FREE webinar – Supervising to safeguard in schools
July 6, 2020 . 11:22 am
I am delighted to be teaming with my co-author Jo Rowe and Jane Wonnacott, safeguarding expert and Lead Reviewer in the recently published St Paul’s Serious Case Review in a FREE online webinar, Thursday 16th July at 4.30pm introducing the topic of supervision to safeguard in schools. We have considerable expertise in supervision and safeguarding and ideas about how safeguarding supervision can work in schools. If you are a school leader and have questions about what supervision is, how to
Supervision in schools now
June 4, 2020 . 2:50 pm
Supervision in schools is topical now. Schools are dealing with incredible pressures and staff need support. Supervision is designed to focus on the needs of children, staff and schools and find creative ways to meet those needs. There is growing expectation that safeguarding staff are offered supervision. As schools recover from lockdown and more children return to schools the unique experiences they have encountered will require a more differentiated and attuned response than would usually be the case in
Supervision now: emotional support and self-care for school staff during ordinary and extraordinary times
May 27, 2020 . 12:20 pm
This blog is co-written with Jo Rowe. We are keen to promote supervision in schools and why we think it is such an important time now for schools to have supervision available for them. What have we observed happening in education during a pandemic? It is our belief that schools have risen to the challenge of working with and supporting the children and young people in their care, as well as their families. Jo has been working with schools that
Online training – Supervision in Schools
May 13, 2020 . 4:09 pm
Has the time come to introduce supervision into your school? Jo Rowe and Penny Sturt, co-authors of a guide to introducing supervision into schools are offering supervision training online, targeted at school leaders, Designated Safeguarding Leads and pastoral leads. Supervision has long been available to social workers, psychologists, counsellors, school nurses and others working with schools, it is surprising that it has not been more available to staff in schools and is beginning to be recognised as a
Finding your way – Coping in the time of COVID-19
April 15, 2020 . 12:46 pm
This is a short blog post with 3 main points designed to help you cope at what keeps being described as the strangest times of our lifetimes. Everyone has a slightly different challenge at present, so this is deliberately generalised. I am posting it on my website but will also be coming back to the issues on Twitter @practicematters and Facebook @pennyselfcare and am happy to discuss any points further. There are 3 main points I wish to make. Prioritise
Recent Work
July 17, 2018 . 3:17 pm
My new book Using Supervision in Schools is published. I am very pleased that this collaborative effort with Jo Rowe and colleagues in education settings is now in print and available. Training in supervision is also available through In-Trac Training and Consultancy . Please read on to find out more. As a universal service, education is expected to safeguard and meet the needs of all children, some of whom may have complex issues, and to provide emotional support for children
Healthy connecting – managing demanding workplaces
March 17, 2015 . 4:47 pm
When the workplace can make 24 hours a day demands on you how do you switch off and manage to hold onto reasonable expectations of yourself and your colleagues? Questions like this are beginning to filter into contemporary working life. Our flexible ways of working are actually making us feel more trapped than the rigidity of a 9-5 work day. Now we can work whenever we feel like it, many of us are finding it harder to carve out reasonable
The right way?
February 23, 2015 . 9:23 am
Enraged by the radio after just a few minutes I switched off and listened to my thoughts. What had enraged me? Yet another politician talking about “the right way”, the “right thing to do”. Refusing to discuss the issues being raised and bull headedly keeping to their script. Is this the way to engage a disillusioned electorate? It reminds me of past leadership failures when a totalitarian viewpoint was promoted and those that differed were “wrong”. After so much focus
What I am known for!
February 2, 2015 . 7:30 am
“You’re the trainer who insists we take a lunch break”. I was delighted to be greeted by this in the introduction to one of my recent courses. Yes I hope I am known as the trainer who insists on self care. My passion is quality of services available to those who need them and equally passionately I believe that having a workforce that values and cares about itself is an essential ingredient for good quality services and compassionate care. When I qualified
Signs of Spring v. Bleakness
January 26, 2015 . 5:00 pm
Today you may notice there are just the first signs of spring appearing. The snowdrops have been blooming in my garden for a couple of weeks; the catkins are beginning to show and the shoots of daffodils and hyacinths are coming. However this time of year is also associated with bleakness and a reality check about whether your life is where you want it to be. The return to work after the Christmas /New Year break is often associated with
