“Every young person wants to learn! They may say they don’t, but deep beneath that loud and angry ‘NO,’ lies a faint but willing ‘YES,’ just crying out to be released.”

Phil gained extensive experience, working with difficult to engage young people in the charity he founded in 1999, called The Complete Works. This work gave him the opportunity to investigate what truly takes place in the mind of a young person, who rejects education and says ‘NO’ to any form of interaction. In such situations, locking horns with them would surely make things worse, and trying to ignore them could easily result in a chair being thrown across the room.

In searching for a ‘magic wand’ which would eliminate anger, transform behaviour, and restore communication, Phil drew inspiration from the two subjects in his life that he is passionate about: These being drama and mindfulness. He found that, by utilising methods taken from drama, he could devise creative strategies, to de-escalate volatile situations, while simultaneously employing mindfulness techniques, to communicate calmness.
‍
Phil believes that it is this blend of drama and mindfulness which is the key to his success in reigniting young people’s interest in education and motivating them to learn. Working calmly and creatively, he seeks to gain their trust, focus their minds, and turn the uninspired ‘NO’ into an excited ‘YES,’ to becoming re-engaged with learning. This concept forms the basis of Phil’s philosophy of education, and which has been put into practice by The Complete Works over their 25 years of operation. In their recent OFSTED report, (Nov 2022) the school was awarded ‘outstanding’ for behaviour. The inspector also reported that “the behaviour of pupils is exceptional.”

Perhaps there is such a thing as ‘magic’ after all!