What if challenging behaviour isn't simply a discipline problem — but a sign that a young person doesn't yet feel safe, connected or regulated enough to learn?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
- On-site school visit
- Detailed, school-specific report
- Follow-up strategy session
- Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
Apply here → https://atrejwhi.formester.com/f/hwL9GCyin/
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Neil Moggan, founder of Future Action and author of Time to Rise Up, to explore trauma-informed practice, behaviour, relationships, mental wellbeing and the role movement can play in helping pupils regulate.
Neil shares his own journey from PE leadership into trauma-informed practice, including how changing his approach helped reduce send-outs in his PE department by 95%, while attendance and predicted grades for some of the most challenging pupils also improved.
Paul and Neil explore:
- Why safety and connection come before learning
- Trauma-informed approaches to behaviour
- Why relationships should sit at the heart of school improvement
- Movement as a tool for regulation and belonging
- Supporting pupils with ADHD and additional needs
- Maintaining high standards without re-traumatising young people
- Staff regulation and teacher wellbeing
- How leadership pressure can affect relationships with pupils
- Practical strategies schools can use to create calmer environments
- Why belonging matters for behaviour, attendance and learning
Neil also explains the Rise Up approach and shares practical examples of how movement, inclusive activities, stress-busting strategies and relationship-led practice are being used across mainstream, specialist and alternative provision.
One example comes from a specialist school where physical holds for one cohort reduced from 50 in Year 5 to 10 in Year 7 after the development of a Rise Up Sports Sanctuary and personalised regulation strategies.
The central message is simple:
Help children feel safe. Help them regulate. Then create the conditions for them to learn.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership, attendance, culture and the realities of leading schools.
00:00 – Safety Before Learning
00:18 – Introducing Neil Moggan
05:58 – What Is Trauma-Informed Practice?
08:58 – Movement, Regulation & Belonging
10:53 – The Rise Up Approach
17:34 – What This Looks Like in Real Schools
18:28 – From 50 Physical Holds to 10
21:08 – Why Relationships Matter in Implementation
23:25 – Education, Belonging & Human Connection
24:47 – When Leadership Pressure Changes Relationships
27:32 – Did Schools Get Behaviour Wrong After Lockdown?
29:06 – Staff Wellbeing & Self-Regulation
33:59 – One Simple Strategy Leaders Can Use Tomorrow
36:19 – Neil’s Advice for School Leaders
