Animal behaviour

I (Helen!) had so much fun yesterday helping host our Animal Behaviour Deep Dive at Church Street Vets in Stapleford. It was an absolute pleasure to work in close collaboration with Animal Behaviourist and Veterinary Assistant, Anna, who facilitated the session, to plan the session content and accessibility. Anna intuitively understood what I was asking her for when I shared Waymakers Guiding Values with her. I'd invited her to model the Waymakers habit of asking 'what do I and others need?' at the start of the session and hold space for the group to share their's in whatever ways they felt comfortable with throughout the session. Anna opened the session sharing she needed reminders to speak slowly if she speeded up in her enthusiasm! She also checked in on their interests and pets and was warmly receptive to them sharing their own experiences and knowledge.

We had a mixed age group of eager questioners and quiet observers and everyone was supported to to participate in ways that were right for them. A quiet room and extra helpers were also made available to us. Anna even built in time at the end after everyone had left to allow time for anyone who does better 1-2-1 to spend some time with her and the adorable foster kittens everyone watched being checked over by a vet. All participants had an opportunity to listen to the kittens' heartbeats, identify some death-by-natural causes specimen animal skulls, have a tour of the practice and look at some x-rays. In looking through colour coded (to include non-readers, which can be common in mixed age home ed groups) Anna prepared sheets of images of dogs in different emotive states. We discussed subtle warning signs of overwhelm and several of us resonated very much with this - the subtle ones can be easy to miss in humans too! We discussed the importance of consent in interacting with animals, not just asking owners if we can touch their pets but also seeking consent from the animals themselves by paying attention to their body language (are they looking towards you or away, do they seem relaxed or tense?) to make our own assessments too on if it might actually be kinder/more respectful not to choose not to touch them.

The session approach and content was so aligned with Waymakers Guiding Values that I wanted to write it up and share it here for others to see. Speaking as a fully qualified teacher myself who has held senior positions involving the training of teachers and development of good practise at national level, I can confidently say, we have a lot to learn from unqualified teachers like Anna. Genuinely catering for needs doesn't have to be excessively time-consuming or resource hungry (and becomes less so the more we practise it) and when it's done well, it's really beautiful to behold. Feedback for this session was 100% positive:
We thought Anna was great with the families and seemed to really 'get' us.
She took the children's questions and comments seriously.
She spoke in a clear and engaging way.
We really appreciated her taking time to show [child who was supported in their choice not to take part in group tour] around and hear a kitten's heartbeat after the main session.
Support for not making non-readers and those with dietary requirements feel singled out was appreciated.
The gift bags at the end were so kind.

Our festive pot plant thank you gift and donation to the Church Street and Clarendon Street vets' charity Back from the Brink does not seem enough by way of thanks for Anna's diligent and compassionate approach so we very much hope to welcome Anna back as a paid Waymakers facilitator in future and encourage anyone else who is moved to to donate to the vets charity to do so too.

It's perhaps not surprising that people who are very interested in animal behaviour are also very good at understanding the needs of others. It further emphasises a generally growing understanding that of course neurodivergence is nothing to do with deficit but simply diverse ways of experiencing the world and communicating (see The Double Empathy Problem). This was a really popular session which sold out within minutes of being circulated so we're planning another for Spring so more can access it. I'm also working closely with Rachael on our upcoming online Deep Dive potion-making session (cross curricula - we've weaved in some Maths, English, Science and History!) who also had a good understanding of our Guiding Values and is planning accordingly - hope to see some of you then!