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      string(5635) "it made of? Was it old or new? And so on. The most interesting answers will develop a background for the chair (or, later, the object, or story, animal, etc.) and these tangents, which the students will confidently explain, should be pursued, demonstrating to the others that the more information they can give, or perceive, about what they are thinking about, the better.Broader themes Depending on the maturity and interest of the students, this conversation about subjectivity can be developed into other, broader themes: do we imagine characters differently in the same book? Do we all experience events subjectively—lunchtime, playtime, the bus ride home? What scares us and why is different for different people? Who dreams in colour, black and white, what do dreams mean, etc.?The essence of the workshop, which should follow this, requires all students to have something to write on, something to write with, and time, peace and a place to think and write. Instructions must be clear: the teacher will give a prompt and the students will have a few minutes to write whatever comes to mind after hearing it. There are no right and wrong answers. The students are to do this in silence, without discussion, and to wait quietly after finishing.Depending on the maturity and interest of the students, this conversation about subjectivity can be developed into other, broader themes: do we imagine characters differently in the same book? Do we all experience events subjectively—lunchtime, playtime, the bus ride home? What scares us and why is different for different people? Who dreams in colour, black and white, what do dreams mean, etc.?The essence of the workshop, which should follow this, requires all students to have something to write on, something to write with, and time, peace and a place to think and write. Instructions must be clear: the teacher will give a prompt and the students will have a few minutes to write whatever comes to mind after hearing it. There are no right and wrong answers. The students are to do this in silence, without discussion, and to wait quietly after finishing.Prompts for deepening imaginative thoughtThe first prompt is: You wake up in the middle of the night and look down at the floor in your bedroom and see a rectangular hole in the floor with stars in it. What do you do?The students write, the teacher maintains silence. Give the students at least three or four minutes. Tell them they can write in full sentences or notes. Don’t press those who say they can’t think of anything. In this first exercise it is important, like any new game or activity, for everyone to pick up on the rules. When the majority of the students are finished, call for silence and choose a few answers at random (make sure names are on the papers and collect and read everything the end of the session). Read the answers aloud, or have the students read aloud, and ask supplementary questions, as with the chair.The most important thing for the teacher to do at this stage is treat all answers with equanimity and interest, even the most boorish and immature (again, common sense and taste taken into consideration). The most ridiculous and humorous answers will, of course, capture the class’ attention but the job of the teacher at this moment is to show an interest in the more thoughtful answers too, especially where some weird logic can be seen to be at play—signs of the students creating a rational system to explain the seemingly irrational stimulus.What should be generated is an atmosphere of freedom and controlled play. The students must feel free to think and use their own imaginations. They should react to the prompts by staring up into space, thinking and moving to action as the picture pops up for them.Supplementary questions for this prompt are usually along the lines of—‘oh, you jumped into the hole, did you? How? Feet first? A dive?’ or ‘so you rolled over in bed and ignored it, did you? Was it easy to fall asleep?’The exercise goes on using the following prompts, in any order. These are prompts which have worked well for me, and which I like, and teachers should invent their own prompts which, when they start to think about it, will pop up all over the place. There are many writing prompts on the internet, too, and the general rule, as usual, is—if it’s interesting to you, use it. If not, don’t.You are sitting in the bath. You hear a scratching on the door. An animal walks into the bathroom. What animal is it and what do you do?In many cases this prompt will elicit a backstory for the animal—when it is not violent or aggressive—and this can be developed. If a character has popped up out of the student’s imagination it should be chased up. ‘Oh, I’d love to hear more about your pet koala/unicorn…’Other prompts:One morning as you are walking to school someone taps you on the shoulder and says, ‘now you can fly’. What do you do and where do you go?You arrive at school one day and everyone is on the roof. Why?You wake up one morning and your life has changed into a cartoon. What does everything look like? What do you do?You are walking home from school and someone throws something out of a car window onto the pavement. When you look you see it’s a little baby dragon. What do you do?You are walking along an empty, rocky beach and you see three figures in the distance. They are coming towards you. What happens?In this last case, the teacher elicits mood describers—the weather, the sea, the feeling of the stranger—wherever possible. This can be developed into a"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Mobilising the Power of Imagination

3 Jun 2019

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      string(5596) "The importance of school washrooms in your anti-bullying strategyLayout and design To tackle the root of bullying in washrooms, schools could look at the surroundings that cause it to be a place where children feel the need to display negative behaviour, including acts of vandalism. Creating a washroom environment where vandalism doesn’t fit it in, could result in the mind-set of its users being altered and in turn actually teach them respect. A government guidance document ‘Toilets in Schools’ reports that involving pupils in the design process, increases their sense of pride and ownership of their school buildings, helping to reduce vandalism and bad behaviour. To protect washrooms against decline in appearance, schools can use hardwearing materials such as those used throughout our education range including Solid Grade Laminate (SGL), to form the shell of the washroom; it is water proof, impact and scratch resistant, giving it the best chance of staying intact and like SGL, High Pressure Laminate is also a surface that can be cleaned with ease, especially for graffiti which can substitute as another form of bullying.The installation of full height cubicles is a popular solution amongst our customers, for obvious reasons, as this will give students peace of mind when using the rest room, by removing the opportunity for others to peep over or under. This may lead to worries about students not being accessible in the case of an emergency, as figures released in 2015, suggested that in London aloneS chool washrooms have been portrayed for some time as a bully’s playground and this can unfortunately be the case. A survey by the Children’s Parliamentclaimed that up to 40% of pupils feared the behaviours of others in school toilets, and though it is not breaking news, bullying can have lifelong effects and severely disrupt academic performance. Whilst schools cannot monitor the individual behaviour of each student at all hours of the day, at weekends and more critically now on social media, there are measures that schools can consider to improve the situation, particularly in school washrooms.So why do washrooms have such a notorious reputation for bullying, and how can schools do more to prevent it? The NSPCC ‘What are children telling us about bullying report 2015/16’ recommends identifying “hot spot areas in schools where bullying is known to happen and introduce ways of patrolling or monitoring these areas – physical bullying usually takes place somewhere out of sight of adults (school toilets were often mentioned)”.Interviews with students also show that bad hygiene and maintenance of school washrooms poses a negative environment, which hosts the perfect setting for anti-social behaviour to manifest itself in. At Venesta we have worked with many educational facilities, to create aesthetically pleasing spaces which maintain the practicality of being easy to clean, extremely durable and resistant to vandalism, factors all covered in our dedicated education range.Imperial Business College44Vol 9.1 School Leadership Today www.teachingtimes.comA dver tori al– Ven estathere were 1,499 incidents of under eighteens being stuck or trapped. To resolve these concerns there are discreet locking technologies that will allow an adult access to the cubicle in less than 30 seconds, like our one of a kind System M, or rapid release indicator bolts featured as standard on all Venesta cubicles.Urinals in male washrooms may also be considered a bullying opportunity. Some schools have abolished urinals altogether and instead only use toilet cubicles, or alternatively install sufficient privacy partitions.The impact of colour is also often overlooked, but is an inseparable part of our everyday lives. It’s inherent in everything we see and do, playing a major role in our emotion, productivity, communication and learning. While the research is varied it is conclusive; the use of colour can have a significant impact on emotion, which can ultimately influence an individual’s behaviour. Choosing a Venesta washroom will give you the flexibility to choose from 36 inviting colours that can breathe positivity into your environment, even in a low natural light setting, where you can make use of colours that have a high Light Reflective Value (LRV). For secondary school students research points towards the cooler side of a colour palette, which have been shown to help create a peaceful environment that can improve focus and reduce stress, to help overcome negative feelings of irritability, premature fatigue, lack of interest and behavioural problems – we recommend staying away from grey or alternatively pairing it with brighter colours, as it has been known to promote boredom.Unisex washrooms A report published by Stonewall in 2017 revealed that 58 per cent of almost 600 transgender students surveyed, are not allowed to use the toilets they feel comfortable in. In recent years more and more schools have taken to installing unisex washrooms in their facilities, which could help ease making the basic decision of using washrooms at school, or the feelings that they are dealing with by the pressure of not having to choose which one.While the idea of unisex washrooms has been seen as controversial by parents, research has indicated an overall positive message, by reducing bullying in general through easier supervision of communal areas and perhaps even making all students feel on more level ground when using a washroom. The Department for Education and Skills issued guidance in 2015"
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Conflict Resolution

The importance of school washrooms in your anti-bullying strategy

28 Sep 2018

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      string(5608) "tipping point ‘where it is clear that the LA can no longer viably support itsremaining schools because a critical mass of schools in that area has converted’. AnLA can also volunteer for this; or■ In the event of systemic failure: ‘where the LA consistently fails to meet a minimumperformance threshold across its schools’.There are no immediate LA candidates for this treatment, but we can expect theDfE to be determined in focusing on under-performing LAs and probably trying outthese powers (if enacted in law) on the smaller, less successful LAs—particularly in the‘Achieving Excellence Areas’ that will be targeted by the DfE under the White Paper.‘A straw in the policy wind’Another interesting aspect of the DfE’s climb-down on compulsoryacademisation was the perhaps rather hasty indication that LocalAuthorities may be able to set up their own MATs. This was a changefrom the White Paper’s anticipation that certain individuals might leaveLAs and set up MATs, although that might be how things turn out inpractice as LAs shrink their school functions.There are, however, two legal impediments to LA MATs being set up.One of the underpinning DfE principles regarding academy governanceis that less than 20 per cent of members and trustees of academy trustscan be ‘Local Authority Associated’ (i.e. employed by LAs or elected to localoffice). It would be a major concession for the DfE to permit LAs a higherdegree of control of any LA MATs than this, and any lesser level of controlwould not really make such trusts ‘LA MATs’ in any meaningful sense.There are also considerable potential legal complications for LAswho would seek to continue to make commercial supply to their ownLA MATs, because of the rule that members and trustees of MATs canonly make such supply on an ‘at cost’ basis. Although here at Stone Kingwe have heard of a handful of LAs making serious efforts to explore theoption of their own LA MAT, we suspect few will actually happen. Whatthis straw in the policy wind has done, however, is to give primariesreluctant to engage in academisation another reason to put theacademy question off until and if an LA MAT becomes available to them.So, overall, we can expect to see a considerable increase incompulsory academisation which may counteract the continuingreluctance of many maintained schools to academise, especially in theuncertain world of Brexit. It is likely that the DfE’s ambition will still beto drive towards MAT units of at least ten schools, although it may be along time before that level of aggregation takes place on the ground, if it ever does, asschools settle into their local academy clusters.The speed at which academisation can and will take place continues, however, to beconstrained by the capacity of the system to produce enough volunteers prepared totake on the more elevated role of being a MAT trustee and a sufficient pool of ‘executiveleaders’ to develop MATs.Could paid governance be on the horizon?The White Paper states that ‘Governing boards need to be skills-based and focused onthe strategic functions of setting a vision and holding school leaders to account for theeducational and financial performance of their schools’. That has been the tenor of allschool governance for a number of years and is already set out in current governanceregulations for maintained schools2 and in the governance handbook3.Part of the regulatory change that took effect by September 2014 was to36Vol 7.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comCommentLawandpolicy radically reduce the minimum proportions of elected or ‘representational’ governors inmaintained governing bodies (both parents and staff ). This focus on skills is also logicalin Academyland given the corporate governance requirements of an academised systemorganised in relatively large and complex MAT units.However, the White Paper then goes on to exclude any value in any parentsperforming a function for their community though ‘symbolic representation on agoverning board’. This is cast in language which can and has been interpreted to set adichotomy between the required governance skills and parents. That is potentially hugelylimiting to the academy programme. The large proposed increase in MATs means a largeincrease in the need for volunteer governors, and parents provide one of the most obviousrecruitment pools for those roles.While there is some evidence of a broader recruitment pool beginning to operatefor MATs, given the White Paper’s proposals to introduce compulsory training andcompetency testing for governors, there is a real risk that insufficient volunteers willcome forward quickly enough to provide the corporate capacity to allow the MAT systemto grow. The White Paper nods at this by acknowledging that MATs may seek morepermission ‘to offer payment to attract the very best people into key positions such as thechair of the board’. Justine Greening will need to decide whether to cross the Rubicon thatnot even Michael Gove crossed and allow paid academy trustees, which really will be asea change from the entirely voluntary ethos of governance which currently sustains thesystem and gives some political comfort about the intrusion of profit making into schools.Uncertain times aheadWhile nothing is certain in these times, the likely pause in new education policy makingwill mean that the main focus of school governance in the next few months will be in thedevelopment of the RSC’s intervention in failing and ‘coasting’ schools. This will result in alarge increase in compulsory"
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Leadership

Beyond Brexit: All quiet on the education front?

4 Oct 2016

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      string(5628) "This month’s FeaturesOnline paymentsystems for parentsWith the ever increasing demand for time andcost savings solutions for both schools andparents, Stephen Clarke, Managing Director ofContact Group, tells e-Learning Update about theimportance and benefits of providing parents withan online payment system.Electronic payment systemsare rapidly replacingtraditional methods ofpayment that once involvedhandling hard cash in schools.The need to provide parentswith an online solution tomake payments for schoolitems and activities hasresulted in an increasingproportion of schools usinge-commerce solutions to savetime and reduce labour costs.Online payment solutions aredesigned for parents to safelytransfer monies directly into theschool’s bank account to pay foritems such as event tickets, schooldinners and a host of other items,effectively removing the need forparents or children to wait in lengthyqueues at school receptions to payin person.Most importantly, e-paymentsystems help schools to managethe collection of money with easeby removing the administrativeburdens associated with monitoring,processing and reconciling thesepayments, ultimately saving valuabletime and money for schools. Theversatility of e-payment systems alsoallows schools to set up virtual shopsto sell items such as school uniformsand event tickets, providing greater http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s Featuresconvenience for parents to makepurchases directly online.Benefits for schoolsThe main premise for implementingonline payment solutions for schoolsis the reduction of labour allocatedto activities such as collecting,counting and processing payments,thus lowering administrative costsand burdens.Reducing down the amount offunds transported to the bank is alsoa great benefit to schools as theelectronic payment methods meanless cash stored on site at schools.Most importantly, e-payment facilitiesallow schools to track and monitormoney so reconciling funds andaccounts is a simple and automaticprocess that allows schools topromptly view and address anyoutstanding payments. Onlinepayment systems are designed to beuser friendly and compatible withexisting IT systems.The beauty of online parentpayment systems is the increasedcommunication benefits that canbe gained between schools andparents. Having a transparent systemthat is accessible to both partiestakes out the guess work, removingunwarranted issues of late paymentsor the need to chase parents foroutstanding fees. Online parentpayment solutions are a one stopshop that schools can rely on topromote financial accountability intheir record keeping and processingactivities.Benefits for parentsFor parents, the peace of mind thatcomes with the security of a cashlessenvironment when entrusting theirchildren with a cash or cheque ispriceless. The time saving valueof e-payment systems has maderedundant the need for parents orchildren to make payments at schoolreceptions. No longer do theyhave to stand in queues to wait foradministration staff to collect andprocess their payments. With e-payment systems, parents now havethe autonomy to make payments orsettle outstanding debts with a fewsimple clicks, alleviating the hassle ofhaving the child courier the moneyto school. This automatically removesfear of the child losing the money asa result of anti-social behaviour suchas bullying or by simply misplacingit.E-payment solutions break downcommunication barriers betweenparents and schools by allowingparents direct access to viewoutstanding fees and transactionsummaries. Utilising simple, secureand up-to-date technology, e-payment systems can be used asa forward planning tool, givingparents the flexibility to organisepayment for their child’s items in http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s Featuresadvance for the week, month orterm, taking the hassle out of havingto remember to make these small,sporadic payments.Most importantly, e-paymentsolutions promote confidence inparents that the financial obligationsrelated to their child’s education arebeing well managed by a systemthat is tailored to accommodate theirneeds and lifestyle.Information security is atop prioritySecurity is a fundamental featureof many e-payment facilities as itpromotes confidence in transactionsmade online where confidentialinformation such as card detailsare being disclosed. Visa andMasterCard have jointly developeda set of rules for merchants whostore, process or otherwise haveaccess to cardholder information.It is vital that e-payment systemsconform to PCI DSS (payment cardindustry data security standards)and operate in a secure web site toensure the protection of card detailsand other sensitive information.Accountability andtransparency in cashlessenvironmentsTransferring to a cashless systemis a trend that many schools areembracing. In the digital age bothschools and parents have welcomedthe idea of relinquishing children oftheir need to carry cash and in turn,teachers who have to collect, countand reconcile payments for eachstudent.  Implementing a cashlesspayment system frees up time forteachers, allowing them to focus onthe job in hand.E-payment systems alsosupport accountability in cashlessenvironments through inbuilt toolsthat help accounts staff efficientlymanage their accounts payableand receivable by allowing aquick update of all outstandingfees, enabling them to promptlycommunicate this to parents before itbecomes an issue for both parties.Virtual terminals within the e-payment portal take the arduous taskout of refunds, greatly minimising thefrustration associated with traditionalcash"
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Digital Learning

Online payment systems for parents

19 Apr 2012