Ep 17 - Understanding pathological demand avoidance, with Jilly Davis

In this episode I discuss the importance of staff wellbeing, self-care and how schools, leaders and individual teachers can put in place strategies and techniques to bring about improvements in wellbeing that lead to improved performance and outcomes. Kelly Hannaghan is a Mental Health and Wellbeing Consultant and has spent her professional career passionately putting wellbeing at the heart of education, by focussing on enhancing the life and learning experience for people in education. She leads school development processes creating outstanding outcomes and awards for many organisations. She is a trailblazer within the Wellbeing Lead Network for supporting pastoral teams and has been recognised by the DfE, NCB, The Anna Freud Centre and The Education Support Partnership as a lead influencer of mental health and wellbeing in education. Kelly is an active speaker and writer of wellbeing in education and is passionate about creating the conditions under which teachers, pupils and families flourish. You can reach Kelly on Twitter @MindWorkMatters

In this episode I speak to Sean Harris about the impact of poverty and social mobility in education, the issues with the curriculum in schools that can sometimes widen the disadvantaged gap, together with how leaders and teachers can review their curriculum to check that it is poverty proofed. Sean Harris is a part-time doctoral student with Teesside University investigating poverty in schools and how we tackle this in classrooms, together with his day job as Trust Improvement Lead at Tees Valley Education Trust in Middlesbrough. Not only that, but he is also a published author in the fields of education, community work and theology.  You can find Sean on Twitter @SeanHarris_NE

I sat down with an old professional friend of mine, Hywel Roberts, to discuss his experience of being a 'Traveling Teacher' and how to get students not just compliant, but properly engaged. In this episode Hywel refers to 'botherdness', getting students 'invested' in their learning and how we can get students to 'lean into the curriculum'. A thoroughly engaging listen from a truly engaging teacher that will make you remember why you came into teaching.

In this episode we talk to Judy Hornigold and discuss how we can identify and support students with dyscalculia.

In this episode we talk to Mike Armiger and discuss the lessons learnt from alternative provision that we can put into practice in mainstream schools.

In this episode we talk to Dr Jennifer Nock and discuss inclusive strategies to support students with ADHD.

In this episode we discuss the understanding of ‘pathological demand avoidance’, or PDA for short, which is a profile on the autism spectrum.

In this episode we discuss what constitutes effective SEND provision across the whole school, looking at quality first teaching, evidence informed practices and professional development.

In this episode we talk to Andrea Edmondson about practical techniques to support co-regulation and the development of self-regulation with our young people.

In this episode we find out what really makes an effective TA and crucially, what teachers can do before and during the lesson to allow their TA to be the most effective.