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Walter the Wizard
The BIG PSHE Conversation
I have to say when I started with the Walter the Wizard character, it was certainly out of my comfort zone, and in some ways very risky especially being on the front line of education as we anticipated the subjects we wanted to tackle.
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But sometimes you just have to go out on a limb, and this is something I've become accustomed to over the years.
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Walter the Wizard went on to win an international award in Barcelona for his approach to sensitive subjects.
In his most recent adventure, Allison Littlefair, the creator of Walter the Wizard tackles anxiety in 'The Worry Dragon'.
Anxiety is now one of the most common challenges I come across in my own teaching environment, and since this is something that has challenged me personally throughout my own career, I wanted to look further into it and see if we can map its journey and isolate some of the common flashpoints for further study in our report.
Anxiety in Primary Schools
Anxiety in primary schools is now very common. For most children these are just natural phases of change, I still have on my phone with affection, my own grandaughter's first day at nursery as she came running out at the end of her first day screaming like a banshee as though we'd abandoned her on some remote desolate island for weeks.
I often wonder about the anxieties of my own students in higher education and question how far back would I have to track to find their source. In this part of the conversation, we want to try and understand what approach is being taken at the beginning of the journey to see if we can identify common themes along the way that may support learners.
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Our ultimate aim is to support learners who have the ability to go into higher education but drop out before they get the opportunity.
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In this week's conversation, let us know what strategies and resources work in your learning environment so we can share them with others.
Allison Littlefair
Creator of Walter the Wizard
On our own journey, we continue to develop Walter the Wizard and his friends, as they journey to help the Worry Dragon, who is struggling with unhelpful thoughts and fears and refuses to leave his cave.
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This children’s story was created to facilitate and encourage positive thinking patterns and behaviours on a foundation level to help children manage their emotions, with the hope of shedding more awareness around children’s mental health.
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Here are Allison's latest thoughts on the development of Walter the Wizard and the Worry Dragon.
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Join the BIG PSHE Conversation
Q: What are the most common stages and age ranges where you experience anxiety?
