Throughout, the concept of firefighting is used to demonstrate the need to make behaviour strategies preventative – to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to poor behaviour. The unifying thread of the text is that prevention is better than cure – that “a fence at the top of a cliff is preferable to an ambulance at the bottom”. It’s all presented in a very amenable fashion. He is clear up right up front: “ None of this makes me any better than a good teacher in any school.” He also shares brilliant anecdotes from his time on the front line, like this one: The book talks a lot about how people’s behaviours can be different when they are by themselves and in different group situations. A classroom and a school are large group situations and teachers need to create and sustain a culture where it is the norm to do the right thing. In my earlier years of teaching, I had reflection sheets for students to complete when they are in detention to facilitate a conversation to support them to choose more appropriate behaviours in the future. I have no idea why I stopped using these sheets (perhaps because as I became more experienced, the number of detentions I’ve had to give has decreased), but I have now revamped them and them printed and ready to be used. I’ve also decided to let my students know how detentions will be operated so we have a clear understanding before they happen. 3. Have a removal strategy in place before you need it We must act respectfully towards the vast plurality of value systems from which our students emerge ... it does mean teaching them to appreciate that the classroom - your classroom - has its own culture, and that here, if nowhere else, these specific values and beliefs should be held, and demonstrated through behaviour. It is specific to the space in which you teach.'

During the October school holidays, I read Running the Room: The Teacher’s Guide to Behaviour by Tom Bennett. As indicated in the title, the book is on managing student behaviour in the classroom. I’ve been teaching for nearly 13 years and I don’t think I have nailed classroom management (but I don’t think any teacher can say they have perfected any part of their practice, in any stage of their career). Classroom management is complex and this book offers lots of evidence-informed and practical strategies for all teachers, regardless of their experience and career stage, in a non-preachy way. The key messages I got from the book areLuke's physiotherapy career has taken him across the east coast of Australia working in a number of areas including: Hospital Orthopaedics, private practice and sporting teams across a number of different codes. While based in London Luke has been working at The Wellington Hospital and has been trusted by London's top orthopaedic surgeons in post-operative rehabilitation. Before I go any further with this, the book emphasises that removal should not be done on an ad hoc basis and it should be an unusual event in mainstream classrooms. However, sometimes there will be situations where a student needs to be temporarily removed from the class and a removal strategy should be in place before it is needed. This is something I want to work on as a Head Teacher. Do I have an agreed process with the teachers I supervise for the unlikely event that a student needs to be removed from class so that all students, including the student being removed, can continue learning? When such an event occurs, the class teacher should not have to think about who and where the student is to be sent to, what the student should be doing while removed from class, what happens after the removal, etc. It is important that students should know this process before they are removed (which hopefully will be never). In many ways, there is nothing revolutionary here. What is important is the emphasis on behaviour needing to be taught, not told. Bennett maintains this is a systematic process like any other transference and retention of knowledge. He makes the allegedly intangible, tangible; asserting (correctly, in my opinion) that this approach takes the guesswork out of behaviour management and facilitates better learning for all. New teachers are far too often left to discover independently how to run the room, which leads inevitably to exhaustion and disillusion – and ultimately, poor retention of teaching personnel. Bennie Kara discovers an excellent, practical guide to behaviour management that sometimes misses the mark with its commentary

He is an extrovert and part of the reason he loves the profession so much is that he gets to communicate with people from all walks of life. He has an empathetic ear and is always willing to listen. He is always looking to expand his growing networks and build relationships within a multidisciplinary team to improve his practice but more importantly his patient care. Like many people Luke turned to running during COVID and has been hooked ever since. He saw a massive change in his own physical and mental health, as well as the positive changes that outdoor exercise was having on the wider community during a tough time. Will studied Physiotherapy in Adelaide Australia and moved to London in 2023. Throughout his younger years, seeing the Physio for ACL and ankle injuries from basketball sparked his interest in the injury management and prevention. Being born in China and moved to Australia when he was eight, Will is also fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. Some common behaviour myths' include: 'Some people have got it' ('the sin of essentialism - that teaching is an innate gift rather than something can be learned') and 'Kids need love, not boundaries' ('They need both. Boundaries without love is tyranny but love without boundaries is indulgence'). Luke's mission for every patient is for them to have the confidence to reach higher performance or happiness than they were pre-injury.His approach to treatment is very much tailored to the individual, drawing on the most up to date evidence whilst always ensuring he is outcome focused, both on a patient's own goals and, on clinical objective measures, as he wants people to know how they are progressing in his care. After reading the book, I am more confident that these routines support my students’ learning. I’m going to go further this term and trial practising the routines more regularly. So instead of going through them at the start of the term, going through them at least twice a term. The book emphasised that routines need to be taught, practised and re-taught BEFORE a problem occurs. Don’t wait for an issue to arise to re-teach a routine. The premise was simple: could an individual from one area pass as proficient in another, as judged by an expert panel? A vicar 'became' a car dealer, a house painter a conceptual artist, a bicycle courier a polo player, and so on. I don't think they ever tried to turn someone into a teacher, but at the time I was waiting for that programme to be made. 'Running the room', is the title of Tom Bennett's new book ('the teacher's guide to behaviour'), and it would have been fun seeing the trainers preparing a total novice to ‘run’ a classroom. For experts, this is second nature; for anyone else, it can be a terrifying prospect: You cannot judge a person's technique by simply watching them in the moment, if they have taught the class for some time. Much of what they have done to build these great relationships has been done in the past. All you are seeing is the fruit of their labour. So don't judge yourself against this, or simply try to copy it.' Create a class culture where it is the norm for students to behave in a way that lets them and others learn.

I’ve always been a big fan of routines and Running the Room reaffirmed this practice for me. Explicit routines prevent behaviour problems from arising and helps create the class culture and norms. My classes have routines for starting a lesson, ending a lesson, entering different classrooms, how to transition between activities, etc. I have sometimes thought I was going overboard with the routines in terms of their detail and how we actually acted them out. E.g. We would practise how to line up, enter the classroom, etc. We go through these routines and practice them at the start of every term. Like all teachers, I’ve kept students in for detentions, called parents for misbehaviours and placed students on behaviour contracts. These things are bound to happen. Running the Room recommends planning and scripting how you will do these things BEFORE you have to do them. The purpose is to have a basic scaffold of what you are going to say and how you will respond in these situations. If you are an early career teacher, you can try role playing and practising what you are going to say to students/parents with a more experienced teacher.Luke was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia making the move to London in 2022. Luke developed a passion for the human body after several long term personal sporting injuries and this led him to pursue studies in Exercise Science and Physiotherapy. While we [teachers] may be expert behavers, new teachers are novices at running the room. No wonder we make so many mistakes.' With further qualifications as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and as a Reformer Pilates instructor, Luke is able to utilise this knowledge in developing a rehabilitation program to suit everyone from weekend warriors to elite athletes. The value of 'scripts' (preparing in advance what you want to say, so that you can lean on these when under pressure, such as when phoning a parent for a difficult conversation).