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News
News update: February 2009
Some New Reading Material
My latest book ‘Meeting the Needs of Disaffected Students –
Engaging Students with Social, Emotional and Behavioural
Difficulties’ is available for pre-order on Amazon. You can
read details of this book at
www.continuumbooks.com. We have now completed and
published ‘Brain Breaks, Starter Activities and Fillers’, a
photocopiable resource packed with practical activities to
use in the classroom. Details are available on our
publications page.
Self-Harming
Eating disorders and self-harming are a significant problem
amongst pupils. A problem highlighted by new research from
the Institute of Psychiatry in London is that these problems
can go unchecked and even when staff are able to spot them,
they lack the training to give support and to make
appropriate referrals. Teachers are often afraid that they
will make matters worse by doing something wrong. In an
average school with 1000 pupils, 27 pupils are likely to
have an eating disorder and about 80 will self-harm.
Ms Hesmondhalgh, who conducted the research, said teachers
should be trained to enable early identification of problems
and how to respond appropriately. Hannah Smith of Young
Minds mental health charity says she would like to see a
compulsory mental health module in teacher training courses
and regular updates in professional development sessions.
Ladette Crime Wave
A report written by academics for the Ministry of Justice
has highlighted increasing violence amongst girls. There has
been a 22% increase in crimes committed by girls since 2004.
Girls under 18 committed more than 58 000 crimes last year.
Crimes of violence have overtaken theft as the most common
offence by women and girls. Binge drinking is making girls
more aggressive. Broken homes and disruptive backgrounds
have caused a lack of self-restraint.
Figures from the Youth Justice Board show that teenage girls
are responsible for 40 plus violent attacks a day. The Youth
Justice Board has said that young females account for only
21% of offences.
We Are Not A School
Watercliffe Meadow has 500 pupils but is not called a school
because of the negative connotations associated with the
word school. It is a place of learning and the head, Linda
Kingdon, hopes that the name change will help to
de-institutionalise it. They are trying to develop a place
for family learning where anyone can come. Pupils wear
slippers, not shoes, in the classroom. Linda Kingdon said
she wanted to bring the ‘school closer to real life’.
Negative Emotions and Lack of Trust Highlighted in British
Children
A comparative wellbeing study of European teenagers in 22
countries found that British children are more doubting,
cautious and least trusting. The New Economics Foundation
interviewed 40 000 people and found that 12 other countries
have people who have better resilience, a greater sense of
purpose and fewer negative emotions than British children.
With personal relationships and trust, young people in this
country were ranked 20th.
Is Sex Education Working In Schools?
Scientists at Nottingham University have found that in the
past 16 years there has been a 68% rise in the rate of
repeat terminations in teenagers. Binge drinking,
inappropriate sex education and poor parenting were to
blame. In 2007, 5897 girls under the age of 20 had their
second, third or fourth termination. In 1991 the figure was
2934. It has been suggested that terminations were carried
out for lifestyle reasons.
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