Seeing the connections

Despite a caring senior team and a warm staff group, chaos was never far from the surface at Peter Pike Primary School. There always seemed to be students wandering the corridors as if their classrooms could not hold them.

The headteacher sometimes provoked resentment by suggesting that this was the result of teachers lacking the class management skills needed to keep children under control.

But another explanation emerged from the work with Antidote.

This was that the school was confused about its basic values. Most days, the headteacher was focused on learning. However, a stern visit from the local authority could get her steamed up about targets. Not knowing what the value of the day was left staff confused as to what good teaching consisted of. This led to them feel unvalued, resentful and resistant to the headteacher’s ideas.

It was helpful for the headteacher to get this feedback. But the real revelation – to the teachers as well – was how this confusion percolated through to the students. The less resilient found this unbearable, which is why they took to their heels.

With this insight to work from, the staff could explore how they could make teaching more enjoyable for themselves, and learning more enjoyable for the children.





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