Blog – Marilyn Tucknott

Returning to School? This will help.

May 21st, 2020May 12th, 2020

With the recent UK Government announcement that schools are re-opening in a limited fashion teachers may be wondering what to expect from pupils. Back to teaching after lockdown answers these questions. Equally parents will have expectations that may not match the emotional capability of their children in this strange situation. The return could be bumpy. Returning to school after lockdown provides answers to parents that are both supportive … Read more

Who are you choosing to be right now?

April 2nd, 2020April 2nd, 2020

It’s April 2020 and……This is a challenging time. We are all being asked to behave differently, and you may think “I just don’t feel like myself anymore”? You may be remembering a simpler time when you were ‘your old self’ and you may be missing that sense of you. If you are behaving in ways that … Read more

Are you good at joining in?

March 24th, 2020March 12th, 2020

Are you good at joining in? Or are you someone who stands and watches for a bit before joining? Or are you someone, like me, who has to work hard to join in? You would think, wouldn’t you, that someone who talks for a living would find joining in quite easy but, in my case, … Read more

2 mistakes made about vulnerable mental health

April 14th, 2020February 27th, 2020

Today I wanted to share 2 of the most common mistakes I’ve noticed that people make about children with vulnerable mental health. 1. “I should micro-manage their learning.” Yes, of course there needs to be planned, incremental units of learning for those pupils who have barriers to learning- poor learning behaviours, learning difficulties, special needs … Read more

Handling sensitive and controversial issues

March 24th, 2020February 6th, 2020

Learning from real life experiences is central to the Primary curriculum and we recognise that vulnerable children may not have a range of experiences as building blocks. However, when it comes to emotional learning, these pupils may have lived a lot more! This learning may not have been healthful, reflected upon or made coherent. So when … Read more

Improving mental health on a limited budget starting now!

March 24th, 2020January 23rd, 2020

Is your budget stretched? Of course, it is. Whose isn’t! And yet you still want to move the school forward and meet the needs of vulnerable learners. This is a quick newsletter about 4 quick fixes to improve Mental Health. They involve little or no cost! Start the day with a 5-minute easy task. The evidence is … Read more

Are you aligned to your mission?

March 24th, 2020January 9th, 2020

My company is called Koa – you may have noticed. If you are a gardener, you may know why. Can I take a moment to talk to you about the Koa tree? The Koa is a very tall kind of Acacia tree. It is thought so precious in the Hawaiian Islands that the wood is … Read more

Recruiting staff: Why did you become a teacher?

March 24th, 2020December 19th, 2019

Well here we go again, yet another round of glue, glitter, songs, rehearsals and the general mayhem as we hurtle towards the end of the Autumn Term. How many times have you been through this? For a teacher new to the profession, this end of term must be an eye-opener- joyous and exhausting! For me, … Read more

When a child asks: “When are you going to hug me?”

March 24th, 2020December 12th, 2019

“When are you going to hug me?” is the question that Mark Kermode, film critic, pulls out the Elton John film ‘Rocketman’. He then goes on to describe the film as “a story about a little boy who became a big star while plaintively pleading ’I want love, but it’s impossible’, a shy kid who … Read more

Everyday classroom changes to support vulnerable learners

March 24th, 2020November 28th, 2019

I remember listening to the psycho therapist Una Firth some years ago who told the true story of 3 brothers who presented differently as a result of family trauma- the eldest with anti-social behaviour, the middle boy with eating disorders and the youngest being deeply withdrawn. The youngest had the most profound distress even though … Read more

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