I am part way through reading a book that has disturbed me greatly. In it the writer tells of his experiences as a child in and out of care homes during the seventies. It makes for disturbing reading but is difficult to put down.

This man, this small child, was so affected by the break up of his parents’ relationship that he started to ‘kick off’. Mum found another partner who the child struggled to relate to. Relationships grew strained. The child was in trouble constantly and he and the stepfather were constantly at loggerheads. Sound familiar?

I guess this is a common enough story up to this point. We all see the results of relationship meltdowns in every classroom daily. But circumstances were about to get even worse for this little chap. He was raped by his stepbrother. He was threatened, told exactly what would happen to his brothers and his mother if he breathed a word to anyone. Needless to say he told no-one. His life, never a simple one, grew even more difficult from that point. He felt ashamed. He felt as if he was to blame for all the bad things that were happening.

He volunteered to go into a care home for ‘maladjusted boys’ and from then on he seems to have tried his hardest to live up to all the labels given to him.

I won’t go into the details. I won’t catalogue the different homes he ran away from. Or the different types of abuse he faced from people who were in a position of trust. I won’t detail the way he was medicated to try to keep him under control. Let’s just say that life wasn’t a doddle for him.

I wanted to share this story just to remind us that we often have no idea what is happening in the lives of the children with whom we work. When they gaze vacantly into space, what are they thinking? Is it just that they are off on some imaginary adventure, that school is the most boring place in the world? Or is it that something horrendous is going on in their life at that moment.

We are at the front line and we should be vigilant. We should notice signs. What is going on with this happy go lucky child who suddenly grows pensive. Why has that placid child suddenly become aggressive?

As well as behavioural and emotional changes there are physical signs that we can watch out for, bruising, burns, ligature marks, maybe cuts where a child has self-harmed.

I know that injuries are part of growing up. Children fall over and skin their knees regularly, but alarm bells should ring if a child has injuries in areas that normally aren’t points of contact, like the insides of thighs for instance.

Schools provide Child Protection training and I think it’s essential that all TAs attend. More than that though, we should be actively watching out for the tell tale signs and reporting any concerns that we may have directly to the Child Protection Officer.

If you don’t know who that is yet…you know what to do.

Find out!

 

 

Kids can be cruel can’t they. Sometimes they don’t realise just how cruel they are being. An unkind comment, a snub, or worse, a full blown fist fight in the playground.

But when do random unkind or aggressive acts become bullying?

Definitions of bullying talk about people trying to have power over another person. They talk about using intimidation and force to make others do what you want them to do, or of repeated aggressive acts against someone who can’t defend themselves.

But bullying isn’t just about physical force. It’s so much more complex than that.

There are different types of bullying. Cyber bullying involves the use of technology to intimidate and hurt victims. Children might send texts which are hurtful, or spread malicious rumours using social networking sites. This type of bullying is hard to detect. It is personal and it often reaches the victim in their own home. Just where we all need to feel safe.

Physical bullying involves repeated acts of aggression.  These bullies may punch, kick, pinch, push and shove, etc. Just as predators often hunt in packs, some bullies operate in pairs or in groups on the school playground or out of school hours.They might use their power to steal money or possessions from their victims. Some bullies even make their victims perform sexual acts.

Emotional bullying can consist of hurtful remarks, bullies might exclude a child from their group, purposely ignoring them and making them feel worthless. I know of adults who were emotionally bullied and who still struggle to maintain their self-esteem.

It’s hard enough being a child without having to watch out for bullies all the time. We’re supposed to keep children safe. It’s time that we kept them safe from bullies and let them get on with the job of growing up and learning.

All schools have anti-bullying policies, but it seems to me that approaches to bullying vary hugely, not just from school to school, but also between different staff members in schools. And that just isn’t right. Bullying is serious. It happens in every school and it has to be stopped. We need to be vigilant and proactive.

There are some great websites you can access to help understand bullying and to help spot the signs that a child is being bullied. Some are not UK based – www.kidpower.org.has free resources and some great ideas for parents to help their children to understand bullying and to keep safe. Another useful site is www.kidscape.org.uk. Or just google ‘bullying’ and have your eyes opened.

Bullying can lead to depression and low self-esteem. In extreme cases it can lead to suicide. It can’t continue.

 

A recent study has noticed that children who shout out in class go on to achieve better results in some tests. The thinking seems to be that they are more engaged in the learning than some of the children who don’t shout out.

Well, that’s a given isn’t it?

Now, put your hand up if you have a little character in your class who is constantly in bother for shouting out.

Yes, that’s what I thought. Shouting out isn’t encouraged. And, to be fair, it can be more than a little off putting to the child sitting next to the shouter-outer. They’ve probably just about worked out the answer when the wise guy next to them blurts it out. Their own moment of glory has slipped by. Next time they might not even bother to try.

The study says that, actually, children may learn better by being encouraged to shout out. And here’s me thinking that they were just unable to contain themselves because they knew the answer.

It does make you think though doesn’t it.

To me, what the study is saying is that children need to be actively engaged in the learning activities. It has to be two way. And it confirms to me that the children who are often in the most bother in class, are very often the brightest little sparks.

I know this doesn’t help the kids who just need a little longer to process their thoughts. The shouter outers are often too quick for anyone else to get a look in. I’m sure there are ways of encouraging all children to be involved without the teacher’s attention being totally diverted to the more confident characters.

Some schools encourage the children to use mini whiteboards to show their answers at their own pace. These can be a great way to get the whole class engaged for short periods of time. But what about the children whose brains are too quick for their hands? The answer pops in their heads and out of their mouths before they have time to write it down

I’m sure every TA in every school could give their own examples of how to engage children in interactive learning.

So come on, let’s share our ideas.