Jonathan Roddick

Director of Standards and Safeguarding, The Howard Partnership Trust

Jonathan has worked in education for over twenty-five years as a teacher, senior leader, and senior advisor for a large local authority, where he led the curriculum and learning and teaching teams. Jonathan is an experienced school improvement partner and Ofsted inspector. Jonathan’s focus in the trust is working with senior leaders to ensure that safeguarding is effective. He is also responsible for the quality of education strategy which focuses on securing high quality curricula and enabling excellent teaching and learning. His experience and expertise in teacher training and school improvement has supported each of the trust’s schools in their ongoing improvement journeys. Jonathan is a trustee of Growing Against Violence. The charity runs workshops for schools tackling gang culture and safeguarding threats associated with gangs and social media. The charity has reached over 300,000 children and young people across London and the home counties since its inception.

1 Workshop series two

Botheredness and belonging: A strategic approach to emotionally based school avoidance

Too many children and young people are not accessing the education they deserve, or the experience of belonging to a community, because of emotional barriers to school. There is no simple answer to this complex challenge, but trusts like The Howard Partnership Trust, are developing new strategies to address this over time through their culture and systems. In this workshop, Jonathan and Viv will draw upon their deep experience of working with children who avoid school for emotional reasons. They will consider how organisations can communicate that the adults are 'bothered', and how they can support children's ability to connect and feel a sense of belonging. They will also invite participants to share their experiences and insights into what's happening in this arena in their own trusts.