In focus: Life before 'yellow'
For the next few weeks, we will focus on one aspect of the ‘life before yellow card’ strategies that I talked about at the staff meeting. This week’s focus is partial agreement.
Partial agreement is when you, as a practitioner, block tangent-arguments from taking over the classroom. The use of language here is really important. It involves two words to sidestep the tangent: “maybe” and “but”.
If you have two students talking in your lesson, you may wish to use partial agreement:
"Maybe you weren’t talking …. But, I need you two to work silently. Thank you."
GHS Champion: Richard Lewis is a fantastic model of using partial agreement, especially within his role as a Head of Year, where he will often de-escalate situations quickly by using those magical two words: “Maybe you weren’t hanging around behind G Block, but, I need you to find somewhere else to socialise as a group…” ending with a “thank you!” If you want some tips on partial agreement, try to see Richard in action.
Mark Harvey
Please take a moment to reflect on how well embedded these strategies are in your classroom and whether you need to tweak or refine any of these for A Level or BTEC classes.
Thank you to Sarah Williams who has shared this great story about one of our ex-students, Viraj Juneja, who left about four years ago to pursue a career in acting. He appeared in the first episode of the new series of the detective series 'Vera' on Sunday on ITV - and 
