st benedicts student stories

Independent school using Thomas assessments to improve the

performance and behaviour of underachieving and disruptive students.

St Benedict’s School

t 01628 475 366 e [email protected] www.thomasinternational.net ©Thomas International 2012

John Smith

By his own admission, John had never enjoyed school and found it boring. He was unable to settle in class, particularly when he was asked to undertake written work, and only really participated in practical tasks.

John had difficulty concentrating and disrupted lessons by talking in class, shouting, or back-chatting teachers. Often he would stand up and walk out of the classroom and spent time most days in the inclusion unit. His teachers felt he was heading for exclusion and say it is a miracle he is still there.

John knew he wanted to change but didn’t know how. As a result of his frustration, he was very angry, not only with himself but with others too. He jumped at the chance to be involved in the pilot study when he heard it might help him identify why he behaved as he did and could help him change his behaviour.

Student stories

The following are accounts given by the teachers and students who participated in the pilot study. All student names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

Since becoming involved in the programme, the change in John has been dramatic. He has gone from being sent to the inclusion unit on a daily basis, to managing to control his behaviour most of the time.

Since becoming involved in the programme, the change in John has been dramatic. He has gone from being sent to the inclusion unit on a daily basis, to managing to control his behaviour most of the time. He is now removed from the classroom on only one or two occasions each month.

John’s parents and teachers are delighted with this development. When asked what had enabled him to make the change, he explained that working through the Thomas assessment reports with his teacher meant he finally understood his behaviour. They suggested a preference for practical activities. They also described a dislike of failure, which he said led to him causing disruption or walking out of the classroom when he felt failure was likely.

He began to appreciate his strengths and areas for improvement and was able to talk through a process for managing

and developing these, which until now he had struggled with. John continues to read through the reports at home and is determined not to slip back. He now gets along with many of his teachers and is able to talk with them effectively.

As a result of his understanding John is more settled in class and when he feels his previous behaviour rising to the surface, he is usually able to recognise it and take action to calm down. His effort and homework has improved significantly and he has taken his grades up a level. John now believes he can get to college and is focusing on his GCSEs in order to pursue his dream of opening a restaurant. The school now believe he might get there, something they thought impossible just six months ago.

Tools used: PPA, GIA, TEIQue


Paul Jones

Paul didn’t find school much fun. He wasn’t especially unhappy but he didn’t see the point of going in every day. He was capable enough but didn’t try and found most lessons easy.

The school recognised Paul’s potential however they struggled to find a way of motivating him to put the required work into his lessons. His teachers were concerned about his attitude to his forthcoming GCSE examinations and saw him as an ideal candidate for the pilot study.

When the programme was explained to him Paul was curious. He attended a parents’ evening with his parents who also felt he would benefit.

Paul remembers the Thomas assessment feedback he received. This indicated that he was right about many of the things he had been thinking about himself. The feedback reflected his own beliefs and he felt a strong sense of personal ownership.

Catherine Williams

Catherine is painfully shy and while she has a small group of close friends, she found it difficult to interact with most people in school.

Paul explains, “The reports highlighted I had a strong preference for understanding why I needed to do something and didn’t respond well to just being told.” As a result some teachers have started to take more time to make clear the reasons behind the work set. When this doesn’t happen, Paul is able to understand and manage his feelings.

The reports also spotlighted some unexpected areas, particularly how he hides his emotions from others. Paul was able to share this with his parents and found this, and other feedback, has helped to facilitate discussions with them.

Paul says, “My parents have a better understanding of me and are more accepting of who I am.” Perhaps the most striking impact is that having seen and worked through the results, Paul decided he wanted to work harder. He now sees school as a place to learn and this change in perspective has enabled him to show

School was really boring for her and in her own words she “hated it.” She found the work too easy, she didn’t need to try in order to do well, and she couldn’t wait to leave after her GCSEs.

Catherine was unhappy with many aspects of her life and the school was worried about her welfare. She was known to have self-harmed and there were fears of a possible suicide attempt. When offered the opportunity to take part in the pilot study Catherine thought to herself, “this could be interesting and at least it is something different.”

much greater levels of concentration. In less than six months Paul has seen a remarkable turnaround. He now cares about his GCSE results. He has also asked to be accepted into the school sixth form and wants to take A-levels.

But Paul hasn’t stopped there. He has started to use his new knowledge of behavioural preferences to identify the profiles of his teachers so he can respond appropriately to them.

The key for Paul was in developing greater self-awareness. His input created the assessment reports and he recognised himself in them. This enabled him to take ownership of his situation and the responsibility to change.

Thomas’ General Intelligence Assessment told Catherine something she already knew. Her mental processing speed in most areas, including numeric and verbal abilities were very high. She was able to recognise this and knew she had decided to switch off at school because her preference was to avoid talking to people.

Catherine’s behavioural preferences indicated that she preferred to work on her own. This, combined with Thomas’ Emotional Intelligence report, gave Catherine some important feedback about herself.

The most striking impact is that having seen and worked through the results, Paul decided he wanted to work harder.

Raising her self-awareness and providing support has helped Catherine to talk far more with others and there has been a big focus on helping her to develop social skills. As a result her school life is much easier.

Given how extreme her situation was, it was decided to use someone external to the school with specialist knowledge to support Catherine in understanding and working on the feedback from the assessment reports.

While Catherine still has a long way to go, the school have noticed major changes. As one teacher put it, “The fact that Catherine is prepared to come and talk with you to help you understand

what she has been through is nothing short of a miracle. You wouldn’t have got her within a mile of you five months ago.”

Raising her self-awareness and providing support has helped Catherine to talk far more with others and there has been a big focus on helping her to develop social skills. As a result her school life is much easier. She still finds it difficult to talk openly and with everyone, although understanding why

has helped her to face up to this and take steps to change.

Catherine has gone from wanting to get away from school as quickly as possible, to now going into the sixth form. She has suggested that anyone given the opportunity to take part in the programme should, “just do it”. There are no downsides as far as she is concerned and she has seen how much can be achieved in such a short time.

Graham Brown

Graham messed about in all the lessons he found easy and paid attention in those he found more challenging. Despite being occasionally sent out of class, he regarded his behaviour as acceptable and thought he was just being a nuisance by making jokes, talking and playing up to his friends. He was unaware of how to behave in any other way and was starting to have doubts as to whether he would be allowed into, or be able to get into the sixth form.

School feedback led to Graham’s parents regularly punishing him, to which he would respond in an aggressive, vocal manner.

At the time when Graham was given the opportunity to participate in the pilot study, his mother had recently undertaken some of the same assessments at her workplace and was supportive. They decided to work together to understand why Graham behaved as he did and what he might do to change.

Graham found the process fairly straightforward and the assessments enjoyable to complete. More importantly, he found the results and feedback very helpful. He realised how his strong

preference for influencing others was leading to his behaviour and that he didn’t always have to put his friends first.

Before participating in the programme, he didn’t think of teachers as people he could talk to, but now he regularly chats with up to a dozen of them on non-school related topics. Graham’s home life is much calmer as his parents better understand him and appreciate the effort he is making.

The discussion that took place from Graham’s Emotional Intelligence assessment indicated that he didn’t manage stress very well. With the support of his assigned teacher, he has started to address this by learning coping techniques. He now finds it much easier to work hard in class and has been rewarded with improved marks for effort and better grades. Knowing he likes to play to the crowd has also reduced his need to do it.

Graham is still not sure which career he wants to pursue, although his behavioural profile has helped him narrow down his choices to something that is non-routine, involves working in a group, with the opportunity to lead, and where he can get stuck in. This is a great start towards identifying something he will enjoy and where he is likely to perform well.

Like many of the young people taking part in the programme, he displayed a level of self-awareness and personal insight usually associated with more mature people. He was able to articulate that he now felt silly about his previous behaviour and realised what a ‘pain’ he must have been for others in his class who wanted to learn. Knowing that influencing people was a major preference has encouraged him to socialise with a much larger group of people, many of whom he wouldn’t previously have been seen with.

He is proud that many of these new friends recognise how he has changed.

Before participating in the programme, he didn’t think of teachers as people he could talk to, but now he regularly chats with up to a dozen of them on non-school related topics.



Isabella Tompkins

Isabella hated school so much that she tried to move to a new one. In fact it was much more than dislike as she was diagnosed with depression. She had a friendship group but no close friends and she spent much of her day trying to be invisible. She put little effort into her work and remained in the background as she was performing to an above average academic level.

Isabella wanted to take part in the pilot study because she felt it might reveal things about her that she couldn’t verbalise and help explain why she felt as she did. She found Thomas’ online assessments easy and thought the feedback sessions with teachers were helpful in understanding the assessment reports.

Knowing her preferences has allowed Isabella to understand her strengths and development areas and to therefore adapt her style. She also felt it was helpful that her teacher had been

through the programme, as this allowed her teacher to modify their style, and engage more with her and the other students to get the most from them.

Although it is only a short time since she undertook the pilot, she now enjoys school and having previously made the choice to study her A-levels at a local college, is feeling a little sad to be leaving this year. Isabella feels less pressure and has started to contribute more fully to school life. She is also fortunate that her mum has used and understands the assessments, which means she adapts her behaviour to better support Isabella.

Isabella has a closer group of friends and is much more confident in everything she does. Feedback from Thomas’ Emotional Intelligence assessment has enabled her to get her concerns out in the open and she is now happy to just be herself. She says that she now puts in maximum effort, is content in herself and is doing her best. Isabella is able to recognise her moods

and manage them more effectively to remain positive. She can also identify situations to avoid.

Some of her teachers say she, “never shuts up” and that she regularly has one to one conversations with them. Isabella prefers this to speaking out in class and, because the teachers know this, they try to help meet her preference. She has such a good understanding of the different psychometric tools that she tries to gauge the profiles of her teachers. Her high levels of self-awareness also enable her to modify her own behaviour, getting the best from them too.

Isabella believes the programme has made a big impact on the whole year, including those who didn’t take part,

“Everyone seemed more comfortable with each other and confident in talking things through as a result of the improved effort and behaviour of many of those taking part.”

Feedback from Thomas’ Emotional Intelligence assessment has enabled her to get her concerns out into the open and she is now happy to just be herself. She says that she now puts in maximum effort, is content in herself and is doing her best. Isabella is able to recognise her moods and manage them more effectively to remain positive.

Jack Baxter

Jack found the start of Year 11 stressful. He felt people were getting in his way and he was finding it difficult to learn. He enjoys school and it has been a good experience, although he became frustrated with students who, “muck about and spoil it for others”. His teachers described him as happy and helpful but felt that he was capable of improving his grades.

When Jack was introduced to the other

students invited to take part in the pilot

study, his first thought was, “Why am I

here with these people?” Jack’s teachers

explained that the programme might

help his performance and he decided

to give it a go.

While he recognised much of the

feedback in his assessment reports, Jack

wasn’t expecting some of the comments and he sat down with his teacher to review how he really felt and how he coped under pressure. Among the surprises for Jack was how the feedback helped him discover what he wanted to do. He had previously thought about following his uncle into the police force and the discussion about his profile indicated this would be a great choice for him.


The feedback also led to him confronting and changing his approach to learning. Before the programme he was quiet, but now he talks more and shares his ideas with others. Jack realised he likes to be sociable but tended to hold back initially so he could be clear about what he had to say. He is now talking more, adapting his behaviour to the situation he’s in and taking greater risks.

Jack has become more focused and attentive in class and his marks for effort and homework have improved. His mock GCSE results were much better than in previous exams.

The feedback has also helped Jack at home, where he no longer lets his brother get to him. He discovered that he has good internal stress management, which has given him greater confidence to face up to challenges.

Jack used to spend very little time interacting with his teachers.

He has opened up more and approaches them confidently when he has issues. Jack feels the programme was well organised and can’t believe he has learned so much about himself. He thought he didn’t have problems before participating, but he now doesn’t know what he would have done without the programme. Jack explains, “Some of my biggest learning has been how to interact with others, how to learn, how to deal with stuff that comes up and how to be more optimistic.” The whole experience has driven him to get his grades and pursue the life and career he wants.

He goes on to recommend that anyone given the opportunity to take part in the programme should do it, as they will see great benefits. “They will learn about themselves, their behaviour, and be more likely to take the right actions for success.”

Jack has become more focused and attentive in class and his marks for effort and homework have improved. His mock GCSE results were much better than in previous exams.

Fred Black

In common with many of the other young people participating in the pilot study, Fred didn’t really like school and found it boring. He had misbehaved in some classes and had earned a name for himself. He was labelled as a troublemaker and while he understood this to some extent, he felt that people would judge him and not give him a second chance.

Fred accepted he talked in class and on occassions back-chatted teachers, but felt he was often blamed for disruptions which other people caused. He would receive weekly detentions and regularly be sent to the inclusion unit. He received

an exclusion for being part of a group of

students throwing stones at a teacher’s

house, something he still denies but

thinks no one believes him because of

how he is viewed.

The school often involved his parents,

which resulted in them being angry with

Fred and ‘grounding’ him for periods of

time. He felt they were trying to send

him on a guilt trip.

Fred was asked if he would like to

take part in the programme to see if

he could identify the reasons for his

behaviour and poor effort at homework.

He talked it through with his mum,

who read the brochures and looked at

the Thomas International website, and

agreed to participate.

The turnaround for Fred has been

impressive. He sees it as being a direct

result of increasing his awareness of

what’s happening for him.“It was my

input that created the assessment

reports and feedback, and I realised I

had a choice. I also realised that the

judgements made about me were

usually right and the reports scared

and shocked me. I don’t need to talk in

lessons or back-chat, it wastes their time

and my time too.”


Fred decided he needed to change and

has started to make an effort. Since then,

he hasn’t been in inclusion and there is

less friction at home. He also realised

he has never had a plan for himself and

has now written one down. He thinks

differently about how to apply himself,

wants to do his best, and has a new

attitude to homework and revision. Fred is also attending lunchtime catch up classes in some of the subjects where he is less confident and where he believes he can improve his performance.

As a result, his marks for effort and homework have increased significantly and his predicted grades at GCSE are

now much higher than they were at the

end of Year 10. Fred’s relationship with

many of his teachers has improved and

his only regret is that he wasn’t able to

take the programme earlier in his school

life. “Everyone should do it,” he says. “It

will help them discover a lot more about

themselves and they won’t regret it.”

The turnaround for Fred has been impressive. He sees it as being a direct result of increasing his awareness of what’s happening for him. “It was my input that created the assessment reports and feedback, and I realised I had a choice.

“ Seeing it written down makes you realise what you are like and I began to see my value…I could see that I am good and with more effort I could be really good.”

Robert Green

Robert didn’t know how to put in effort to get the grades he needed and acknowledges he was lazy, doing just what was needed to get by. In subjects he enjoyed, he was achieving A and B grades, and in those he didn’t enjoy he still managed to achieve Cs and Ds. He had a close circle of friends and was very happy at school.

The school knew he had greater potential and he was offered the opportunity to participate in the pilot study. Having listened to what was involved, Robert was looking forward to understanding more about himself and how he might find greater motivation to work harder. Robert went through the programme with his mum and as a result, she understood more about him and was able to offer support.

Robert found the Thomas assessments easy to complete but emotionally challenging, because they made him think about himself. He felt the feedback accurately reflected how he perceived himself, and it enabled him to look much more deeply into what made him behave

the way he did. Robert explains, “Seeing it

written down makes you realise what you

are like and I began to see my value…I

could see that I am good and with more

effort I could be really good.”

“Also, because I completed the

assessments, it is my view of me and not

the teacher’s view,” he continues. This was

important to Robert and many of the

other participating students, giving them

a great sense of ownership of the results.

And ownership has been a major catalyst

in the students’ desire to change.

Robert realised he needed to put in

greater effort and try to enjoy all of

his subjects. He understood he had a

choice and he was hurting himself and

his own future, not that of the teachers

or the school.

Unsurprisingly this is just what has

happened. Grades in subjects he previously

didn’t enjoy have improved dramatically and he feels much better about applying himself. This is also true for his life outside school, where he feels a much greater sense of satisfaction. He can now look back and see why he had become disengaged and he is more relaxed.

The school runs focus groups to support GCSE revision, which Robert has attended. He is aware that if he hadn’t participated in the programme he would not have attended any of these groups, particularly for those subjects he wasn’t enjoying.

“My teachers are now so positive towards me and I know I will succeed if I put the work in,” he says. Robert’s tip to others who are given the opportunity to take part in similar programmes is, “Just do it. Seeing yourself written down is so valuable and supports you in taking the right action and doing what you want to do.”

Ted Bond – Head of Department

As Head of Department, Ted’s focus was on the year group as well as the students who took part in the pilot study. Generally he thought the students were well behaved, with a few exceptions. They were also performing well, although there was a group of students who were hitting grades one or two levels below where they should be.


Phil Burton – Behaviour Management

Phil explained that prior to the pilot study the school used effort, behaviour and homework as a measure of student behaviour in lessons. The higher the score allocated, the worse the student’s behaviour was. At certain scores the students would be referred to the Head of Year and into other behaviour programmes.

Phil says, “I think the programme has helped the students put the meat on the bones of why they behave as they do. It has helped them verbalise the things they already knew deep down about themselves. They have also taken action to amend their behaviours in certain situations; not because they are being told to but because they are choosing to.”

From a personal viewpoint he found the programme both interesting and inspiring. He felt it enabled him to get a better handle on why students behave as they do and how he should behave and interact with a variety of people.

“I now find myself working with a student’s PPA profile when dealing with them and adapting my behaviour accordingly, to get the best for them and me,” he explains.

Phil believes that watching how the students developed self-awareness of their strengths and development ideas has been a major learning experience for him.

The students selected to participate in the programme for behavioural reasons seem to be getting into far less trouble. Exclusions, inclusions and negative referrals for the group have diminished to the point where they are almost non-existent.

There has also been a significant shift in the effort and application of the underachieving students. They are looking to do their best rather than working to their comfort level.

Many students have talked to Phil about how their home lives have improved.

“They are more aware of their behaviours, fears and motivators and have become more aware of the behaviours, fears and motivators of their parents,” he says.

“The students have been so positive about the pilot study,” he continues.

When asked what improvements he’d suggest to others considering running a similar programme, Phil has some ideas,

“The first would be to speed up the time between taking the assessments and providing feedback, so that you can put more people through the programme. The second is to think about how to fit the programme around teaching staff ’s availability to alleviate time pressures.”

While Phil mentions the school doesn’t yet have hard evidence to back up any changes in academic performance, he feels effort and attainment have improved significantly based on feedback from other staff. He also thinks some students have improved their interaction with others, in some cases forming new friendship groups and talking to people with whom they wouldn’t normally mix. Many are also getting on much better with their teachers and for others, just being able to talk regularly to other people has been a huge step forward.

“This is a programme that will benefit staff and students in all schools,” he concludes.

Exclusions, inclusions and negative referrals for the group have diminished to the point where they are almost non-existent.

However, this was hidden and not acted on as the overall results were good. Many students also allowed their performance to drift.

Ted believes the school is perceived as middle class and high achieving, however his own view is that it is quite diverse and there is room for improvement.

There are many able students: some of them are just not pulling out all the stops and know it, and many of them don’t know what to do about it.

The staff were open to the programme and it was very helpful that the school staff coordinator had experience of the assessments used. Ted thought that fitting

Summary

Early anecdotal feedback from the pilot study suggests using Thomas psychometric assessments to support students who are poorly behaved, disengaged or performing below their potential is positive.

The school felt that self-awareness and self-responsibility are two major qualities found in high achievers. They also felt that students who are aware of their personal preferences, how they impact on and respond to others, and take the responsibility to use this information to adapt their behaviour, are better able to get the best result for themselves and others.

The results provided by the school on exclusions, inclusions and removal from class indicate a marked change in behaviour from those students taking part in the pilot study.


There has been a real and significant impact on effort, behaviour and homework, all of which are measured by the school, and grades have improved.

the programme into the busy curriculum had been fairly straightforward, however delivering the feedback to students and supporting them had at times been a burden to some staff.

A key part of the programme was that Ted and all the teachers involved also completed the assessments. The report feedback provided some interesting insights for him. One in particular was the realisation that he needed to be aware of his strong preference for influencing people when dealing with students and colleagues who had different preferences.

The feedback also gave Ted a high awareness of his own style and crystallised for him just what good

teaching is about, which is responding to the needs of individual students and showing flexibility and agility. He has seen the students respond well as a collective and they have all been pleased to be part of the group.

There has been a real and significant impact on effort, behaviour and homework, all of which are measured by the school, and grades have improved.

The pilot study encouraged students to be open about the process and their progress within it, which they have been

comfortable sharing with teachers. Those students whose performance was being hidden are now in the spotlight, with a new level of self-awareness, and they are more demanding of themselves and their teachers.

Ted says, “Any and every school would benefit from taking part in a programme like this. While it clearly has an impact on the school and teachers’ time, the process is straightforward and the benefits are so significant that every school should do it.”

Feedback from the teachers indicates that attainment, effort and homework have all improved and, while we do not yet have hard evidence of improvement in academic performance, they expect the GCSE results to show significant positive change over the predicted results.

The students interviewed all indicated that their efforts and grades had improved. Feedback suggests that, because students completed the assessments themselves, they took

personal ownership of the results. They recognised the feedback in the reports and, for many it explained the reasons behind their behaviour or performance. Because of this, they have taken responsibility to make positive change for their own benefit and to change their relationships with family, friends and teachers.

The team at Thomas International is happy to talk with schools and local authorities who are looking for an effective solution that will provide similar results for their students.

For more information visit us at www.thomasinternational.net

Call us on 01628 475 366

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