Quality Circle Time is a democratic and creative approach used to
consider a wide range of issues affecting the whole school community.
Various infant, junior and primary schools in Tower Hamlets have adopted
or are in the process of adopting the model including Bonner, Christchurch,
Osmani, Redlands, St Anne's, St Matthias, Sir John Cass, Susan Lawrence Infants
andThomas Buxton Juniors.
Aims
and objectives
The initiative
Outcome
Evaluation and
assessment opportunities
Challenges encountered
Cross curricular
links
Links
with other schools and groups
Supporting
resources
Project contacts
National
Curriculum relevance
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The aims
and objectives
At the heart of the Circle Time Model is a class meeting
which involves the whole class sitting in a circle once a week
to look at issues relating to personal, social, moral and health
education. The circle meetings aim to encourage the development
of positive relationships, self-discipline, conflict resolution,
assertive communication and democratic group processes alongside
the skills of speaking, listening, observing, thinking and concentrating.
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The initiative
The process of Quality Circle Time is delivered through
a highly structured group listening system and is timetabled weekly.
Children meeting in a circle engage in exercises, games and discussions
designed to promote trust, respect, empathy and understanding which
offers participants the security and freedom to explore issues and
find ways forward.
Circle Time follows a clear structure over half an hour:
-
Opening game - pulls
the group together, provides a sense of fun and enjoyment, used
to teach learning skills, moral values and codes of conduct
-
Round - gives everybody
a chance to speak. A speaking object such as a conch can be used
to enable a focus on the speaker and indicate that all others
must listen. It is this section of Circle Time where scripted
sentences are often used. Examples might include: I find it
easiest to work in class when…I get fed up when…I was pleased
with myself when…
-
Open Forum -
an open, free discussion phase which can be used to discuss and
solve problems and set targets
-
Celebration of successes -
a chance for pupils to thank others, both children and adults,
for acts of kindness etc. during the past week Closing game -
brings a sense of closure and bridges into the next part of the
school day
The structure is designed to build a sense of class community and
the teacher acts as a non-authoritarian facilitator, encouraging co-operation
and creating a climate of emotional safety.
Other essential elements of the process include:
- Golden Rules - a core set of values. All members of the school
are involved with the discussion and establishment of these rules and
all parents are issued with a copy. The rules should be displayed in
every classroom, dinning hall and playground. The six Golden Rules,
which cover respect for people, property and work are explicitly taught
through Circle Time activities. They are:
Do be gentle Don't
hurt anybody
Do be kind and helpful Don't hurt peoples
feelings
Do listen Don't
interrupt
Do look after property Don't waste or
damage it
Do be honest Don't
cover up the truth
- Golden Time - a positive incentive and sanctions system which
draws on the principle that the most effective sanction is the withdrawal
of a privilege (Elton 1989). Golden Time is a weekly timetabled
slot of at least half an hour each week where children are able to
embark on an activity of their choice. If the child keeps the Golden
Rules all week, they automatically have the right to take part in their
chosen activity. These activities should be well organised and be highly
motivational for each child, not simply free time, e.g. football,
computer club, art classes etc. The sanction system begins with a visual Yellow
card warning which is placed beside children if they break a golden
rule. If they choose to break another rule whilst the warning is out
they lose a part of their Golden Time. It is important that children
lose exactly the amount of time allotted and that they sit out and
observe others engaged in the activity they have chosen for their Golden
Time. Some schools adopt a system whereby children can 'earn back'
Golden Time.
- Strategies for lunchtime - acknowledge that this break time
is the lynch-pin of the day and that enormous amounts of afternoon
learning time can be disrupted due to lunchtime problems. Therefore
the involvement and training of lunchtime supervisors in the Circle
Time process is seen as vital.
- Playground games -We live at a time when children tend to
be imaginatively and socially impoverished and lack a repertoire of
imaginative games to play. The Quality Circle Time model therefore
insists that schools teach playground games as part of their PE syllabus.
Dividing the playground into different activity areas can help children
make positive choices during the lunch break. Devising responsibilities
for children can help ensure an inclusive, fun and healthy playground
for all, e.g. a Playground Squad: children who are responsible
for organising games, Friendship Stop: a place for children
to go if they have no one to play with and where they can be teamed
up with a group and Football Parliaments to ensure football
contributes to the positive ethos of the school rather than pulling
against it.
- Children beyond - For those children whose behavioural difficulties
do not respond to the Circle Time process a series of positive behavioural
and therapeutic strategies are included in the model.
Circle Time can strengthen School Councils. The process can enable children
to discuss and address issues effecting the whole school and these issues
can then be fed into the School Council by class councillors.
The model can also be used as a two way process of communication between
the Senior Management Team and pupils, where children are asked to consider
organisational issues identified by the SMT and the SMT have the chance
to address issues raised by the children.
The
outcome
Headteacher comments and OFSTED reports highlight positive effects in terms
of:
-
Boosting self-esteem of the pupils
and enhancing the quality of learning
-
Promoting positive attitudes to
work
-
Promoting good moral understanding
especially in respect of right and wrong
-
Enhancing positive ethos in the
school
-
Promoting positive behaviour management
-
The use of incentive and sanctions
to develop self-knowledge and spiritual awareness
-
Promoting good relationships throughout
the school and reducing bullying incidents
-
Forming the basis of citizenship
and PSHE policies and curriculum
-
Providing a clear whole school
system with a common format and expectations
-
The ease of communicating the
model to parents
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Evaluation
and assessment opportunities
As a well established model used in many Primary schools throughout the UK
much evaluation has taken place on the effects of the model in schools. In
addition to positive assessment by OFSTED, various studies have evaluated
the impacts of the model, e.g. A report on the use of Circle Time in Wiltshire
Primary Schools and A report on the use of Jenny Mosley's Whole School
Quality Circle Time Model in Primary Schools in the UK (1999) commissioned
by All Round Success Charity
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Challenges
encountered
Headteachers have expressed concerns about lack of resources
and training. They also emphasise the importance of the adult who
conducts Circle Time. Without adequate training, the process can
become diluted and ineffectual. In untrained or inexperienced hands,
Circle Time can be disappointing or even destructive. At its worst,
it can be misused by teachers to try and shame children
publicly and coerce them into 'behaving'. Or, it can be simply
mediocre, where it can become boring and repetitive
.Furthermore, there is the danger
of an appreciable gulf between the values demonstrated in Circle
Time and the reality witnessed around the school in terms of teachers'
attitudes towards each other or towards children. If this is so
obviously apparent children can become demoralised and lose faith
in the moral values. In many cases the school fails to act on the
listening, i.e. they fail to incorporate many of the management
issues raised by children into their subsequent action plans. Children
can then become cynical and apathetic towards the process, detecting
a divide between values and action and may come to see it as little
more than another control mechanism.
Much emphasis is placed on the
mental health of adult teams in the school and on training. It
is impossible to expect adults to respond positively, warmly and
calmly if they themselves are emotionally and physically exhausted
and /or lacking in team support.
Effective training is seen as vital to the success of Circle Time. Measures
include:
-
The introduction of the
model at teacher training level
-
LEA personnel and link advisors/inspectors
attending an accredited Jenny Mosley Training course
-
LEA training programmes
involving a number of schools and/or whole school INSET led by
accredited Jenny Mosley Trainers. Demonstration Circle Time sessions
involving a specialist and a group of children is often included
as part of the INSET
Research suggests that headteachers
consider on-going training an essential pre-requisite for the success
of Circle Time and it is strongly advised that schools undergo
a process of training from accredited trainers.
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Cross-curricula
links
In addition to fulfilling Citizenship and PSHE objectives
this initiative also addresses aspects of the Speaking and Listening
requirements of the English National Curriculum.
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Links
with other schools, community groups and organisations, local
and national.
Clear and specific links with the National Healthy Schools
Initiative
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Supporting
resources
Quality Circle Time books provide games and exercises for the promotion of
the core values of Circle Time, e.g. Quality Circle Time - Volume 1: the
essential guide to enhancing self esteem, self discipline and positive relationships,
Jenny Mosley (£19.95).
For full details of training and resources on Quality Circle Time contact
Jenny Mosley Consultancies or visit the website - www.jennymosley.demon.co.uk
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Project
contacts
Jenny Mosley Consultantancies
8 Westbourne Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire BA14 0AJ
Tel: 01225 767 157
Fax: 01225 755 631
Email:circletime@jennymosley.demon.uk
Further details of Quality Circle
Time can be found at the Jenny Mosley website:
www.jennymosley.demon.co.uk
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Key Stage 2 Citizenship
and PSHE National Curriculum relevance
Pupils should:
- be taught to talk and write
about their opinions, and explain their views, on issues that
affect themselves and society (1a)
- be taught to recognise their
worth as individuals by identifying positive things about themselves
and their achievements, seeing their mistakes, making amends
and setting personal goals (1b)
- be taught why and how rules
and laws are made and enforced, why different rules are needed
in different situations and how to take part in making and changing
rules (2b)
- be taught to realise the
consequences of anti-social and aggressive behaviours, such as
bullying and racism, on individuals and communities (2c)
- be taught to reflect on spiritual,
moral, social and cultural issues, using imagination to understand
other people's experiences (2e)
- be taught to resolve differences
by looking at alternatives, making decisions and explaining choices
(2f)
- be taught that their actions
affect themselves and others, to care about other people's feelings
and to try to see things from their points of view (4a)
- be taught to be aware of
different types of relationship…between friends and families,
and to develop the skills to be effective in relationships (4c)
- be taught to realise the
nature and consequences of racism, teasing, bullying and aggressive
behaviours, and how to respond to them and ask for help (4d)
- be taught that differences
and similarities between people arise from a number of factors,
including cultural, ethnic, racial and religious diversity, gender
and disability (4f)
KS2 English National Curriculum relevance
·Pupils
should:
-
be
taught to make contributions relevant to the topic and take
turns in discussion (3b)
-
Use
different ways to help the group move forward including…reaching
agreement, considering alternatives and anticipating consequences
(3f))
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