Micro Routines

In many of the settings that we work with, there are a few pinch points throughout the day. Often just a few moments where there is potential for wobbly learner behaviour to brew and adult behaviour to go awry.

It could be the few moments in between arriving in the hall and assembly starting. It could be the few minutes between a child finishing their food and going back out to play. What about the moments between arriving at school and starting a lesson? How prescriptive are your routines when you use equipment and how specific are your instructions about transitions?

You may only have one or two moments in your school week that are unstructured - that have slipped through the net - but in a secure and predictable environment every moment matters. Revisit your school/college day. Where can you scaffold instructions or clarify expectations?

At my daughter’s school, I’ve adopted the role of the over-involved governor they may wish they’d never appointed. I never do my pre-meeting reading but I am forever sticking my head in to see how they are getting on with behaviour.

Of course, I also do school drop-off every day and my experience of playing ‘miss death by scooter’ got me thinking if the school gate to classroom transition couldn’t be tightened up.

It was as simple as adding ‘off scooters before the gates’ to the rule about being safe, and developing a few scripts to be added to the morning meet and greet. Within a week or two, safe scooter parking was business as usual and the start of school routine had moved a few notches down on the chaos to calm dial.

The scooters helped but didn’t totally eliminate the doorstep dominoes. My daughter takes instruction from other distressed children at the door. They seem to act as a reminder to her - This is terrible! Hang on tight and turn those tears on now!’ seems to be somehow whispered silently between them.

I wondered how we could keep the doorways clear. How could we do that without promising ‘first job of the day!’, waving a blank positive note or describing the days full agenda in wildly enthusiastic tones?

We decided to repurpose our lunch time buddy bench and invite children who were feeling wobbly at drop-off to go to the bench with their home adult and wait for a school adult to collect them. This new routine meant that most of our children calmly entered the classroom and started their day whilst the children that needed it, could access calm and dignified support.

Two small changes in moments we had overlooked drastically improved the start of our day and children’s engagement in learning. Staff no longer battle to get their days started and find calm in the post drop-off chaos.

I noticed a few other missed moments when I was in school completing behaviour observations. Children would proudly and fantastically walk down the corridors on their way to assembly. They would line up and shuffle into their rows beautifully and then there was a visible gap in expectation and routine.

Some staff were chasing every squeak and whisper, whilst others were frantically ‘whack a mole-ing’ any divergence from legs crossed, arms straight, eyes in front. Others were in their seats talking to colleagues whilst their children were talking to one another. 

It was only a few minutes until the Headteacher got the assembly started and the security of the established routine kicked in, but those few moments were mayhem, and many adults had left their relational scripts at the door. As a bystander, it felt that those few minutes were anyone’s game and would soon enough be the source point of the drift.

So we clarified our expectations. Our expectations aren’t right and yours aren’t wrong. We were happy with some nattering and turning around to wave at friends. We had confirmed in our ‘Oatlands, I need you to be ready for assembly now’ script and had embedded our positive countdowns. Our staff needed clarity, guidelines and the nudge of a few positive noticing scripts and encouragement to use ‘remember our rule about…’ if a bit of chatting and fidgeting escalated into shouting or laps around the hall.

What moments are you missing? Where could you move your chaos to calm dial a notch or two? Where is there scope for clarity, structure or purposeful support?

If you have access to the online Behaviour Change Course or have a thumbed copy of our book to hand, use the material that looks at routines to structure, share and support the development of micro-routines once you’ve spotted the moments that need them. And do let us know how you get on!