The Conversation: Emotional support
May 16,
2008
Ian
Mikardo High is a special school that offers pupils a
tailor-made curriculum based on principles of
psychotherapy. Claire Lillis, the head, tells Victoria
Neumark how it achieved 'outstanding'
status
Q: How did you come to work in this area of education?
A: I was a mainstream history teacher who became
disillusioned with how schools have to play the
league-table game by excluding children in difficulties. In
The TES one day I saw an ad: "Come and work with the
country's most difficult children." I stayed at Medway
Secure Training Centre for four years, becoming deputy
director. Constantly reviewing the case files of children
as young as 10, I kept noticing how they shared behaviour
difficulties, school exclusion, crime. I wanted to try to
prevent children entering custody. Once in the justice
system, it's very hard to get out. So I applied for the
headship at Ian Mikardo High.
Q: What state was the school in then?
A: In June 2002, the school was in special measures. With a
succession of headteachers over a short period of time,
staff were demoralised. The buildings were often
vandalised. The only computers were bolted to desks. The
roll was falling; attendance was around 67 per cent. I'd
left a prison environment. I found this equally
challenging.
Q: How did you approach change?
A: My priority was staff development and support. Such a
high level of damage and distress and anxiety gets
transferred along the line. In the custody setting, I had
noticed how social workers and nurses had regular
supervision: not line management but a chance to examine
emotional challenges in work. I noticed that educational
workers with no supervision, who were supposed just to go
in and teach, coped so much less well. So I introduced our
psychotherapist, to give us a professional space for
reflection and response. Our senior leadership team of five
meets with her for an hour a week as a group and an hour
individually; every staff member sees her once a fortnight
individually, once a week as a group.
Q: How does that work in practice?
A: It's central to our success - and we are successful - in
our relationships; and relationships are key to education.
The children determine the access they need to facilities
and staff. I never feel unsafe because I know the pupils
and they know me. I spend time with every child. But that's
draining. They're very needy, so staff need emotional
support.
Q: What about the curriculum?
A: We centre the curriculum on the child, on positive
experiences. My Self covers music, art and design
technology; My World, history, geography and science; My
Future, enterprise, employment, post-16 and work
experience; My Passports, literacy, numeracy and
information technology; My Body, PE, PSHE, food technology
and healthy eating; and My School, children's voice, school
council and tutor groups. We have a hairdressing salon and
a smoothie bar, both staffed by children. It works
socially, emotionally and academically. Last year six of
our seven leavers left with GCSEs.
Q: How do your staff manage the challenges?
A: We focus on relationships and positive adult role
models. Our children come from poor relationships at home
and on the street. Relating to them is as important as
knowledge and skills. So we have a DJ, a hairdresser, a
gardener and a designer, as well as qualified teachers. One
of my deputies is a social worker, a knowledgeable advocate
for our pupils with social services. We have a learning
mentor for outreach with families.
Q: What is your behaviour policy?
A: There are no rewards or sanctions, no points and no
detentions. It's all about conflict resolution. Children's
behaviour often gets much worse before it gets better. If
they don't feel secure enough to explore reading and
writing, they will get frustrated and run around ripping
things. We give them emotional support to achieve; and we
prevent them going into custody.
Q: Did you change the environment?
A: We painted, threw out old furniture, cut the grass; but
we did more. We made a pleasant dining area, put in sofas,
a stage area and a proper studio to work with a DJ on
mixing decks. We got rid of the old computers and installed
an Apple Mac suite. People said they would be stolen or
broken, but I said, "If you buy them the best, they will
respect it" - and they have.
- Ian Mikardo High has 40 boys aged 11-16. In 2006, Ofsted
called the school "outstanding".
CV
Name: Claire Lillis
Age: 41
Job: Headteacher, Ian Mikardo High, Tower Hamlets, east
London
Years in teaching: 14
Education: BA (Hons) history and politics from Leicester
University 1988; graduate teaching training scheme, Essex
University 1994
Work experience: Banking, 1988-1991; history instructor at
an Essex comprehensive, 1991-93; head of year and history
teacher, De La Salle school in Basildon, Essex, 1994-98;
voluntary teacher, Jamaica, 1997-98; head of education and
deputy director, Medway Secure Training Centre, 1998-2002;
headteacher, Ian Mikardo High, from 2002
Awards: winner of the 2007 Teaching Award for urban
leadership
Other
interests: travel.
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