You may see behaviours listed below, this may be infrequent and respond to provision that is expected for all CYP.
It is likely that a lot of CYP will display these behaviours at some point during their school career, but it does not mean they have a SEN.
Ability to plan, attend, organise, regulate themselves and manage change
- Forgetting materials or instructions, not paying attention, disliking change in routine, impulsive behaviours, difficulty remaining on task, difficulty with task transition, rushing work.
- Level of hyper vigilance and their disproportionate ‘fight, flight, freeze’ response
- Verbal and physical aggression, inappropriate language, self-sabotaging behaviours, hiding, agitated, fidgety, age-inappropriate behaviours, withdrawn, distress at change.
Attendance at school
- Reduction in attendance/ and or being late and patterns of non-attendance, parent carers report challenges getting their CYP into school, missing lessons, difficulties with transition.
- Frequent illnesses i.e. tummy ache, headache
Maintaining healthy peer relationships and friendships
- Falling out with peers, not forming positive relationships, needs to feel in control of peer relationships, difficulties maintaining appropriate boundaries and relationships, physical aggression with others, isolated from peers, sensitive to disagreements, lacks resilience to repair the relationship, rejecting others
Managing and/or regulating their emotions (e.g. quick emotional reactions to seemingly small stimuli)
- Disruptive behaviour e.g. throwing chairs, destroying work, verbal and/ or physical aggression.
- Emotional outbursts, tears, screaming and shouting, self-injurious behaviours
Behaviour at home that may not be seen at school
- A change in behaviour at home, for example emotional at the end of the day which may present as challenging behaviours, withdrawal, difficulties with sleep, eating, self-care and independence
- Engagement with the curriculum
- Avoiding work e.g. asking to leave the classroom, looking for resources, disruption and distraction, refusal to comply with adult requests, withdrawal, shouting out, getting up and wondering around, running away
- Change in demeanour and/or appearance
- Change in appearance, attitude to learning, motivation to engage with peers, quieter or louder in class.
Changes may have occurred quickly or over time
- Unpredictability of behaviour with lack of obvious triggers
- Behaviour does not seem to follow particular patterns, triggers may seem unrelated, behaviours seem vary or change on a regular basis.
- Low confidence and/ or self-esteem
- Fear of failure, risk avoidance, negative self-talk/appraisal of self, difficulty accepting praise, fixed mindset, unable to experience joy in successFailure to make anticipated progress across many areas of the curriculum. This might include reduced progress in core subjects (such as maths, English, science) and/or progress in other subjects areas.
| Due to the complex nature of SEMH needs the strategies below are applicable to many of the barriers to the left
- Ongoing communication between home and school
- Parent carer toolkit for advice for parent/ carers
- Somerset children & young people : Health & Wellbeing Toolkit (cypsomersethealth.org)
- Educational Psychology SEMH Toolkit
- Supporting emotional wellbeing and promoting positive behaviour and mental health within educational settings using evidence-based practice SSE-EPS-0518-A001SEMH-Toolkit.PDF (ehcap.co.uk)
- Whole School ApproachSchool Policies which are underpinned by attachment and relationship-based principles
- Guidance-for-Developing-Relational-Practice-and-Policy.pdf (somersetvirtualschool.co.uk)
- Somerset Wellbeing Audit Somerset children & young people : Health & Wellbeing : Wellbeing Framework Getting Started (cypsomersethealth.org)
- A positive and proactive approach to the social and emotional wellbeing and resilience of the whole school community; consider school community PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrow’s with Hope). These can be facilitated by your school educational psychologist PATH -Helen Sanderson Associates Ongoing CPD for all staff:
- Adverse Child (or young person) Experiences (ACE’s), anxiety, sleep, mindfulness, wellbeing and physical activity, therapeutic use of stories, loss and bereavement, supporting adults in school and CYPs with SEN.
- Wellbeing for Education Return - Training Videos for Education Staff | Support Services for Education(scroll down for e-learning training videos)
- Restorative approaches which are used to build, maintain, and repair relationships.
- Restorative Solutions: Making it work (inclusive-solutions.com)restorative-practices-guide.pdf (schottfoundation.org)
- PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) approach is a way of thinking, feeling, communicating, and behaving that aims to make the CYP feel safe. It is based upon how adults connect with CYP
- Emotion coaching is a communication strategy which supports CYP self-regulate and manage their stress response “I wonder if...” https://www.emotioncoachinguk.com
- CYP-centred planningWhole School Approach to mental health wellbeing MHST/use of the i-thrive model-(not currently available for all schools)
- i-THRIVE | Implementing the THRIVE Framework https://implementingthrive.org
- Somerset Big Tent Home -Somerset Big Tent, empowering CYP to find the right wellbeing support at the right time Thrive https://www.thriveapproach.com/about-thrive/ Tools and training to help adults support the social and emotional development of CYP using a whole school approach
- Universal - All CYP
- Solution focused approach to a range of different behaviours; focus on strengths/interests
- Personalised learning targets
- Safe predictable environment with clear expectations
- Class emotions board
- Circle time/PSHE Lessons (Jigsaw/SEAL) focusing on various skills such as self-regulation
- Relaxation activities as part of timetable –mindfulness, breathing, sports, yoga, colouring, drawing, story time (adult reading to CYP)
- Consistent rules within the classroom that are appropriately differentiated where necessary
- Zones in the classroom/ safe space, including calm zone
- Sensory tent/resources for use by whole class
- Teach calming strategies e.g. breathing exercises, counting down
- Keeping records of concerns
- Notice CYPs being kind (kindness tree) Kindness UK -Promoting, Sharing & Uniting Kindness)
- Put CYP into pairings rather than expecting them to choose/buddying.
- Growth mindset -Carol Dweck https://www.mindsetworks.com/science
- Visual timetable for all CYPSocial, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Universal
- Developmentally appropriate play-based activities/creative activities e.g. messy play, playdough, drumming, music
- Daily check in/daily meet and greet
- Keeping in mind strategy e.g. invisible string
- Change of face (changing adults to help deescalate a situation)
- Plan targeted opportunities to build positive relationships with the CYP
- Give the CYP a responsibility or special role to increase self-esteem
- Set tasks with clear goals, outputs, and timescales for completion
- Use short, clear instructions; recap and reinforce these during lessons
- Make tasks short, with frequent breaks and opportunities to move around
- Provide ‘scaffolding’ in the form of writing frames, word mats, relevant classroom displays, ac-cess to technology
- Remind CYP of a rule or expectation. Label the behaviour, not the CYP. Say what you want them to do, rather than what you don’t
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