Ideas to help children learn and thrive | Letters

Letters: As schools reopen, we need more discussion about the factors affecting children’s behaviour and learning, writes Dr Heather Geddes, while Laurie Rosenberg says the rigid constraints of current exam systems have stifled pupils’ creativity

The closing of schools during the pandemic has highlighted their significance in children’s lives. For deprived and underachieving children in particular, school is their gateway to engagement and participation in society and in the community. For many children, it is their first experience of feeling safe, noticed and respected. Teachers who understand the factors affecting children’s engagement can make an enormous difference to their capacity to engage in the task, tolerate “not knowing” and accept support. The behaviour of these children is often a communication about their frustration and sense of inadequacy. Now is a time when teachers need enhanced awareness of these issues to enable them to respond to the learning needs of the child. We need more open discussion about the factors affecting children’s behaviour and learning.
Dr Heather Geddes
Education psychotherapist, Teddington, London

• Dr Cary Bazalgette’s letter (26 February) referenced CSE Mode 3 examinations. These school-based qualifications, externally moderated, took students beyond the arcane, annual lottery and memory-based exam game, to a far more thoughtful and relevant assessment of students’ familiarity with an area of study. Above all, it enabled teachers to create exciting areas of study, unconfined by traditional subject labels.

Frustratingly, I have found that the rigid constraints of the current exam system have asphyxiated this creativity and, in doing so, removed areas of learning from the timetable, such as community development. It is evident that society will need citizens able to think beyond single silos of learning in a much broader problem-solving way, and enabling schools to create new areas of learning may well be the outcome of the current situation.
Laurie Rosenberg
Woodford Green, London

Letters

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Covid changed parents’ and pupils’ relationship with school | Letters
Letters: Andrea Dow thinks the bond with school needed to be broken and Dan Thompson says schools must acknowledge what’s happened to rebuild trust. Plus a letter from psychologist Dr Helen Care

27, Nov, 2023 @4:32 PM

Article image
Ofsted should do a little introspection | Letters
Letters: Prof Colin Richards says the watchdog is fuelling paranoia and anxiety in schools, while another reader thinks inspectors would be better engaged in helping with catch-up lessons and mental health initiatives

Letters

19, Nov, 2021 @5:11 PM

Article image
Spotting mental health issues in schoolchildren | Letters
Letters: Readers react strongly to the news that Theresa May is to pledge new materials and guidance for teachers as part of a prevention initiative

Letters

17, Jun, 2019 @4:43 PM

Article image
What’s behind the rise in school absence rates? | Letters
Letters: Phil Revels blames a school system that induces anxiety, another reader says schools practise coercive control and Dr Ian Cunningham advocates self-managed learning

10, Sep, 2023 @5:34 PM

Article image
Imaginative lessons and teacher-awarded exam grades | Letters
Letters: Rob Watling thinks an education secretary with imagination could transform this summer for children, while Philip C Stenning calls for moderation. Plus letters from Dr Cary Bazalgette and Sarah James

Letters

26, Feb, 2021 @5:13 PM

Article image
School returns – a choice between danger and disadvantage | Letters
Letters: Frank Field and Tom Quinn are concerned about the effects of lockdown, Rachael Quinn looks at the gaps in educational progress, while Barbara France thinks developmental needs should be paramount. Plus letters from Ian McCormack, Sue Boulding and a worried teaching assistant

Letters

18, May, 2020 @5:18 PM

Article image
Disruptive children need the opposite of isolation in school | Letters
Letters: Isolating children should have no place in any establishment that professes to prepare them to take a meaningful place in society, says Nigel Shaw. Disruptive pupils need one-to-one attention, adds Penny Jaques

Letters

20, Jan, 2020 @5:33 PM

Article image
Gaps in remote learning need to be closed urgently | Letters
Letters: Hayley Brocklehurst says the fact that the government left state school parents to home school was a disgrace, Joseph Palley thinks schools and universities should remain closed in January, while Frances Kelly says laptops should be provided to every child whose parents cannot afford them

Letters

28, Dec, 2020 @4:15 PM

Article image
Vaccinate all teachers and care home staff | Letters
Letters: Rosie Oliver makes a case for putting teachers and all education staff in priority groups for Covid-19 vaccines, while Ruth Gilbert wonders whether vaccinations for care home workers should be mandatory

Letters

05, Mar, 2021 @5:06 PM

Article image
Put Ofsted in special measures and rethink school inspections | Letters
Letters: Readers reflect on an inspections system not fit for purpose, and suggest improvements

09, Jan, 2024 @6:06 PM