As with all areas of leadership, communication is vital. That means listening to other people's viewpoints, and allowing them time to get their message across. Exercises on the course are designed to improve our listening skills. For example, we experimented with changing our body language, or altering the angle of the chairs that people were sitting on.

When I'm observing lessons, I try to put people at ease, so they don't feel threatened. And during feedback, the aim is always to get the teacher to reflect on their performance. It's not about instructing them, or telling them what to do. It's more about coaxing ideas out of them.

Above all, it's important to know your staff as individuals. Everyone needs handling differently. During the course, we looked at the full range of personality traits that people might have, and worked out strategies for how best to deal with them. You need to be aware of your own character too, because that helps you understand how people relate to you.

Numbers on the course are kept small, so you can explore any specific concerns people might have.

Carol Levy is assistant headteacher at Northway School in Barnet, north London. She was talking to Steven Hastings.

If you would like to book a place on the Managing conflict and dealing with difficult people course then click here

The article above was taken from the TES website, you can see the article here

After the course (Motivating Pupils for Learning), we set up a pilot mentoring programme with 30 underachievers from Year 10. Many of them were getting good grades, but were still deemed to be underachieving - 29 of the 30 pupils were boys.

Our approach is robust rather than softly-softly. If someone misbehaves or produces poor work, the mentor is told and they raise the matter straight away.

Some pupils react badly at first, because they don't like their every move being watched. We have to explain that we're doing it because we care.

Senior staff act as mentors to three or four pupils, and the fortnightly sessions are short and sharp, usually just 10 minutes. Pupils bring along a good piece of work and a poor one. We ask them to pinpoint the difference, and the answer is always the same: it's the effort they have put in.

At the end of the session, we ask them to focus on one specific thing. It might be to do with self-esteem, time management or the way they handle peer pressure.

Once a month, pupils get an honest opinion from their teachers of what grade they could expect if the exam was tomorrow. At any moment they know exactly where they stand, so there's no excuse for drifting. One boy in my group wants to be a marine biologist. I sat him down, we looked at his grades, and I told him that if he didn't improve he could wave goodbye to his dreams. It was a wake-up call.

The programme is still in its infancy, but the potential is already obvious. Next year we plan to expand it to other year groups and we're training more staff to act as mentors. It's a demanding role. You have to be tough without being heavy-handed. Finding that balance is the hardest part of the job.

Ian Humpage is a deputy head at St John Baptist High School in Glandare, Mid Glamorgan

If you would like to book a place on the Managing conflict and dealing with difficult people course then click here

The article above was taken from the TES website, you can see the article here

Gill Rice, PSHE co-ordinator at Queen's Croft School in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

What was it?

Managing Bereavement in School, run by Creative Education, which specialises in teacher-training courses.

What did it do?

It looked at how schools should react if one of their pupils dies. And how schools can help children following the death of a parent or family member.

Why go?

We had a number of children we felt had not properly come to terms with their feelings - and there can be a long waiting list for professional help. We want to be a caring school that actively supports its pupils.

Message, motto or mantra?

Grief is a natural response to death. It can even be healthy and healing.

Handouts or hands on?

Lots of discussion. We were quite a small group so there was time to deal with specific situations relating to each of our schools. One teacher had a terminally-ill child in her class and we looked at how she should handle that.

Something I liked There was advice on establishing a school policy on bereavement. If there is an accident on a school trip, for example, the situation will be enormously stressful. You need clear procedures in place.

Something I learned You cannot impose your own values. There is no right or wrong way to react to death and you have to allow for cultural differences.

Has it made a difference?

We have written a policy document and briefed all staff. We also set up a weekly counselling session for pupils who want to talk.

The verdict?

It is hard to believe a course about bereavement could be fun - but it was

To book a place on the Managing bereavement in school course please click here

The article above was taken from the TES website, you can see the article here