Volunteer Training Sessions for ICG

I am not sure if this count towards my CPD or not, but I thought I would include it as I got some ideas and useful information from the 4 Volunteer Training workshops for the ICG I attended on Monday night. 

The first workshop was about "The Handbook", basically code of conduct, rules and responsibilities, etc.  The neat thing that I got from this workshop was related to the workshops main activity, where we were split into 6 groups of about four or five people.  The basic idea was to Group-Pair-Share; there were three discussion topics that circulated.  The topics consisted of:

• What would you like to get from the ICG?
• What is expected of us?
• What is expected of you?

I thought a bit more about this and how I could use this in my teaching.  I thought this would be a good idea to use when you first meet your new class(es) in September, for example:

• What would you like to get from this English class? Math class? etc?
• What you expect of me, the teacher?
• What I expect of you, the students?

I remember that when my teachers presented their expectations (i.e. don't be late, come prepared for class and ready to work, etc), I respected them a lot more for the respect that they showed their students as they then allowed us to come up with some rules for them, for example don't be late, give helpful feed back in a timely fashion, etc.  The above sort of activity would be a good way for the class to come up with classroom rules and expectations for the students, teacher and what we would all like to take from the class.

The second workshop was in regards to child protection and safeguarding.  They introduced briefly Scotland's "Getting it Right for Every Child" Programme (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/childrensservices/girfec) and the 13 Expectations from "The Charter for Children and Young People" (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1181/0008817.pdf).  Below, is a copy of the page containing the 13 expectations.

As a teacher, it is important to keep these expectations in mind, as it is "about what is important to [the students we teach] and how we go about helping to protect them".
The key points discussed in the workshop are: that if we are concerned that a child is in need of protection, it is important to speak to someone.  We were informed that: It is better to have a concern investigated and dismissed than not investigated and have something happen to the child.  Times when you should speak to someone consist of:

• when a child discloses information to you
• when you witness an incident
• when you notice unusual/suspicious bruising and/or marks
• when you suspect abuse, harm, and/or neglect

What you should do if a child is disclosing information to you:

• remain calm.
• listen and hear carefully what the child is really saying, not what you think they are trying to say
• allow them the chance to speak, free from interruption.
• be honest with them - you MUST NEVER tell them that you won`t disclose the information that they share with you, you MUST tell them that you will need to speak with others to seek advice about the situation and what they disclose.  Do not gossip or discuss the situation widely.
• take their concerns seriously, do not ignore the allegations, exagerate them or trivialise them.
• seek advice, DO NOT INVESTIGATE the situation on your own, let someone who is trained to do so carry out the investigation.
• record information as soon as possible (try not to write while speaking to the child, but do try to recall verbatim what is disclosed to you).

Do not:

• say or do anything inappropriate or suggestive to the child.
• bully or harm the child, or allow them to be bullied or harmed.
• hitting, grabbing, pushing, etc.
• become overly familiar with a child.

The workshop's main message:  Safeguarding is everyone`s responsibility.  If in doubt, check it out.

Workshop number 3 was about effective communication.  It began with us being asked what our jobs were and how do we do them effectively? To which we were told "Your job is to communicate" and how we do that effectively was the purpose of the presentation.  With something like 80 different countries being represented at the ICG, communication is key.  All the children may not speak English, but the idea is that there are other ways in which we communicate; it is not always just about the words we use.  The hierarchy that was shared with us stated:

Finally, the last workshop was the Police speaking about Counter Terrorism.  This was interesting as it is not something that often is spoken about to teachers or the public especially not in regards to a children's event.  However, because the ICG are an international event, it did have to be touched upon as it is always a possibility.

CALM Theory

On the 22nd of September, 2011 from 12:45 to 2:30, I attended inservice which covered CALM theory, which examines management of challenging behaviour. 

CALM is all about the key themes, systems that are already in place, in schools to manage challenging behaviour.  CALM training, if implemented properly, minimises the chances of evver having to use the hands on system.  It is about organisational skills and learning from what happens.  When we have systems in place, whether they are fire alarms or otherwise, it is important to know how they work and what they sound like so that we recognise them and know how to respond. 

There are 3 stages to managing challenging behaviour: 

What systems are in place to help you deal with challenging behaviour:

Primary

• Effective communication
• Interacting with child's entire team (parents, professionals, the child, etc.)
• Getting to know the child that you are working with
• Read IEPs, ASPs, CarePlans, Profiles, Positive Behaviour Plans, etc
• Risk assessments of environment, behaviour of individual children, triggers (ABC chart), who is at risk and how they are at risk, physical interventions, staff and their capabilities
• Team work
• Consistency
• Constant Evaluation
• Reinforcement of good/wanted behaviour

Secondary

• De-escalation techniques
• Awareness of child's likes/dislikes, tone of voice, confidence levels
• Knowing what to do
• Training - build confidence and self-esteem
• Practice

(Buzzers, Ensure Environment Safe, Effective Communication, etc)

Tertiary

• Recording
• Update Risk Assessments
• Incident Reports
• Update Profiles/Behaviour Plans
• Debriefing - construtive discussion
• the Who, What, Where, When, & Why
• What modifications/changes might need to be made to avoid a repeat situation
• Looking for triggers
• Debriefing is not optional
• No legislation, but is part of health and wefare
• "Time Out" - may collapse afterwards from stress, so remove self
• Evaluation (in a non-blame culture) to be reflective
• ask everyone present for behaviour, must be present at debrief
• as what you thing and what actually happened may differ; better to get input from all sources
• Accountability - being responsible for your actions

(Tertiary feeds back into the Primary Stage to inform it)

Pick 1 or 2 behaviours, but fo not try to focus on all.  See how often behaviour happens and using the ABC chart, a pattern may emerge.  This is a method of functional assessment.

*Between phases C and E on the Assault Cycle any little thing can raise the anger again and can send you back to the Crisis phase, this is what is referred to as additional assaults.  During this time, it may not be a good thing to write the incident report as your anger/feelings will effect your responses.

Professional persona - each of us has our own tolerance levels and therefore our there may not be consistency over behaviour.  An agreement must be made on a wider level of what behaviour is acceptable and what is not going to be tolerated. 

The purpose of CALM training to be able to move from Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence when dealing with challenging behaviour.  The key is to practice, practice, practice so that your reaction to challenging behaviour becomes natural and that you learn to recognise indicators that challenging behaviour may be surfacing, and use tactics to avoid it before it begins.

*Sometimes we may not know the trigger of challenging behaviour.  Occassionally, it may be that an individual person sparks a memory or feeling in the child that triggers their challenging behaviour, so do not take it personally.

New Staff Orientation: Health & Safety and Fire Prevention

At the New Staff Orientation (12th Sept. 2011), we discussed that Health & Safety is everyone's responsibility and we all have duties. 

We went over the school's policies and procedures, including:

• that we may or may not have warning about fire tests
• it is important to ensure that everything it unplugged at the end of the day
• DO NOT panic - children will feel what you feel, so keep calm and implement the fire procedures to get everyone out quickly and safely
• Fire procedures are on green paper - to match exit signs - and state such things as:
• ideal fire escape route and alternative routes
• regular fire testing information
• location of Safe Rooms - where you do nothingright away, just be ready to move if necessary
• Emergency Classroom Buzzers - to attract attention from School Nurse or HT/DHT
• special equipment - including Space Blankets, Picnic Mat for standing outside with bare feet, etc.
• and things to be aware of, including things like inside doors will automatically close when fire alarm goes off (normally held open by magnets), and that outdoor gate for interior court yard will automatically open (so check after fire alarm test, to ensure it is closed again).
• Fire information is available in each room and on the "All Staff" drive on the computer intranet.