SEAL NEW BEGINNINGS WORKSHOPFor SEAL Co-ordinators -Future HousePresenter:SEAL Team

NEW BEGINNINGS –KEY POINTS FOR STAFFROOM ACTIVITIES• Designed to be carried out in the staff room to help

adults tune into the strands of the theme at an adult level. Taken from the Purple Set in the Pink Box

– Opportunity for participants to experience activities,first hand, prior to introducing to staff in school

– Leading to staff in school having opportunities to think through the issues involved in working with children on the feelings and behaviours associated with New Beginnings

• New beginnings can be exciting, stimulating and welcome

• They can also threaten our basic need to feel safe and to belong

• Adults and children can experience a range of powerful and conflicting emotions as a result of change (links back to the Changes Theme)

• Our feelings impact directly on the way we behave

Key Points for Staff Room Activities (2)People’s responses to, and

ability to cope with, New Beginnings are very variable

• Individual temperament• Previous experiences of New

Beginnings• Nature of the New Beginning

– • Chosen, imposed, natural,

expected, unexpected, within our control, out of our control

• Some activities may evoke strong emotions – be prepared and sensitive – allow space, support.

Scaling – Attitudes to New Beginnings• Scaling – Attitudes to New Beginnings 0 – 10

on Floor. • 0 = Strongly dislike new experiences• 10 = Love new experiences • Stand one end, the other, or anywhere in

between to reflect your own attitude to new experiences – imposed, chosen, expected, unexpected, within our control, out of our control

Activity One – BelongingResources • Large paper – one for each

group of 4-6 people. Pens.What to do• Individually, think of a time

when you have believed that you did not belong or did not feel valued

• Think of the way it made you feel

• You could share this with the group or keep your thoughts to yourself

Activity One – Belonging (2)

• Group work – One person in the group draws a circle in the middle of a large sheet of paper. Each person writes words to describe their feelings in the situation they were thinking of in the centre of the circle

• Round the edge, list the ways you, or others, might behave when they have these feelings

• Underline any negative behaviours you have written• Reflect – What are the links between our feelings of

belonging and the ways we behave?• Apply - What might we learn from this activity to

apply to our own school and classroom?

Activity Two – The Dream SEAL School Challenge – Your chance to be creative• TAKEN FROM GREEN SET,

YEAR 6 – giving staff time to consider what is important to make a school an effective learning community

• Look at the activities the children will be doing on Pages 18-20, Green Set, considering what makes a nightmare school.

• Look at The Dream SEAL School Challenge Sheet in this booklet (Relates to Green Set Page 28)

• The challenge is to turn the nightmare school into a dream school – an ideal place for learning – one which will be judged outstanding in the Social Emotional Aspects of Learning

Activity Two - The Dream SEAL School Challenge – Your chance to be creative (2)

• Use the sort cards, medium term planning sheets, displays and assessment sheets to help you.

• What will the school look like? – displays, environment, ethos, etc.

• How will everyone know, and exercise, their rights and responsibilities?

• What will leadership be like?• How will SEAL outcomes be incorporated into

curriculum areas?• How will families be involved? Those who

find schools hard to reach?• How will you involve the local community?• How will it be made a happy and friendly place

for everyone to be?• What will playtimes and lunchtimes look like?• How will it be suitable for everyone – adults

and children from different cultures, different abilities, speaking different languages, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties etc?

Activity 3 – The Staffroom Charter• When you have completed your

‘Dream School Challenge’ • Complete a Staff Room Charter• List the rights of those who use

the staffroom (how we want our staffroom to be)

• List the responsibilities (the things we will try to do, and the ways we will try to behave).

• (Midday supervisors could work with the school council and respresentatives of the teaching staff to make a playground charter)

Activity 4 – Being ‘New’• Individually – Think back to a time when you

were ‘new’ – (e.g. in a new school, in a new job, a new parent, new area or new country, learning a new hobby)

• Discuss with a partner – what they felt at that time and what their needs were.

• As a group, list what your school does to meet the needs of children new to a class or to the school.

• Also consider what your school does to meet the needs of new parents/carers, new members of staff, supply teachers. You could, for example, interview new members of staff about what made them feel welcome and included.

• Keep your list to review at the end of the school’s work on New Beginnings. Then decide on any changes you want to make to school systems and practice in each classroom.