Behaviour

I had a brilliant seminar today from a guy called Paul Dix, who travels the country visiting schools and other learning establishments with behaviour management problems and offers them training and strategies to help them improve, with outstanding results even in the worst places. It was probably the best three hours I have ever spent its context; he was fascinating, believable and positive, and terribly enthusiastic about kids in general. I have a wonderful pack of really useful information and some customisable scripts which can be used to put a lid on disrespectful behaviour. Watch out everybody, I am now a trained psychological manipulator....I can bend your will to match mine....

I think we should have had this talk sooner, because most of the questions and debates we have had here have centred around the issues of bad behaviour and I think I could have got a lot more out of the course so far if this hadn't been the case.

Anyway, my placement school until ten to nine this morning was a lovely private mixed secondary with a snappy uniform (red and blue striped waistcoats, dontcha know), ponies and an archery range. At ten to nine I was informed that I am now going to William Parker, which is a boys secondary Church of England school just up the road from home, with a mixed sixth form on a different campus. It is a sports college which has produced international sportsmen (a rugby player and a cricketer, don't ask me who), and apparently I have been asked to go because it is a new placement school and the university wants to make a good impression. Yay for me! In the manner of scientific verification, I have had this last piece of info from two independent sources, so it must be true. Stop sniggering.

I think it will be good for me, as one of the things I really don't know about is boys at school, and the second is state education. And they have Ofsted next week, to top it all off. I hope I'm not in the way!

I really can't wait to get into school now and get my teeth stuck in and really start learning. I expect that will have changed by about Wednesday next week, when I start to question exactly what I have done. I'm sure I'll be fine. This might well change.....