Category Archives: Behaviour

Growing Weather

Posted on February 23, 2019 by suecowley

You have to time it right, sowing. Start too early and your seedlings will become leggy and soft as they wait to be planted out. Sow seeds outdoors in cold sodden soil, and you might as well throw them in … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Children, Learning | Leave a comment

Joining the Dots

Posted on December 8, 2018 by suecowley

At the same time as testing increases and we put ever more pressure on children to achieve high academic results we see rising rates of poor mental health in young people. At the same time as schools are being put … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, Behaviour, Government, Ofsted | 1 Comment

Navigate the World

Posted on October 25, 2018 by suecowley

It’s muddy in the forest So we have to wear our boots. That’s the way you do it! First right foot and then left foot. The forecast is for rain So we’ll wear coveralls for luck. And pack up our … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Children, Early Years, Poetry, Self Regulation | Leave a comment

The Power

Posted on October 21, 2018 by suecowley

“Just give me, give me, give me the power And I’ll make them bleed” Suede I’m a big fan of silence in classrooms for when teachers are teaching, when children are writing, or when a student is addressing the whole … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Teaching | 7 Comments

Tread Softly

Posted on January 13, 2018 by suecowley

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. W. B. Yeats In the summer of 2016, we were staying at the children’s grandparents’ house … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Children, Writing | Leave a comment

A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on September 28, 2017 by suecowley

Once upon a time there were two cities, which sat on either side of a wide river plain, with a yellow river running like a cross of gold between them. The city on the south side of the river was … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Children | Leave a comment

Faultlines

Posted on September 8, 2017 by suecowley

The subject of the relationship between teaching and learning, and behaviour, is so fraught, tangled and complex that I hesitate even to talk about it. Notions of blame and responsibility quickly get wound up together, and before you know it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Teaching and learning | 3 Comments

Do What They Told Ya

Posted on September 7, 2017 by suecowley

“And now you do what they told ya, now you’re under control” Killing In The Name Rage Against the Machine It must be very frustrating for the DfE (and its ‘behaviour tsar’) to find that teachers still “argue … whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour | 4 Comments

The Pause, The Look, and The Deadly Eyebrow

Posted on March 19, 2017 by suecowley

One of the odd things about being a teacher is that your teaching behaviours can begin to bleed over into your home life. You act a lot at work so you find yourself doing it when you’re not being paid … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Engagement, Reading | 2 Comments

If Detentions Worked

Posted on January 29, 2017 by suecowley

One of the ‘problems’ for schools with the use of punitive measures to control behaviour is that they are not exactly armed to the teeth with options. In the (bad) old days, when I was at school, the threat of … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour | 5 Comments