This September my daughter (Jordan) started Grade 10. We had done a high school profile for her in Grade 9 that included her vision and knew that we needed to update it for Grade 10. I had taken the first week of school off of all work and social media so the profile update had to wait. Call it fate, destiny, procrastination, whatever you will, but the first week of school brought about some important lessons for Jordan that were integral in updating her profile.

Although the lessons were frustrating and required a bit of discomfort they were also exciting for me because I was envisioning how we could use these lessons in her profile. Starting Grade 10 she had four classes, four teachers. All of the teachers have different styles and approaches to students. One of them refers to his students by last name. Jordan’s last name is Harry. Every day for the first week of school she was referred to as “Harry” during one class. He also greeted her this way in the hall way. I’m sure most can imagine the teasing that can come from this last name in general but it is especially sensitive to Jordan because she is profoundly proud of her family name. She has lost her grandfather and does not see her father often so equates teasing with making fun of her family. We went ahead and added “people referring to me by my first name….not Harry” to the “important to” section of her profile.

Jordan also struggled with the location of her locker being so far from her classes. She was stressed about not having enough time to get to her locker and then to class in the allotted break times. She asked for change and was told it was against policy. We added “having a locker central to my classes to reduce anxiety” to her profile. Last year her profile helped her to warm up to public speaking and she wanted to get more comfortable with it so added “Please help me grow in this area” to the supports section. She also changed her vision from a child care career to a career in aesthetics. She has found a great passion in doing manicures and pedicures.

Once we completed the profile I sent it off to the school to be distributed to teachers. When they did not receive it within the first few days we printed hard copies and Jordan handed them out to each teacher. The response was different but positive from each teacher. One teacher caught himself a number of times starting to call her “Harry” and rephrased to her first name. Another sent me an email thanking me for providing this snap shot of Jordan and told me how useful it will be in supporting her success. The other two teachers told Jordan how much they appreciated it and thought it was a great idea. The Cosmetology teacher is focussing on aesthetics with her. She was also successful in getting her locker moved.

Simple statements put on paper and shared with others made a huge difference for Jordan’s level of comfort, anxiety and success in school. Simply huge!

In school, our plan is now to follow up work on a ‘One Page Profile Plus’ to support some of our SEN and Gifted and Talented children, helping us to realise their particular talents and support them as well as possible. Our teachers are now planning up a half term of exciting PSHE learning (using some of the One Page Profile resources) to build towards completing their One Page Profiles by the end of the school year.

The first thing that struck us when looking at the first drafts of the One Page Profiles was the way that a significant number of pupils had really engaged with the idea and invested a great deal of thought and energy into developing their profiles. Clearly being asked to reflect on what was important to them was a relatively novel experience and allowed for an interesting creative outlet. Another interesting aspect was that we started to find out things about our pupils that had never been revealed or discussed before. I certainly was surprised when looking at a doodle of a fish one pupil had drawn on his profile to learn that he had a great interest in ocean wildlife (his ambition was to become a marine biologist). Another feature that was perhaps less surprising was the tendency of our pupils to try and ‘customize’ their profiles, especially the photograph at the top of the page. Many of the profiles ended up with strange avatars or very funny photo-shopped images instead of their own pictures. As most of these images seemed to be quite creatively and cleverly linked with the profile we decided to let this continue. All in the name of personalisation!

During the third full week of term we hold a Year 9 Form Tutor Evening. This is an opportunity for parents to meet their son’s new Form Tutor and listen to a presentation which helps them understand the nature of Middle School at MGS. During the presentation I discussed the pilot project and tried to explain the underlying philosophy of One Page Profiles and how we hoped to evolve the concept. I also suggested that we were keen to develop opportunities for a parental contribution for their son’s profile. We also created a One Page Profile display in the refectory which we hoped would be informative and interesting for parents to read while they were waiting to meet their son’s Form Tutor. I was quite pleased to note that there was quite a degree of interest in the project and I received some encouraging emails the next day form enthusiastic parents.

On Tuesday 30^th April, Oxley Park Academy celebrated its first Twilight session for all parents introducing them to the world of One Page Profiles. An encouraging turn out involving parents with children from across both key stages attended to learn more about the significant impact One Page Profiles are having on their child’s learning.

The session began with a like and admire activity where all parents had an opportunity to say something positive about their child. This allowed all to see the significant impact Oxley Park Academy was having on developing and enhancing children’s learning. This was swiftly followed by a brief introduction outlining what a One Profile actually was. To help explain this concept, Miss Warren (A Year Six Teacher) displayed her own profile on the visualiser. The different headings were clearly explained outlining the obvious distinction between ‘What is important to’ and ‘How to support?’ Showing a real life example was a fantastic way of ‘bringing to life’ this new initiative.

Having understood what a One Page Profile looks like, parents were informed of the purpose behind the concept. The importance of individualising learning for all children and ensuring that teachers and staff are better aware of every child’s needs to ensure each and every child and succeed was iterated as a key aim in the development on profiles throughout the school. It was however highlighted that personalisation through One Page Profiles is something to be achieved every day and not just on ‘transition’ days.

The meeting then went on the focus on why and how One Page Profiles will be used at Oxley Park Academy. The importance of personalising learning was once again brought to the forefront as was the need for all educational practitioners to understand that every child is different and hence learns in different ways. As a Year 6 teacher, I am only too aware of the need to develop children’s individual strengths in helping to prepare them for their transition to Secondary school.

Linked to this was the discussion on how we planned to use One Page Profiles.  We explained to parents how every child in the school by the end of this term will have their very own One Page Profile. This will be kept in a class file to be reviewed as part of an on-going process. Children’s profiles will be used by all teachers to teach that child in ensuring that planning is more personalised and focused to ensure greater progress not just academically but also socially and personally. As one great headmaster once quoted, ‘education is about educating the whole child.’

The meeting was brought to a conclusion with emphasising the important role parents will have in the implementation of One Page Profiles. Especially within lower years, the creation and adaptation of the Profile requires involvement from parents and teachers alike. It is a team effort rather than an individualised approach. It was agreed that regular meetings would take place between parents and teachers to discuss their One Page Profile. Indeed it was hoped by many that one day all meeting s involving his or her’s education would start with a One Page Profile.

Introducing One Page Profiles to Manor Farm Community Infant School

Manor Farm Infant School is based in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire. The school has 225 pupils who start in the foundation stage going through to the end of key stage 1. The schools motto is “Together We Grow” and all the staff at the school are committed to supporting children from the beginning of their education to enjoy, be interested and be proud of their achievements in learning.

The use of Person Centred Approaches was first introduced to the staff in 2012 with a team development session in the summer term on the use of One Page Profiles. This was followed up with an inset day session at the beginning of the autumn term for the staff to start developing their own team plan. In January 2013, the team spent another inset day learning about and practising Action Learning Sets as well as the basic principles of Positive and Productive meetings. The energy, commitment and increasingly the knowledge and awareness of person centred tools has seen a drive to ensure that every child has a one page profile in place by the end of the Summer Term 2013.

The school has taken a gentle approach to introducing One Page Profiles, focusing initially on the children coming into the school. The families of current reception children were all asked prior to starting in September to complete a question sheets about the things the children like to do at home as well as the support they need with day to day tasks. This was followed up in the first few weeks of term with the use of “special boxes” – boxes taken home and filled up with things that are important to each child (photos, toys, swimming badges etc). The knowledge gained through discussions about the special boxes as well as the use of circletime has enabled the Foundation stage staff to start building up good information about what is important to each child as well as what support they need whilst at school.

Across the whole school, each class has spent time working with the children to complete what they like and admire about each other. One class did it in the style of an Olympics ceremony, another class spent time making stars and then writing on them what their classmates like about them. To date the like and admire section has only been completed in school so only has the input of classmates as opposed to family and other friends. The exercise was carried out during P4C sessions as well as literacy, speaking and listening lessons.

Similar to other settings, consistently getting good quality, detailed information is variable. The staff team are working with a very young group of children and are still discovering the best ways to engage and involve them. The plan is for each child to have a completed One Page Profile that will go home with their end of year report, it will also follow the child into their next year so that their new teacher can get to know them more easily and quickly.

What’s our action plan?

• The headteacher and Chair and Vice Chair of Governors will all develop their own One Page Profiles to be shared with the rest of the school during the summer term.
• The headteacher will hold a session with teaching staff on using the “what is important to me now” sheets in the One Page Profiles in Schools – a guide[1] to support the development of good quality information. The Manchester Grammar School checklist will also be used to generate better understanding.
• Staff will be invited to develop and share their One Page Profiles with their class.
• Profiles will be quality checked before use
• Further planning will take place about incorporating family contributions as part of the process.

We are still in the very early stages of using One Page Profiles in Manor Farm Infant School and are hoping for a big leap over the next couple of months. The enthusiasm and excitement from both children and staff is tangible however and we are looking forward to sharing our results!

A few months ago schools were invited to attend an information finding session, where we gave an overview of profiles and outlined the training package available. At this session we had a really positive turnout of Stockport schools. Information packs were handed out which included a wide range of resources. Schools were then given the opportunity to give a commitment to the project. The number of schools wanting to be part of this project is really encouraging.

Stockport have made this commitment to support one page profiles in all schools as they really see the benefits for pupils; both mainstream and SEN pupils alike. Their vision is that all pupils across the authority will have a one page profile, and those with special needs will have a more detailed profile as part of the 0 to 25 plan. Helen and I have worked closely with Ian Denegani from the SEN department at the LA who has been so encouraging, supportive and forward thinking. It has been refreshing working with Ian to move the profile project onwards and upwards.

It was lovely having both primary and secondary colleagues working alongside each other today; there is so much good practice that we can learn from each other. The presentations were a mix of general advice applicable to both sectors and also specific time to focus on either primary or secondary. The challenges are very different but having the opportunity to work with colleagues who have developed profiles proved to be essential.

Today’s session was very well attended by Head teachers, SENCos and PHSE coordinators. The day was a mix of presentation, market place discussions, group reflection and individual school planning. Those attending had the opportunity the plan how they will introduce one page profiles into their school, they learned effective ways to gather information and how to present that information, as well as what ‘good’ profiles look like. The discussions generated throughout the day were very positive, with space to raise concerns and questions.

Staff went away with a clear plan of action, clearly supported by the local authority. More half day training sessions are being offered in June and July, as well as specialist advice for schools. In the new academic year, this group of schools will be part of developing person centred reviews, with more very specialist training being offered.

In summary: a very positive day marking the start of innovative work across the local authority.

Through professional and personal experience I have grown a tremendous passion around personalisation and person centered approaches in all areas of life. I began offering One Page Profile workshops on my own time in my children’s elementary school because I saw great value in them and wanted to inspire educators and students to use them. That began a few years ago and has only grown in interest province and sector wide. My work has been recognized and supported by both HSA Canada and Community Living Parry Sound leading to opportunities to help over 500 students develop profiles last year. I am also an accredited trainer in Person Centered Thinking through The Learning Community from Person Centered Practices.

I continue to offer One Page Profile workshops in elementary schools and have incorporated a vision for high school in Grade 8 students using the Coaching Young People for Success program.  Julie and I had the pleasure to train 65 educational staff this winter in one Ontario School Board and we look forward to offering the same training in other boards.

Last year my daughter was in Grade 8. I had already worked on One Page Profiles in her school with my son’s class and offered my daughter’s teacher the opportunity to build them with her class. He loved the idea and decided to focus on building the profiles to inform teachers and other supports at the high school level. We went ahead with a 3 hour scrapbooking workshop where the students worked together to identify information for the 3 sections of the profile and had lots of fun personalizing their pages. As they worked at this I realized that there was much chatter about what high school might be like and what they wanted to do there. There was excitement and anxiety flowing.

This inspired me to put together a “visioning” workshop where we would use person centered thinking tools to think about what high school would be like and what the students wanted to achieve academically and recreationally. I returned to the school for an afternoon armed with my “tickle trunk” full of craft supplies and inspiring quotes as well as large boards covered in fabric for each student to create a vision board. We worked through a Hopes and Fears exercise and set some actions around those, and other exercises to help them build inspiring boards to show families at graduation. Once I saw the final product I realized that a small box added to the One Page Profile titled “My Vision” would make a world of difference in helping students to stay on track and inform high school staff about their goals. The result was my daughter’s High School profile.

During her Grade 9 year we ensured that all teachers, guidance counsellors and principals received a copy of the profile. We received many great comments about the profile and more importantly the used it to help her grow in some areas of support needs as well as keep a focus on her future educational goals. She had a very successful year which has left me wondering how it may have been different had we not shared this profile. Her Grade 9 profile is now under revision for Grade 10.

Over the last 3 years Gill and I have provided training in Person Centred Approaches and provided support to implement these approaches to over 100 staff within over 40 schools in Wirral. Staff who have been trained as facilitators have also been invited to meet together to share experiences and good practice. This group is currently facilitated by Gill and myself and we had our first meeting last month.

It was great to meet up with colleagues in Wirral, who have all completed the 3 day training in Person Centred Approaches in Schools and to hear about what they had all been doing over the last year. We went through the 4 plus 1 questions and shared our experiences; celebrating good practice, sharing our learning and our on-going concerns. People had tried lots of different things. It was clear that One Page Profiles have been particularly useful in helping children make transitions and one of the challenges can be keeping them alive. They are an easy way to share rich information about a child and developing them gives us the opportunity to build positive relationships with children. One of our biggest challenges in Wirral is concerned with raising the profile and awareness of Person Centred Approaches with all staff in schools. This is particularly challenging in larger secondary schools.

At the end of the session people thought about what they wanted to do next and what support they may need with this. It was a positive first meeting and we hope more people will be able to attend out next one in May

After a visit to Norris Bank School last year, we have started to introduce One Page Profiles, initially to support our children through transitions between year groups. Our Year Twos completed half a terms PSHE on finding out their own learning styles and preferences and then wrote their first One Page Profile at the end of the Summer term. These allowed their Year Three teachers to fully ‘meet’ their new classes before they arrived back at school in September. The children are now approaching their mid-year ‘review’ of their Profiles during which they will reflect on how they have grown, learned and changed over the academic year so far.

Having seen a successful start in Year Two and after a recent visit by Gill Goodwin, we are now planning to develop our own version of One Page Profile Plus to support gifted and talented children and children with SEN. We are also developing transition to one of our secondary schools, Tadcaster Grammar, using One Page Profiles to pass on vital information on supporting our children during their secondary transfer. Finally, we’re hoping to spread some of our One Page Profile work into our neighbouring primary schools, a busy year!