Daily Archives: 09/12/2016

Primary

What is the best way of being aware of the personal and social issues being faced by those we teach?

With many children their behaviour tells us much of what we need to know about their lives. Indeed it is their behaviour that makes us aware of any problems that they might be suffering.

But there is no doubt that observation alone won’t always alert us to the fact that some of the children we teach may be lacking in their understanding of certain key issues of their emotional, personal, and social experiences.

Do they really understand the dangers of mimicking the behaviour they might see in their older brothers and sisters? Is anyone engaging in self-abuse who has slipped beneath the radar? Are there neighbourhood issues that the school is not fully aware of?

A knowledge of these and related issues can make the work of the school much more effective, as you and your colleagues can learn more about the children’s lives and about the dynamics existing in each class.

We can, for example, begin to see if those attending the school are getting suitable breakfasts. We can see if the children who are not met by parents feel safe on their way to and from school.

Of course, if your colleagues try to ask such questions in class, it can be hard to get answers from the very people whose answers might be the ones they most need to hear. Which is why many schools are turning to an alternative way to get this information.

This alternative approach involves using questionnaires covering the well-being and health of pupils. Such a questionnaire can identify the reasons for behaviours and provide a rich source of information that can be used to explore underlying influences.

In short, the professionally structured questionnaire allows us to learn far more about the behaviour and emotions of those we teach than is possible in any other way.

Youcansay has worked with hundreds of schools across the UK in providing and analysing questionnaires which help classroom teachers and senior management in schools learn far more about those they teach, than can otherwise be achieved.

To see more information on our Well-being and Health Questionnaire which could be run in your school please click here

If you would like to talk about the questionnaires, their benefits and how they work please do call us on 0118 978 1078, you can also contact us by email service@youcansay.co.uk

 

Music

Help students appreciate the beauty of live music

Music concerts of the highest calibre
in Birmingham available to students for a fraction
of the normal price

In the new year Birmingham is hosting two special high calibre classical music events with tickets available for your students at just £5 each.

The first is a concert in which Edward Gardner conducts Peer Gynt, Walton’s first symphony, and Elgar’s Cello Concerto on 17 January.

The second concert on 26 January sees the St Petersburg Philharmonic play Prokofiev and Rimsky-Korsakov: the most celebrated of Russian orchestras playing two of Russia’s most spectacular orchestral showpieces: Romeo and Juliet and Scheherazade.

In addition to the tickets being available at £5 tickets per student, the discount also applies to the seats occupied by yourself and your colleagues.  It doesn’t matter how many or how few students you are bringing along to an event, the tickets cost just £5 each.

Also, if it is more convenient for you, you can encourage parents to organise a home-school group so that parents can organise and arrange the trip themselves.

And if you are bringing a group of 20 or more pupils or students you can in addition get two free tickets for the organisers.

Details of the Peer Gynt, Walton, and Elgar concert are to be found here while details of the St Petersburg Philharmonic concert are here.

To see the details of all the classical music concerts that are scheduled for the coming months please do take a look at our website page which outlines the events for which these discounts apply.

Then to book just call Group Bookings on 0800 358 7070 (10am – 5pm, Monday to Friday) or email groupbookings@thsh.co.uk.  

If you have any questions about these new discounts, please do call the group bookings number and we’ll be pleased to help you.

Finally, in case it is helpful to you I set out below a letter that could be emailed to parents informing them of the event.

Antony Pickthall

 

Dear Parents

I am pleased to say that the concert venue THSH in Birmingham has offered the school tickets for two classical music concerts in January, with the tickets for students available at the very discounted price of just £5 per student.

This is a rare opportunity for students in the school to witness live performances of the very best musicians performing popular works from the classical repertoire, and I am hoping that a number of our students will attend with me.

The first is a concert in which Edward Gardner conducts Peer Gynt, Walton’s first symphony, and Elgar’s Cello Concerto on 17 January.  Details are to be found here.

The second concert on 26 January sees the St Petersburg Philharmonic play Prokofiev and Rimsky-Korsakov.  This concert involves the most celebrated of Russian orchestras playing two of Russia’s most spectacular orchestral showpieces: Romeo and Juliet and Scheherazade.  Details of this concert are here.

I would be most grateful if you could email me back at xxxx@xxxxx by xxxdate to let me know if your son or daughter will be attending this concert.

Yours sincerely,