What’s the best way to deal

With a broken heart

Or a friendship that’s died?

How do you help kids

You’ve known for two weeks?

And how do you stop worrying

That you did it all wrong?

I had an interesting situation today, and I really hope that I dealt with it effectively. I’ve written about my worries about opening up when things are going wrong. I’ve had a bad experience and so I’m loathe to tell anyone when I’m having a wobble. But, on the other hand, I really hope that I’m the kind of person people feel comfortable to come to when they are having a wobble.

Today, I had a fifteen year old girl who was playing up for the whole lesson and did absolutely nothing. She is normally a bit sparky but on the whole she is a great kid so I didn’t want to come down hard on her.

I kind of sat and observed quietly, trying to give a gentle push every now and then. By the time we were clearing away she was starting to well up with tears and I suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. I just had this horrible feeling that it was something to do with me and the way I had spoken to her.

Normally, in this situation, the kid gets so irate that they just storm out and you don’t see them again until the next lesson. However, this girl came up to me at the end (obviously distressed) and she apologised, said she would take her book away and do the work in her own time and said that she just didn’t know what was wrong with herself.

I do think that there was more going on underneath and I really hope that she went and found her head of house who she knows well and can trust. But it just took me by surprise that a Year 10 could show such maturity. Most would storm out and make me feel horrible for the weekend and like I hadn’t done my job well.

I hope that there are many more kids out there that have the fortitude to say they’re wobbling. The aggressive, angry stomping that I get from most is becoming quite tiring so well done that girl.

Much Love

Rachel xx