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IMPROVING BEHAVIOUR

Overview

This year-long programme supports schools to create a culture of care, consistency and mattering – a culture where students feel safe, supported and ready to learn, and where staff feel equipped, valued and confident in their practice.

 

It draws together two powerful strands:

 

  • The psychology of mattering: Understanding what helps children feel seen, safe and significant, and how this transforms behaviour from the inside out.

  • Implementation and improvement science: Using tried-and-tested tools to diagnose the real causes of behaviour challenges and embed consistent, sustainable approaches across a whole school.

 

The programme blends insight with practical implementation know-how: helping you strengthen relationships, routines and clarity, while also developing the flexible consistency that young people need to feel secure and able to thrive in busy, real-world classrooms.

 

It is designed for anyone who wants to move beyond reactive systems and compliance-driven approaches towards cultures grounded in belonging, shared responsibility and deep human connection – where both staff and students genuinely matter, and behaviour improves as a result.

We will:

  • Conduct a root cause analysis to identify the underlying causes of behaviour challenges, so your response targets the real issues rather than the symptoms.

  • Develop and refine a coherent, workable policy that reflects your school’s values and supports teachers to act with clarity and confidence.

  • Create and embed consistent routines while maintaining the flexibility needed for workable inclusion in complex, real-world contexts.

  • Explore the relational foundations of mattering – how to build a culture in which every child feels seen, safe and significant.

  • Support leaders to create the conditions in which staff feel empowered, valued and involved, so they become active partners in the change.

Details

  • Suitable for headteachers and senior leaders with responsibility for behaviour and relationships pastoral support. 

  • Applicable to primary, secondary, post-16, special schools and alternative provisions

  • 3 in-person days

  • 3 online check-ins 

  • Location: Central London - venue TBC

  • Cost 

    • £995 early bird (book before Feb half-term)

    • £1095 full price

  • Includes 

    • A signed copy of Making Change Stick

    • A 3-year subscription to the Making Change Stick professional learning suite for all staff at your school (worth over £950)

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Dates

Spring term 2026

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  • Friday 13 March – in person

  • Thursday 23 April, 4.00–5.30pm – remote check-in

Summer term

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  • Friday 12 June – in person

  • Thursday 9 July, 4.00–5.30pm – remote check-in

Autumn term

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  • Friday 9 October – in person

  • Thursday 12 November, 4.00–5.30pm – remote check-in

By the end of the programme, you will have:

  • Used implementation science tools to strengthen your behaviour and relationships policy

  • Optimised your behaviour policy with clear examples and non-examples

  • Created the conditions for staff buy-in by leading the change transparently and involving people early

  • Developed relational approaches that centre mattering and psychological safety

  • Created the conditions for psychological safety, belonging and improved attendance

  • Built the confidence and clarity needed for long-term success

BOOKING FORM

MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

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Tara Elie: Educator, psychologist, coach, senior lecturer

Tara Elie is an educator, psychologist, coach and senior lecturer in Secondary Education at the University of East London. Her research focuses on teacher wellbeing and the relational conditions that enable staff and students to thrive.

 

Over the last 12 years, Elie has trained tens of thousands of teachers in over 500 schools across the UK and internationally on behaviour, culture change and wellbeing. She has coached hundreds of senior leaders in schools and colleges to build relational cultures with significant, measurable impact.

Drawing on her most recent research into Black Teachers’ Mattering, Tara now works closely with schools across London boroughs and throughout Sussex, supporting headteachers and senior leaders to develop the psychological capacities required to drive meaningful, sustainable change. 

 

Her work helps leadership teams embed cultures of mattering, belonging and relational trust - strengthening staff experience, improving retention, and creating the conditions for whole-school transformation.

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Dr James Mannion: Teacher trainer, government advisor, author… and purveyor of sci-fi rock musicals

Dr James Mannion is a teacher trainer and government advisor who specialises in learner effectiveness, oracy, and implementation and improvement science. Formerly a teacher and school leader for 15 years, James holds an MA in person-centred education from the University of Sussex and a PhD in self-regulated learning from the University of Cambridge. 

 

James is the author of Fear is the Mind Killer (2020, co-authored with Kate McAllister) and Making Change Stick: A Practical Guide to Implementing School Improvement (2025) and leads Making Change Stick, an organisation dedicated to helping schools embed evidence-informed practices in complex, real-world environments. He has worked with hundreds of schools, multi-academy trusts and government agencies in the UK and internationally, supporting leaders to design, implement and sustain meaningful, lasting improvements.

 

James is an Associate at Oracy Cambridge, the Chair of the Education Policy Alliance, and the co-host of the popular Rethinking Education podcast, which has had over half a million downloads to date. 

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