL themes are:

Song 1: New beginnings
Song 2: Getting on and falling out
Song 3: Say no to bullying
Song 4: Going for goals!
Song 5: Good to be me
Song 6: Relationships
Song 7: Changes

Two further general songs – one about writing songs and one providing a Rhyme Game – are also included in the pack.

SEALSONGS was written by David Stoll, a well-known composer of music for the concert hall, the theatre, and for television and radio. He also writes children’s songs and for school ensembles, and designs projects in creativity for schools, higher education and the corporate sector. His music is now being published by Novello & Co.

JENNY MOSLEY (Founder of Quality Circle Time) said “SEALSONGS is a wonderful gift to any adult who wants to truly help their class or school embed SEAL as a way of ‘being’ with ourselves and others. We all know that song can lift you to a different spiritual dimension – David Stoll has given us the perfect package to help even the most music-shy amongst us to engage young people in the process of creating heart-warming songs as part of a creative team….. This is an excellent resource.”

HOWARD GOODALL (National Ambassador for Singing) said “These SEALSONGS have the authentic ring of children’s ideas and feelings in every line. This, for me, makes it a valuable and empowering set of musical tools….. with excellent supporting materials and explanations.”

Purchase of SEALSONGS includes a licence for full use of all the material within the school, including recording new versions of the songs. The complete package is split into different files so that schools may choose which elements they wish to record or print.

Sample music can be downloaded from www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/music/SEALSONGSSamples.rar

You can purchase SEALSONGS in the following ways:

1. As a download, price £10 plus VAT

• By credit card from our on-line shop:
  http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=739

2. As a copiable book plus CD, price £19.99 plus £3.95 delivery

• By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
• By fax to 01536 399 012
• On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=48_98_109&products_id=777