Sunday 2nd September 2001

Reading, writing, RESPECT

Never mind the traditional three Rs. Now the priority at school is making sure the children have enough self-esteem to learn properly

Report by Maureen Freely

Photographs Geoff Wilkinson

Back in the 70s, when Peter Sharp walked into his first teaching job, his colleagues advised him not to smile until christmas. After that he could smile every once in a while, they said, but only if a child had done something 'really clever'. This didn't sound right to him. But he did as he was told for the first few months, even though it made teaching a misery. In January he couldn't bear it any more, so he dispensed with the stern mask and began to follow his instincts. Almost overnight his job became easier. Encouraged by his smiles and spurred on by his praise for work well done, his pupils went from strength to strength. 'There was only one thing that puzzled them,' he says, 'and now and again they'd asked: "Sir? What was the matter with you before Christmas?"'

Sharp - now an education psychologist - is a coordinator of Antidote, an organisation set up to promote self-esteem, anger management and achievement in schools. He's also a key figure in the National Emotioinal Literacy Interest Group (NELIG). The idea behind these organisations and the overall campaign is that there are four Rs, rather than three - the fourth being for relationships. To get ahead in school, and then in life, you need not just academic intelligence but what is being termed as 'emotional literacy'. This involves teaching pupils how to develop self-awaeness, an understanding and appreciation of others, and how to build strong relationships. According to Antidote, schools need to take their pupils' emotional wellbeing very seriously.

Antidote has been striving to bring like-minded innovators into a network, so that they can prove to the Department for Education and Employment that emotional literacy counts. This quiet campaign has been extraordinarily successful - there is now some form of 'emotional education' going on in almost all primary schools in England.

'Unless children believe they are likable, are proud of themselves, and feel they have some significance and control over their lives, they will find it difficult to commit to learning,' says author and campaigner Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer.

Learning is risky - children who are afraid to take risks are afraid to learn. So if a child is insecure, she will hold back. Learning will also be difficult if the child is upset. After all, it involves listening and concentrating, and most adults can't do these things when they are troubled, so why should we expect children to?

Many people, however, remain suspicious of the idea of emotional education. When Jenny Mosley, an emotional literacy consultant, goes to work in a new school, she is accustomed to a certain level of scepticism. 'One thing parents often say to me is, "Don't give my child any more self-esteem. He has quite enough already." What they mean,' she says, 'is, "Don't make my child brash and rude."' The reassurance she gives them is that her aim is to create a system of respect that is based on cooperation and understanding. 'Someone with self-esteem,' continues Jenny, 'doesn't need to put others down. Children with self-esteem respect others, can apologise, and want to help. Children who respect themselves,' she adds, 'are courageous enough to pull themselves up each time they stumble. They don't have to waste energy hiding their weaknesses.'

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

When Jenny Mosley finished her teacher training in 1972, her first job was at a school in Clapham, South London, for children with behavioural problems. The head teacher, she says, 'believed everyone should be listened to.' To this end, he organised a weekly 'circle' to which he invited all members of the school, including the cleaners and the cooks. The discussions that took place during the circle times covered all aspects of school life, and seemed to make the children more responsive and considerate. 'There is a difference in kids that are listened to,' she insists.

When she went on to other jobs, Jenny experimented with other types of circles, and over time she developed a model called Quality Circle Time. In 1987 the Wiltshire Education Authority asked her to do a pilot in 30 of its primary schools. 'After that, it just spread by work of mouth,' she says. Now there's some form of circle in most primary schools in England.

The thing that sets Quality Circle Time apart is that it involves a series of 'systems'. For example, there will be a list of golden rules the pupils will have agreed to follow. When they do, they are awarded with golden time - an extra break between classes. If they break a golden rule, they still get golden time, but five minutes less.

Quality Circle Time follows a set format, so that children have time to settle in, and also time at the end to adjust back to school life as usual. First there is a meeting-up game. It differs according to the age of the children, but it usually involves each child completing a sentence such as, 'I was pleased when...'

The next step is an open forum - this is when the serious issues get discussed. With small children, teachers will often use puppets. with older children, the subject might come from an idea a child has put into a suggestion box.

Then there is a cheering-up exercise. Sometimes this will involve drama. Children will, for example, pretend to be magicians or imaginary head teachers. This is very useful for children with low confidence. 'If you have never experienced success, why would you try for it?' says Jenny. 'Older children will sometimes be aasked to say something nice about someone else in the group. It has to be true. And they have to mean it.'

The last step is the closing down ritual, to ensure they leave the circle feeling relaxed and happy. With younger children, this can be a calming game. With older children, it is more often guided imagery, such as pretending to be at the beach and listening to the waves lapping on to the shore.

THE HAPPY SCHOOL

Batheaston Primary school, in Bath, ahs been praised by the DfEE for making its principal aim the happiness of all its pupils. So hao do they do it? 'The big thing is ethos,' says head teacher Jacqueline Coulby. 'If you know what you believe in, and what you want to achieve, then everyhing else becomes much easier.'

The rule at Batheaston is: treat children as individuals. 'The more you go in the direction of unifomity,' she says, 'the more children feel that they don't belong. So, we never say, "This is how a good child should be."'

Jaqueline and her staff are always on the lookout for children who are feeling left out. If they spot a child who is embarrassed because she is the only one without a pair of new shoes on the first day of term, or the only one who hasn't got a holiday to look forward to on the last day of term, they say somehting in passing to make her feel OK.

Sometimes Jacqueline gets a group of children together and asks each of them to think of one thing that they are really good at, and one thing that they're struggling with - this helps children acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses. 'The message is, it's OK not to be perfect.' Or she gets each child to think of something they're so good at that they can help someone else, and something else that they need help with. This makes them feel more positive about their strengths, and teaches them that they can help other people, and accept help.

They also spend a lot of time talking about friendship issues. All teachers set aside five minutes for this after every playtime. This might seem like a lot, Jacqueline says, but in her experience, children who've had something go wrong in the playground are too upset to concentrate and often will disrupt other children's learing, too. So if there's been an unusually big upset during the break, teachers will take time to sort it out with the children. Then they'll work out a plan for the next playtime. For example, two childen might be responsible for the unruly child's happiness, and report back on their progress afterwards.

In the middle of the playground, there's a sign that says Friendship Stop. If children find themselves alone during playtime, they go and sit down on the bench next to the sign, and then a Friendship Monitor (also a child) will find a friend for them to play with. Again, this encourages them to sort out friendship problelms themselves, instead of having to wait until they are so upset that a teacher notices.

'Children are praised and encouraged, but they are also challenged,' says Jacqueline. 'When they behave in a negative way, we talk about it, but there's always room for change. If children do begin to change, we make sure that it's not just the children who know about it. We let the parents know, so that they can give the child another chance, too.' It works both ways - whenever a child gets into trouble, the teachers work out a strategy with the parents, instead of imposing their own plans without discussion; and whenever parents are distressed about problems at home, they can organise a meeting with the head teacher.

Every day, one member of each class is a Special Person. They get to sit on the big chair next to the teacher and take the register and then, for the rest of the day, everyone else in the class is meant to do everything they can think of to give that child a special day. At the end of the day, they get a sticker and give other stickers to the children who have been nicest to them during the day. 'It's such a simple thing, but it works wonders,' says Jacqueline.

In the final year, pupils get to be Special Friends to the children in the reception class. 'It's so rewarding to see big rough boys taking care of the little ones.' They also have clean-up chores around the playground, and they run the desk in the office at lunchtime. 'It's by taking on these responsibilities that they learn to look forward to their lives as adults,' says Jacqueline.

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