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11/10/2023 0 Comments ResilienceDeveloping resilience is one the principal targets of Let’s Talk. Not the false resilience that most children parrot back to their teachers – we have all heard it, some version of “never giving up” – but the real resilience, where we acknowledge that most days are difficult but it is actually the challenges that make life fun, exciting and worthwhile. The problem with the teaching of resilience is that actually, schools have never really taught it. We talk about, yes, we might even give some examples of it happening but we rarely break resilience down into a collection of tools that can be used to tackle challenging moments. Let’s Talk does this (see Term 1) and provides a good start for resilience building but we have always struggled to find a conceptual image to make children realise that problems and challenges are a good thing for personal development. That was until we introduced kintsugi to the children in class this week.  Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.  Kintsugi makes something new from a broken pot, which is transformed to possess a different sort of beauty. The imperfection, the golden cracks, are what make the new object unique. They are there every time you look at it and they remind us of the challenge that has been overcome.  Of course, this image will not turn your children into masters of resilience overnight but what it will do is remind them that we all face challenges and that usually these challenges are good for us, which is a vital first step in the journey to resilient behaviour.
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4/10/2023 0 Comments Support CardsThe greatest challenge of any behaviour curriculum is getting the children to apply their learning. We can teach the content but unless the knowledge is revisited the learning will not stick. There are many ways to foster the application of these skills to help improve behaviour: displays in classrooms, previous lesson recaps, whole-school assemblies and referencing the concepts in coaching conversations. However, we have found the Let’s Talk Application Cards to be the most effective way of building this behaviour into a school culture. These cards were originally created to replace the generic Stop and Think reminders that were given to children as a sanction. A few years ago, I remember handing out a Stop and Think card only for the child to ask, with a hint of sarcasm, “What should I think about, Sir?” It was this question that made me realise that yes, asking children to stop is a good first step, but providing some prompts for thinking might make a difference. This was the moment that the Let’s Talk Application Cards were born and they have been game-changers for schools, teachers and children ever since. Here are some examples: 1. Tornado Zone This card helps children recognise that they have been triggered by something. It encourages them to take steps out of the Tornado Zone so that they can regulate.  2. Being a good class member The antidote to the child who has mastered the art of low-level disruption. It stresses the team element of a class and that calling out, fiddling with pencils are all compromising the team.  3. Road to Success Failure triggers all kinds of disturbing emotions in a classroom but this card reminds children that failure should not be hidden from and is one of the most important steps to success  Cards on peer pressure, taking responsibility and resilience make up the pack of six created to support children when they are making poor choices but we have four other cards designed to elicit active learning. 1. Learning Arena Do you have any children in your class who have the answers but do not have the confidence to contribute to class discussion? Well the Learning Arena card is for them. It encourages active learning by highlighting the thought gremlins that stop us getting involved.  2. Talk partners Talk partners encourage participation… so long as the children are actually talking. However unsure a child might be, these cards give children a script that they can use to ask and answer questions.  Here are the other two cards that help elicit positive learning behaviour.
I now see the development of learning behaviour as a two-pronged attack. The lessons provide the foundation while the cards facilitate the daily top ups that are needed to keep the concepts at the forefront of the school day.
14/9/2023 0 Comments Being HumanLet’s Talk is a behaviour curriculum that gives children the tools to build resilience and develop outstanding learning behaviour. The curriculum includes lessons on failure, managing anger and living in the Learning Arena.  It is clear that the curriculum has shown early impact. Yes, the children are opening up more. Yes, they are starting to apply the concepts, but teachers across our schools reported a block. Language. And after conducting further research we realised that on average, children were using only 3.5 emotions to describe their daily experiences.  And so, BEING HUMAN was born. We created a dictionary of sixty-seven emotions/experiences to boost children’s emotional literacy. Every lesson includes a study of a Being Human word with short tasks created to get children using the word immediately.  At the back of the children’s journals is a Being Human dictionary that includes all of the words. 
Above all, Being Human has made the children curious and excited about the way that they respond to life’s challenges. It has freed them from this limited ‘angry-sad-happy’ existence and given them the confidence to explore the world with and curiosity.
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