Jenny Mosley’s Blog
Exciting Circle Work With Sheffield Secondary Schools
Tue, Aug 31st 2010
I’ve just written a blog on my work visit to New Zealand saying that some countries make your spirit sing in response to their unique ‘light’…. and some cities also do the same for me. I really love the teachers and children I’ve worked with in Sheffield.
Over the years (10?) I’ve worked continuously in Sheffield with different projects. Birley Spa family of schools, SEAL, & SEAD, Achievement for All – are just a few and I’ve met loads of wonderful people and some will stay friends always.
At the end of the summer tem I ran Part 2 of my accredited secondary Train The Trainers. A small band of goodhearted teachers, teaching assistants, Heads of Year and learning mentors sat in a circle and looked at each other, through the tiredness, with amazement! We’d made it. Not only had they managed to complete Part 1 with me months earlier and persuade their managers to release them for another 2 days – but they’d brought with them sparkling accounts of their own successful circle projects, exciting circle lessons, moving case studies and a finely – honed-in-the-fires-of- good-practice commitment to keeping Quality Circle Time high on the secondary agenda. ‘Yipeeeeeee!'
It was a moving two days together – once you involve young people in their learning – you are on a roller coaster of emotional involvement.
On one of the days we were taken by Claire Hughes to Birley Community College meet her Year 7 ‘Nurture Group’. These young people had written and created their own 5 step lesson plan and, with wonderful confidence and a sense of fun, they ran an hour’s circle time for all us teachers and their class mates together. We made a large circle, young and ‘old’ (never!) together, as each child led us through a different Circle-time step – culminating in a ‘calm-down’ visualisation written by two of them. It was impressive, fun and nurturing for us adults! Their teacher assures me that their year 8 tutors will consult these students so that they now can lead their peers (and their tutors) in a weekly 20 minute circletime tutorials and maybe some PSHE lessons. The ‘Achievement for All’ project means that every school must ensure every child experiences real success – and these moments of success may need creating and noticing loudly by the teachers!
Come on secondary schools – learn from these schools – you have thousands of primary children coming up to you this year who have been having a Circle time lesson every week since they were 2! Many are used for taking circle time issues to school council, setting up golden time clubs to celebrate weekly all their peers who kept the golden values, working with older people, parents and nursery children in circles, applying for posts of lunchtime responsibility, nominating and signing weekly certificates to their peers – the list is endless. C’mon primary teachers and parents, work with your secondary schools so they too can guarantee every child really 'achieves' in a context of listening, fun and love!
(For enquiries about Jenny's primary or secondary Train The Trainers courses or any other training, please phone 01225 767157 or email circletime@jennymosley.co.uk.
Jenny has created some great secondary resources, including her brand new "Quality Circle TIme In The Secondary School" DVD which includes a downloadable book - ideal for staff training and a practical guide to circle times in the secondary school - available from our webshop.
Jenny has also just produced a secondary book entitled: "Important Issues Relatin To The Promotion Of Positive Behaviour And Self-Esteem In Secondary Schools" which is available in our webshop.
A cluster of Sheffield schools also produced a DVD based on work with Jenny Mosley's Golden Model which has been perfectly put into place and reported on by the pupils. Called "Big News DVD" - available from our webshop and very inspiring.
See also "Quality Circle Time in the Secondary School - for SEAL" By Jenny Mosley & Marilyn Tew - available from the webshop. Circle Time is a key methodology for delivering a social and emotional curriculum - this book should convince even the reluctant teacher, explaining the Quality Circle Time Model and its application for older pupils.
New Zealand, New Zealand!
Wed, Aug 18th 2010
NEW ZEALAND, NEW ZEALAND
Some countries tug my heart strings like no others, and I’m forever in love with their beauty and energy.... India, Brazil, Ireland are at the top for me and now – New Zealand. Yes, I’ve been several times before – but sometimes relationships take time and you only discover the true unique light of a country, place or a person after some time has passed and this year was a blast!!!
I spent a week running my accredited Train The Trainers course in the gorgeous quirky turn of the century fraying grandeur of Waitomo Caves hotel with 30 RTLB’s, principals, D.P.s, teachers, social workers… and …wow! were they powerful; powerfully positive, full of fun, full of questions… and so warm. They came with me to see me work with three different large classes of barefooted children in nearby country schools – and the children were …powerfull! In very similar ways to my teaching group. Diverse, honest, trusting, positive, some struggling to cope with life’s ambushes – and full of a shimmering energy and a desperate need for FUN! William Glasser a psychologist, in his own hierarchy of human needs, puts fun right at the centre! So we stormed, normed, formed and performed our way through the week – and even the hotel promoted fun! Anna, the manager put on a 1920’s (the heyday of the hotel), Murder, Mystery Evening (my first ever) and everyone dressed up and role played superbly. The brave and visionary organisers of the week, Marion and Jenny from the Te Kuiti-Piopi RTLBs cluster, dragged in their husbands and sons as tasty gangsters and the night took off. I found myself stealing money, lying, cheating and manipulating – and I loved the wickedness of it – such a relief from being so relentlessly positive in the day job! We had a struggle next day being good people till I realised we hadn’t de-roled (very important!).
There were so many highlights for me, my bedroom high up in the New Zealand tropical bush surrounded by a long, wooden balcony where I went to sit, drink tea and bathe in golden moments. A trip on a boat deep in night dark caves lit only by glow-worms. Meeting Jonah the Pig - see him here with his goggles on; he travels on the back of Harley Davidson with his gloriously batty bushwacker owner, Billy Black who still holds the world record for shearing thousands of sheep one day and designed a Lord of Rings type local motel rated 5th best in the world – even Jonah is creative and can play rugby too!
So, phew, it’s at times like this I need to publically thank all my office staff (which includes my daughter Meg) for making these trips happen so safely and professionally. Thank you and a huge thank you to Marion and Jenny for their perseverance, tenacity and sheer hard work – you now have a committed team of properly trained trainers who are going to create safe and fun circle-times for their children, families and staff and so keep your own large circle of support going for everyone’s good.
(To enquire about Train the Trainers courses or any of Jenny’s training programmes please phone 01225 767157 or email circletime@jennymosley.co.uk)
Sharing The Stage Wth Nuns
Tue, Jul 13th 2010
Last week I was invited to open a two day conference for Short Stay and PRUSchools (July 1st in York). Nervous as ever, early in the morning I went to look at the stage I would have to appear on – lo and behold two huge nuns were already waiting for me!
My heart raced. Wow, did they bring back memories. At the age of 6 I used to board at a convent. It was a long train ride from my home and I would sit on my big brown trunk (I have still got it) for a six hour journey. (The nuns took me in free for a short time as a gesture of kindness to my mum, an ex-pupil). I did experience lots of kindness, but why my knees trembled as I looked at these tall nuns was that strong memories came back of their disapproval of me and what they perceived as my waywardness – which was my inability to stop being left-handed. In those days left-handedness was seen, especially when making a sign of the cross, as a sign of the devil! (Check out the meaning of ‘left’ – equals sinister !!). I used to have a red ribbon tied around my wrist and “donkey” written on my back. It fried my brain trying to become right-handed and it just didn’t happen! I thought I was the only one who went through this experience – but in the 70s I listened with amazement to Dory Previn’s LP and there was a song on it called ‘My Left Hand’. I remember thinking that there might be loads of us left-handed survivors out there who might have to form a self help therapy group.
So there I was, about to go on stage, with the ghosts of memory flooding my brain and jostling for attention. Ah … but … my saviour was that, when you looked down, these nuns were naughty!!! One was in red fishnet stockings and high heels. The other was on a skateboard. They both had big grins on their faces. I thought about the children from Dane’s Gate who made them – what a sense of mischief and humour they must have shared as they painstakingly moulded these bigger than life size ladies!
Humour is a godsend. Really healing. Yet again, I was vividly reminded of how important it was to laugh. Aristotle is quoted as saying, “There is no learning without laughter”. No healing either, I would say. Fortified, I breathed deeply and went on stage to maybe 200 delegates and, that morning, we really laughed our way through the trials and joys of our complex, demanding jobs.
My Glas-ton-breee! Or more Stout than Lithe!
Wed, Jul 7th 2010
Before I set off to Glasto, something wonderful happened! I was rushing around my office phoning schools to get business ‘bits’ out of the way and I phoned Julia, a deputy head. “Oh” she said, “I am just off to Glasto. My head has let me take two days’ unpaid leave so I can go. She insists that she wants all her staff to feed their souls whenever they need to”. Wow, I was knocked out! What a wonderful head teacher. Staff well being is the key to happy organisations – and, lets face it, Glasto is the happiest festival ever!
Mind you, everyone’s Glasto is unique. It is a veritable goulash/pot pourri/magic porridge pot of delights, lows and highs. For me, this time, something amazing happened. For the first time ever I had a whole day on my own, on the Thursday before it all kicks off. With the sun on my back, ice cream in my hand, I wandered around the Greenfield, not having to rush anywhere. Lying in the Poet’s Tent I was moved by the ballad from the dreadlocked bard of Glasto, but I was particularly touched by a young lad who had never read aloud before. He asked if the lure of Facebook and all its cousins, meant we didn’t ever make real time to talk or visit our next door neighbour. I love old Josephine next door and felt a shiver of guilt and resolve.
Meandering over to some seats in the sun next to an old piano, suddenly others appeared carrying guitars. A sing-song spontaneously took off. Out in the open, honky-tonk piano tinkling, swaying together, we sang beautifully out of tune, all the old favourites, but the one I loved best was the one we made our own – the Beatles ‘Let It Be’, morphed seamlessly into “Glas-ton-breee! Arms around each other’s shoulders we swayed away! So went on this golden day. Bathed in joy I unsuspectingly fell into the shadow side! That night in my innocent little tent, I was suddenly surrounded by an anarchic, off their faces, loud group. “I am cold, anyone fancy a shag?” was howled often into the night and soon put paid to my lyrical, romantic, ‘I love Glasto’ mood. They boomed, crashed, and splintered their way round until the shadow side felt very chilly indeed.
Still, sleep wove its magic – and three more days of hedonism followed, although my own personal shadow emerged quite quickly. Being back at Glasto, maxi dress flapping gracefully in the dust, flowers woven through my hair, I began to feel I was young again … to dare to hope that sleep and joy (yes, and make-up!) had somehow transformed me back and then I caught sight of myself in one of those long stall mirrors – where once was ‘lithe’ was ‘stout’. Portly even. What a blow … further hammered in by a stupid newspaper selecting me out of 180,000 people to give a photo of an “older reveller”! Ah well. To counteract this image I am putting up on the blog a photo of me with Richard, a young reveller (my friend’s son!), one of my daughter and I (carefully chosen!) and just a few others to give you a feel of how Glastonbury is. (I have just heard that Richard has got a first – a B.Sc in Occupational Therapy – the NHS is lucky to have him!).
If anyone is interested – I adored ‘Faithless’ and their lyrics, best young band for me was the ‘Temper Trap’, best oldies were Stevie Wonder and Ray Davies, best veggie stall, ‘Leons’. I missed ‘Mumford and Sons’, but I heard they were brilliant.
I have now packed away my skimpy clothes, pink hat, flowers, camping kettle and am full of resolution and energy to face some gruelling work weeks ahead where my portly body, oxen-like, comes into its own. As always, I plod positively onwards!
We All Need Inspiration!
Wed, Jun 23rd 2010
When you’re tired and flat, and the term seems to have gone on for too long – we all need a bit of sparkle to lift us back up. Wise thoughts from people I admire often do it for me! I have favourites which, anyone who has been on my courses will hopefully remember. So many of us are always worrying about what has gone wrong or how we can fit more into the next few days, that we fail to live in the moment and we miss so much as a result. This little rhyme always steadies me at this time:
"The past is history, the future a mystery, but now, now is a gift, that's why we call it the present" (Babatunde Olatunji)
My whole philosophy of ‘Golden Moments’ has evolved from being given the above thought when I was a new teacher! Another one that props me up is:
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. (Corrie Ten Boom)
These thoughts are nuggets of gold, that make you want to sit down and let their glow just warm your tense body and tight shoulders. I swear too that physical tension and ability to fit too much into a day means that we fail to see the humour shinning out from children. Years ago I found myself standing in a classroom doorway yelling at a large boy running around the tops of the tables – with the rest of the class egging him on. “What on earth do you think you are doing”, I shouted. He stopped, looked me straight in the eye and said “I am running wild with desire”. I couldn’t help thinking that I hadn’t run wild with desire for years – and I burst out laughing. I shared the moment with my staff and it became a phrase we all used to describe a good night out. What’s the point of being with children if you don’t engage in story telling about your experiences? On Friday last week I met a little school who have gone one better – they have a golden book where everyone writes down funny stories. Children are funny, outrageous, quirky and just plain odd – and they cheer you up.
So come on everyone, it is near the end of term, it would be great if you could write to me with all the sayings and thoughts that keep you going. I am collecting loads together in a pack we are calling ‘Golden Inspirations’, which can be put straight onto staff notice boards. So please reference them, and put your name on and be prepared that they might be chosen to go into the pack – as well as onto the blog!!
“There is no learning without laughter” Aristotle
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