Rosehill Primary School are stars

Here's a picture of the wonderfully vibrant praise pod at Rosehill Primary school. Each star was lovingly coloured, cut and laminated by staff. What you don't see in the picture is the way the stars that hang from the ceiling move and shimmer. Children instinctively know when something is special; it has exactly that effect too. And shouldn't every child at school feel special?

A together community

A major component of praise pod is the way the wider community is mobilised around a common positive language. Parents, volunteers, older people, community police officers all play their part. Just like sport, praise pod unites people and builds bridges. Try digitaldivide.net for a great example of the power of community action on a school system (article is under the literacy and learning section)

We know that positive social contact protects against depression, yet many older people live in isolation from their communities. The more we look at pooling resources, the more we find mutually beneficial arrangements (such as older people using their wealth of experience and skills to spend time listening to children from local schools in the praise pod, or on the end of a remote link if they can't get to school.)

And of course learning about the latest ICT tools from the most enthusistic teachers in the world.

What skills for the future?

Okay, so praise pod is now helping schools focus more of their attention on positives. It's a good start but what constitutes 'good' and who chooses?

Alan November's website posts some interesting thoughts on the topic. Intrinsic motivation and persistence are put forward as two key qualities for success in a changing global world. Likewise 'empathy' is described as the single most important quality sought from HSBC (see Alan's podcast section for these and other discussions)

What would our schools look like, and who would be top of the class if pupils were graded primarily on their understanding of others' feelings?

And let's not forget the staff too; performance related pay based on evidence of empathy towards colleagues, learners and parents?

Dinnington Community Primary School

Stevie Hobson, Learning mentor, and the wonderful new praise pod at Dinnington Community Primary. All systems go for launch on June 16th. I Can't wait to hear all about the 'trading cards' once praise pod gets going. There's going to be a lot of visitors, including the two pupils who were covering reception and gave me a really warm welcome to their school.