Claudette, Education Support Officer -

Give details of what resource you used and why.

I used the Oh Charlie resource because I was working with a group of primary school children who had been excluded from mainstream school.

How did you use this resource?

I used the resource three times a week; with each session lasting 30-45 minutes. Time was spent introducing the children to Oh Charlie and giving them the opportunity to read parts of the text. This was followed by having several group discussions about the characters, events in the story as they unfolded and the choices and consequences of Charlie’s actions. The group then moved onto following the programme sessions.

What was the impact of using this resource?

The children really enjoyed using the resource

The children were related the story to their own experience: eg one child said” that’s what happened to us”.

Raised awareness of the effects of their behaviour on their learning and school experiences

Triggered in depth discussions on how different behaviour choiceseffectedothers; children expressed a lot of empathy towards the people who were affected by Charlie’s choices and actions

Showed improved understanding of the links between behaviour choices and consequences

Really helped the children to become increasingly aware that they can be in control of their behaviour choices and they were responsible for consequences of their behaviour choices

All the children began making better choices in terms of their behaviour. For example on occasions staff would hear them say to each other when there was the potential for disruptive or disrespectful actions “remember choices and consequences”. This resulted in a significant reduction in negative incidences and where negative choices were made, the children were more willing to reflect on their behaviour, take ownership and come up with positive strategies on how they could have done things differently

All the children told their parents about Oh Charlie and when the centre had its parents open evening, they proudly showed off their Oh Charlie work on display.

Would you use this resource again, if so why?

Most certainly because of the impact it had on the children and the centre

A really great early intervention resource

Easy to use and allows for lots of interactions and discussions

Could be used in multiple ways (whole school/class, small groups, individually)

Please add any further comments about this resource.

This is a resource all education settings could use to help children to understand the links between behaviour choices and the consequences of those choices. Even if the behaviour does not result in exclusion, it is a good resource for helping to empower children to become more aware of their behaviour choices and the affects it can have on them and others.

A great resource for building empathy towards others