Girls’ Voices: supporting girls’ learning and emotional development
By Leona Cruddas and Lynda Haddock
Trentham Books pound;10.99

This is a short and beautiful book describing two years’ action research in the London
borough of Newham using developmental group work, an extension of circle time focused on adolescents.

The programme is framed in terms of listening to girls’ voices and “removing barriers to learning”. Therein lies its strength: to make education in school more effective. One of the girls comments: “The good things about school are education and friends.”

The authors respect the pressure in the working lives of teachers and comment that, in one school, “the success of this initiative means that heads of house have been freed to focus on creating positive experiences for the benefit of all students.

Read more in this week’s TES Friday magazine