Behavior & Emotional Regulation

The Principles we follow in relation to behavior at Shepherds Down School:

It is the policy at Shepherds Down School to help our children to develop into responsible, caring members of the community who value themselves and respect others.

Curriculum 

Good standards of behavior are dependent upon expectations, curriculum and teaching methods, which are well matched to pupils’ needs.  Social competence is developed through the PSD curriculum and individual PSD targets.

Emotional Support – All children receive support with their emotions when needed by familiar adults, usually their class team and are helped to develop their emotional regulation skills through the Zones of Regulation approach.

We also provide 1 day a week of Emotional Literacy Through the Arts (ELTA) support for a small number of children who need further support for specific complex emotional situations that arise during the year. This approach uses art mediums to explore and develop understanding of emotions.

Zones of Regulation – We include the Zones of Regulation framework in our PSD curriculum which aims to provide children with understanding and recognition of when their emotions are dis-regulated and provide them with strategies necessary to develop and support self-regulation skills. Each child has a curriculum target focussing on the development of personal and social skills, with objectives being set and reviewed every ter

School Organisation 

The school will be organised in such a way that all members of the school community are valued and treated with respect and courtesy.

Support for Staff 

All members of the school community have a shared responsibility to encourage appropriate behaviour and a right to expect mutual support.  There is an expectation that they will manage behaviour in accordance with agreed strategies, respond in a calm and considered manner and record incidences in the agreed way.

Rules and Reinforcements 

The school community is actively involved in implementing a framework to promote positive behaviour where children are presented with appropriate boundaries and expectations and are encouraged to develop an understanding of appropriate behaviour.

Parents 

We seek to work collaboratively with parents / carers and others to support the child in establishing positive behaviour

Children 

It is accepted that all behaviour (positive or negative) is a communication from the child and should be viewed as such, interpreted and supported. We clearly distinguish between the behaviour and the pupil, identifying the behaviour as undesirable not the individual pupil. We also acknowledge that many children will have reduced tolerance, enhanced sensitivity to sensory stimulation, little social understanding and little or no awareness of their impact on others and this can be reflected in their behaviour.

Our Approach

We promote a positive approach to behaviour management as advocated in the PRICE (Protecting Rights in Caring Environments) approach. PRICE is committed to a holistic approach aimed at equipping staff with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to respond safely to situations where a pupil’s behaviour is of concern. It is a person-centred approach that honours the communicative function of a pupil’s behaviour and offers a range of, diversion, diffusion and de-escalation techniques to safely resolve a situation. The PRICE programme stresses that physical restraint should only be used as a last resort. (see policy on physical intervention)

We also follow the principles of the Low Arousal Approach. This is a practical behaviour management approach which focuses on reducing the arousal level of a child in a crisis situation and considers the environment, possible triggers for the child and the staff approach including reducing possible points of conflict such as demands during a crisis.

We incorporate this approach within the Multi-element model, which stresses the importance of a non-aversive approach to behaviour management.  It involves creating alternative approaches to behaviour management that are based on:

• Environmental Change – changing the environment to make appropriate behaviour more likely and remove potential triggers as far as possible
• Teaching New Skills – identifying behavioural intent and teaching alternative ways of achieving the same ends.
• Reinforcement – using effective methods to increase good behaviour and making inappropriate behaviour less likely.
• Responsive Strategies – strategies to manage inappropriate behaviour at the time it occurs. (Including active responsive strategies which support the child in calming down before escalation). This would involve staff reducing their demands on the child at this time and being aware of and avoiding potential points of conflict.