The Human Givens Institute
| The HGI Education Section | ||
Minutes of the inaugural meeting held on 18th January 2007 at Worle School, Weston-super-Mare Attendees: Trevor Bailey (Head teacher, Worle Community School, Weston-super-Mare) Apologies: Paul Catchpole (Teacher) Minutes of the last meetingAs the first meeting of the Education Section, there were no previous minutes to review. Matters ArisingAs the first meeting of the Education Section, there were no matters arising. Welcome and Introductions Trevor Bailey was thanked for hosting the meeting and providing lunch. Those present introduced themselves, their roles and their interest in the human givens approach within education. Roles and the range of interest was considerable, with representatives from mainstream primary and secondary schools, FE, specialist schools within mainstream and residential education and secure unit education. Facilitation and Administration of the Group Trevor Bailey was nominated as Chair of the Education group, with Mike Beard undertaking to provide administrative support. Declaration of AOBNo AOB was declared. Terms of Reference There was general discussion around the draft Terms of Reference for the group circulated prior to the meeting. There was a general consensus that the Terms as stated provided an appropriate foundation for the group, and that these could be revisited and revised as the group developed Pathfinder Trust project update Jenny Moss described the development of Worle and Westhaven Schools as ÔTrustÕ schools, with the Human Givens Institute recognised as a Trust Partner alongside organisations such as the Primary Care Trust, and University of the West of England. Jenny described the charitable status of the Trust, and the role of the Trust in providing governance to schools. Initial funding of £15,000 from DfES has been made available to fund the development of this particular Partnership. Jenny described how the HGI was considered a ÔcoreÕ partner in terms of working with young people, recognizing the importance of emotional health & well-being of young people and its impact in terms of learning. The role of the University of the West of England was seen as assisting in procurement, in developing specialist teacher training, and together with the ÔVITALÕ partnership be able to offer a research capability in terms of measuring the ÔsuccessÕ of the Trust in terms of positive outcomes for young people. Jenny emphasized how the Trust would seek to develop and strengthen existing links with the PCT and Local Authority, and how the structure created by the Trust would enable the values and visions it creates to be maintained. Results would include seeing a greater involvement/commitment of parents to the process of learning, and an ability to become less reliant upon ÔexternalÕ resources, developing Ôin houseÕ expertise to better enable conditions and an environment for learning. ÔSEAL+Õ update Mike Beard and Tania Markham Ways described ways in which a Ôcommon frameworkÕ to audit and respond to young peopleÕs needs is being developed through the Educational Psychology service in Devon, based on the human givens approach (the ÔSEAL+Õ or ÔSEAL FoundationsÕ project; social & emotional aspects of learning). The intention of this work is to develop a more meaningful assessment tool that identifies quickly the needs of a particular child in such a way that all agencies involved in working with that child will be more easily able to see what they might contribute to getting these needs met. Mike outlined the development of these ideas through ÔLearning CommunitiesÕ, with models described for identifying unmet needs earlier in ÔfeederÕ Primary schools supported by planned programmes of support and intervention to manage the transition to Secondary school, alongside work with staff and parents to develop a more consistent use of the approach. This has been combined in one school in particular with the building of sustainable Ôin houseÕ therapeutic support within the school, which has since resulted in a reduction in the rate of referrals to CAMHS teams. General Discussion There was a good deal of general discussion. Richard Sheppard described how the human givens approach was being developed through both individual and group work within Worle School, and that work was planned in relation to pre-examination work; Ôteaching successÕ. Richard also described how the intention was to develop the capacity to gather information in such a way as to identify potential vulnerabilities earlier, therefore increasing the likelihood of an earlier intervention and more positive outcome. Steve Osmond described the extent to which his education staff were trained in the human givens approach (two had completed Part I, 3 Part II), and his interest around epistemology and the question Ôhow do we know what we know?Õ. Gail Elvin described her role within an FE College as a personal advisor to students; Gail is the first of the guidance department to complete the Part II diploma, and Gail described how the guidance team is looking to underpin work with students with HG-based ideas, and how the aim is to cascade the ideas and ways of working to all the staff and tutors working within the college. Date and Location of Future Meetings The meeting agreed that in principle, meetings would be hosted in turn by members of the group. This would enable meetings to be combined with an opportunity to visit a number of different educational settings that were developing the human givens approach, and to see work in situ. There was an undertaking that the location of each meeting would take into account the geographical spread and prevalence of the groupÕs members. Subsequent to the meeting, the following dates and locations were proposed through the Chair:
Contact us For further details about the HGI Education Section please contact: Mike Beard at: REM State Limited, 86 Bonhay Road, St. DavidÕs, Exeter, Devon EX4 4BL.
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