Stop, Look and LISTEN – why listening is so important

‘After being off school for so long, it is only natural that many young people will be worried about returning to school.’ – YoungMinds

I have always been a keen advocate for developing listening skills and we all know the famous catchphrase, ‘Stop, look, listen and live’. With all the pressures of having to catch up academically, it is too easy to forget to make time to listen to the children in our care. This is one of the reasons I created and launched ‘From Lockdown to Listening and Learning’ to give teachers some useful tools to help them do this. In the last few weeks, young teachers have said that, although there is much talk about recovery, what’s happening in reality is that there is a feeling of tension, and they are feeling the pressure to ‘catch up, catch up’. We do need a whole school agreeing that we need to put the emotional needs of the children first.

What Can The Training Package Recovery Resource Do?

“Interacting and engaging with the young people around issues that affect them is important: it gives them a chance not only to learn from us, but to teach us about their lives, and how they view things.” (www.gov.uk  September 2020)

I believe this extended recovery period relies upon adults being slower, more intuitive, listening more and being gentle, loving and firm. Education is pivotal to a child’s development and lockdown has caused a lot of children to miss out on what they need.

While we try to make up for lost time and adapt to the changing circumstances, there are emotional needs and issues that need to be discussed and looked at before we consider moving on in a healthy way. Covid-19, with the rules constantly changing, must all seem overwhelming and frightening to many children. This resource aims to really help children. We would be really grateful if you can help to SPREAD THE WORD as mental health is just as important as all other health!

Website Manager’s Notes

• To watch Jenny’s session, at the recent Sheffield Recovery Festival, see You Tube Link Here :
• Jenny’s own Recovery Resource training package is called ‘From Lockdown to Listening and Learning‘ and it is available to purchase for a whole staff team from this website. There are session plans, staff meetings all focused on the wellbeing of staff and children and helping to get everyone listening and learning. The link for this package, to read testimonials and see the contents list and purchase options, is HERE.
• Jenny is producing online courses and working with Zoom training sessions so if you are interested in remote or online training or conferencing please get in touch.
• Jenny is also starting to work in schools with safe distancing procedures  so do get in touch! circletime@jennymosley.co.uk