Let's Move On From Here...

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These are five words that I use every single day with the children I work with. I am an English teacher in the Midlands of the UK. I have worked in a variety of environments in my 20 year career: I have taught everything from exceptionally gifted and talented individuals who have gone on to glittering careers to the most vulnerable children for whom just getting to school today was a push.

I currently work in complimentary education - also known as an alternative provision - with children who are not cut out for mainstream school - or if you prefer - I work with children who have been failed by the system.  

The one thing that all the children I have taught have in common is that they get stuck. We all get stuck - that's life. We get stuck in out relationships with others, we get stuck with a problem at work, we get stuck in traffic jams... 

As one eleven year old philosopher pointed out one day, "Life is sticky isn't it Miss." 

I probably said something like, "Well, yes it is Charlie*. Yes it is. Very sticky. So it's good to practise getting unstuck again so you can move on." At least I hope I did, because knowing how to move on from here is more than a learning skill, it's a life skill.

So I have called this blog "Let's Move On From Here" because it what we all need to do when things get difficult.

Take Simon for example. Simon is somewhere on the autistic spectrum and he gets stuck a lot. He gets stuck when something is unfair or unjust. In his head, not being allowed to eat the biscuits meant for visitors is unfair because one of the teachers (not me I hasten to add) ate one. Teachers are not visitors, therefore he should be able to have a biscuit. The kid had a point which earned him a biscuit after the visitors had been offered them. Simon got a lesson in delayed gratification and then moved on. We got a lesson in being consistent with an autistic child!

So. Let's all move on from here!




*Charlie was not his real name of course. No child will be referred to by their real name in this blog.  .

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