Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills (PLT)

All our activities tie in with the PLT framework. For example, we encourage students to collaborate with others, try out alternatives and work towards goals with initiative and perseverance, to invite feedback and deal positively with praise, setbacks and criticism.

Social & Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL)

Our activities develop the five underpinning qualities and skills which help students to manage life and learning more effectively: Self-awareness; managing feelings; motivation; empathy; social skills.

Feedback from previous training

Great toolkit - Connexions Intensive
Very well structured - Matthew Arnold School
It re-energised me - W Berks Connexions
Excellent detail - Bicester CC
This is the beginning of a journey for our organisation - Lord Williams’s School
Very good presentation with good demonstrations - BAC4Learning
Good ideas & inspiration - Cheney School

Staff Training

Pioneering Strategies for Engaging Young People with Learning

We offer bespoke training for staff from schools & youth organisations, for example:

• INSET days - powerful training days which might focus on:
  • Positive Strategies for Challenging Behaviours:
    Rather than using punishment to modify behaviour, we seek to understand why the student is behaving in challenging ways, and aim to teach more appropriate ways to meet their needs.
  • Creating a Positive Learning Environment:
    Looking at how to establish norms, boundaries and expectations in a safe and nurturing environment.
  • Applying Positive Responses:
    Developing responses that promote more effective decision-making rather than reinforcing challenging behaviours.
• Staff Team Meetings and Twilight Sessions
  • Enhanced Rapport:
    Short sessions exploring ways to work effectively with young people who exhibit challenging behaviours, by building rapport.
  • The Enablement Model:
    Four 2-hour sessions to explain our groundbreaking model, which focusses on positive strategies & learner engagement.
  • Interventions for Specific Cases
• Staff Team Events (off-site from 09.00 to 15.00)
  • Developing a Learner's Perspective:
    How to engage young people by moving from a subject specific (or content-centric) approach to a learner-centric approach.
  • Team Development Day:
    Fun days out in the woods which develop teamwork and communication skills, e.g. Rescue Mission, Woodland Skills
• Individual Coaching - including lesson observation, feedback and guidance

Our training is the result of our experiences in running New Horizons, our groundbreaking alternative curriculum that has caused a stir among youth services, education providers & the media. Now the subject of a BBC1 documentary, it is set to revolutionise the way educational professionals engage young people.

New Horizons has proved highly effective at engaging disaffected teenagers with learning, resulting in increased confidence and self-esteem and remarkable improvements in behaviour.

Please contact us to arrange the training which suits your needs.