The trouble with square pegs is that by forcing them to fit the system's round holes, you end up damaging the peg, not the hole
William Goldsmith
Head of Packwood, Shropshire (part of the Shrewsbury Family of Schools). FCCT FRSA . Fellow of the Institute of Boarding. Mental Health First Aid Instructor and L7 Executive Coach. Advocate for Character Education.
12 days of Christmas [educational] inspiration - from 2023.
I have a professional and, as a parent, personal interest in neurodiversity.
My professional curiosity comes from seeing, like so many teachers, an increase in students with neurodivergent needs coming through school. Whether this comes from greater recognition and general awareness of cognitive development, a post-covid increase in children for whom two lockdowns have been detrimental to their development, or whether neurodivergence is now more pronounced within a much more pressued society, I know that our increased awareness is being seen across the sector. One of our objectives at my school this year is developing our own self-efficacy and awareness of neurodivergent children and enabling excellent support across the school.
Recommended to me by my brilliant colleague, Ally O. , a book put together this year by Fran Morgan and Ellie Costello , Square Pegs: Inclusivity, compassion and fitting in - a guide for schools, stands out amongst a growing base of literature for educationalists and parents in supporting children.
There is so much within the book (and its 53 contributors) that is pertinent for educators and parents to digest. Herewith some nuggets that I have picked up from the introduction to the book, both as a teacher and a father - all have some lived experiences this term:
The penultimate paragraph of the introduction outlines the key message of the whole book:
领英推荐
It is within the gift of governors, school leaders, senior leadership teams and individual teaching staff to rewrite the narrative and make a huge difference to the lives of square pegs and their families.
As with mental health, I find it extraordinary that SEND training is not more of a focus in teacher training. Not least for the fact that the frontline teacher - class based in primary and specialist in secondary - has the responsibility to make or break a child's education, especially if they are living with neurodivergent needs.
In the majority of my initial appraisal meetings with colleagues this term, there has been a genuine desire from all the teachers to upskill themselves more to support children with autism, ADHD and other neurodivergent needs. We have a full day in January to begin to address this need.
The late Tim Brighouse (who is the focus of tomorrow's inspiration) said of the book:
Twelve years ago, Michael Gove sent a King James bible to every school. The next secretary of state for education should send a copy of this book to every new head teacher and put it on the reading list for all initial teacher training courses.
CEO Autistic Girls Network charity * Author of Nurturing Your Autistic Young Person * PhD candidate * Neurodivergent
11 个月The work that Square Peg have been doing this year is phenomenal. If you're looking for training to support neurodivergent young people may I suggest this: https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/training-for-schools and for further reading:
Co-founder Foundation Futures, Educator, champion of young people (Views my own. BC survivor.). Small but mighty.
11 个月They splinter and we at Foundation Futures CIO (and CIC) help pick up the pieces......
Founder at Richard O'Neill Storytelling
11 个月Yep
Thank you so much for these lovely words William Goldsmith. What a way to end the year!