Julie Farmer on how to meet the needs of the most vulnerable pupils – PP116

Paul is busy in Wales this week so, in his absence, Pivotal Education Senior Trainer, Mike Armiger, joined Kevin to speak to someone he knows well, Julie Farmer. Before speaking to Julie, Mike describes what he has been doing with the Caerphilly Behaviour Project. Pivotal have been going into all the schools in Caerphilly – Pupil Referral Units, Primary, Secondary, Behavioural Units and SEN Schools. Mike has been involved with this training and also the Pivotal Instructors Programme for these schools and other settings. Mike has really enjoyed being involved with ‘Whoosh’ days and is hugely impressed with all the organisations who have been involved. He stresses that all adults are included in the Whoosh days which is what makes such a powerful difference. Midday supervisors, administration staff, teaching assistants, teachers, senior staff and everyone else involved with the running of the school is present and takes part. This helps to narrow down the consistency and then they can move on to other aspects such as therapeutic intervention and restorative practice. Julie is headteacher at Cefn Fforest Primary School in Wales. She became a deputy head in 2001 in a school in Caerphilly and took up her first headship in 2007 at a school which had a BESD (behavioural, emotional and social difficulties) unit. She has been at Cefn Primary School since 2009 and her school hosts a social needs class and a social inclusion class for Key Stage 2 children. Follow Cefn Fforest Primary School on Twitter and feel free to ask any questions about what you have heard on this week’s episodes – https://twitter.com/cefnprimary Read this blog post about our conversation with Julie and leave a comment! Become a Pivotal Podcast Special Reporter! Please send in audio reports from any event or initiative you are involved in to be featured on the podcast! Your learners are also most welcome to join in! Record a short report on your smart phone and send it in to [email protected] We want to hear your students’ view on behaviour We are looking for opinions on behaviour from children who have a strong opinion. It might be a child who has experienced difficulty and has found a new path or a child who vehemently disagrees with the way behaviour is managed. It might be a recording of a child in reflective mood or indeed in the mood to rage at the world. More details… NEW! Pivotal Education’s New App: The new app for Apple and Android devices contains everything you need to know about Pivotal as well as access to our podcasts, resources, videos and news: (Creative Commons Sound clip by Johnny Pixel Productions, Inc. – http://www.johnny-pixel.com/ http://www.freesound.org/people/jppi_Stu/) What would you like to hear covered in forthcoming episodes? Let us know by emailing [email protected] * Subscribe to the podcast * Listen for free every week * Send in your comments or questions * Get involved!