Whittington CE Primary School serves a student population of 230. Despite not being situated in an area of significant social deprivation, they face the challenge of managing a large number of high-needs children, with complex and diverse needs, from a range of socio-economic backgrounds.
During the 2016-2017 academic year, the school encountered 34 serious incidents.
In 2018, under the leadership of Carl Rogers, and drawing inspiration from the book and framework provided by When the Adults Change Whittington embarked on a journey of transformative change to address low-level disruption and inconsistent discipline.
“We engaged with Paul’s work with the intention of creating a more consistent and relational approach to behaviour management and, ultimately, to raising standards.”
Staff received continuous comprehensive professional development for implementing relational approaches, and a new behaviour policy was introduced to ensure consistency in the implementation of relational practice throughout the school.
The staff have embraced techniques such as Meet and Greets, Check-ins, Pozzy notes, Recognition Systems, Scripted conversations, and swift impositions. Dog-eared copies of “When the Adults Change, Everything Changes” can even be found throughout the school serving as a constant reminder of their shared vision.
“Over time, standards of behaviour have improved and staff are considerably more skilled and empowered to manage behaviour.”
The transformation has been so remarkable that Whittington now welcomes visitors regularly, inviting them to witness #TheWhittingtonWay relational approaches in action.
As a recognised When the Adults Change partner school Whittington CE Primary continues to reaffirm their commitment to consistent and nurturing behavior management. And serves as a powerful example of the transformative potential of adopting relational practice.