SEMH in Schools Strategies

Page Updated: 10th August 2020


GENERAL

Mentally Healthy Schools - website

FREE Beacon House Resources - Developmental Trauma

Supporting Mental Health In Schools and Colleges - GOV.UK resources

Schools In Mind - free network for school staff - Sharing practical, academic and clinical expertise regarding the wellbeing and mental health issues that affect schools

Anna Freud Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools - Booklet for Primary & Secondary Schools


PEER SUPPORT & PEER MENTORING

Head Start Kent Resources around Peer Mentoring

Anna Freud Person Centred Planning toolkit

Look on the Anna Freud website for any upcoming conferences on peer mentoring


STAFF WELLBEING

Education Support Partnership - Staff Wellbeing Pages

Anna Freud - Supporting Staff Wellbeing In Schools

Anna Freud - Staff Wellbeing Booklet

Royal Foundation - Mental Health at Work


RESILIENCE RESOURCES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Bounce Back Newham - Resilience Pages

Head Start Kent Resilience Toolkit

Head Start Kent Resources - having a resilience conversation

On My Mind - empowers young people to make informed choices about their mental health support

Your Space West Sussex Website - Emotional wellbeing information and support

Youth Emotional Support (YES) Service - access to free support with your well-being


TRANSITION

imageIdentifying Factors that Predict Successful and Difficult Transitions to Secondary School


OTHER INFORMATION THAT MAY BE HELPFUL:

DESCRIPTION OF NEED (from Department for Education and Department of Health 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 – 25 yr)

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained.

Children presenting social, emotional and mental health difficulties may act unpredictably, unusually or in an extreme fashion in a variety of social, personal or physical settings. Severely withdrawn or passive behaviour may be as significant an indicator as aggressive or very strange or behaviour not in line with the child/young person’s chronological age.

Behavioural difficulties do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has a SEND and should not automatically lead to a pupil being registered as having SEN. Consistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviours can be an indication of unmet SEND, and where there are concerns about behaviour, there should be work undertaken to determine whether there are any causal factors such as undiagnosed learning difficulties, difficulties with communication or mental health issues. If it is thought housing, family or other domestic circumstances may be contributing to the presenting behaviour, a multi-agency approach, supported by the use of the Early Help Plan may be appropriate. In all cases, early identification and intervention can significantly reduce the need for more expensive and intensive interventions in the long-term.

DfE guidance on Behaviour and Mental Health (March 2016) in schools can be found on the Government website

Emotionally Based School Avoidance

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) is a broad umbrella term used to describe a group of children and young people who have severe difficulty in attending school due to emotional factors, often resulting in prolonged absences from school. A clear distinction is made between those that are absent from school due to truanting and those that are absent from school due to the specific emotional distress that they experience around attending school. Although the literature in this area often cites the phrase School Refuser, this terminology could be considered misleading as the term ‘refuser’ implies that the young person has control over the school non-attendance. This is problematic as this terminology locates the ‘problem’ within the young person and detracts from environmental factors that could be considered instrumental in supporting a young person back to school. Further information for schools and practitioners on how to identify, assess, plan and put in place strategies and can be found in the EBSA Guidance which you can download a pdf of here along with a leaflet for adults and children.


School: Occasionally withdrawn and isolated and on the fringes of activities.

What do you notice about the child / young person?

  • Occasionally withdrawn and isolated and on the fringes of activities.
  • Involved in low level distractions which hinder own concentration and that of others.
  • Children may have some difficulties with interpersonal skills, concentration (low level) and show signs of frustration at times.

    Quality First Teaching Strategies (all)

  • At this level there is an awareness of some difficulties, noted and monitored by the class/form teacher.
  • Clear boundaries and routines.
  • Weekly timetables to monitor behaviours.
  • Explicit teaching of rules / values and routines i.e. ‘Rule of the week’.
  • Visual timetable clearly displayed – appropriate for the age of children in the class.
  • Changes of routine explained and discussed with Children with time to prepare for them.
  • Appropriate behaviour is noticed, praised and rewarded.
  • Opportunities for positive social interactions, including turn taking and sharing.
  • Modelling, by adults, of behaviour that shows patience, respect, good humour and calmness.
  • Tasks may need to be differentiated by level/outcome/pitch/pace and grouping to match learning needs, concentration level, interest and motivation.
  • Language of emotions displayed clearly, both in words and pictures, to assist with the development of emotional literacy – accessible to the age in the class.

    What do you notice about the child / young person?

  • persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties that have not been reduced by differentiated learning opportunities or by the behaviour management techniques usually employed by the school;
  • poor concentration despite structured and time limited tasks – poor personal organisation skills;
  • may be withdrawn and isolated, generally seeking too little adult attention with limited or selective communication, may not communicate feelings;
  • difficulties with interpersonal communication or relationships, reluctant to share, reluctant to participate in social groups, distracts other children, careless with learning materials;
  • pre-empting failure in tasks;
  • being reluctant to attend school;
  • unwillingness to acknowledge or accept responsibility for his/her own actions.

    Additional levels of pastoral support are likely to include:

  • Social support groups
  • Individual support through daily mentoring by a skilled adult
  • Peer support strategies at key times
  • Clear communication throughout the school management system with weekly updates
  • Nurturing support
  • Anger management

    These could include the strategies included in SEAL.

  • Timetable planning to provide alternative learning situations i.e. work station.
  • Appropriate behaviour and expectations are taught alongside the academic curriculum. Student and parent involvement in the behavioural programmes will be clearly defined.
  • Staff are able to monitor children during break times and lunchtimes and have strategies in place during unstructured times.
  • Consideration should be given to the use of IT, audio visual support, ‘time out’ to support a differentiated curriculum for a student who has difficulties in engaging in traditional methods of curriculum delivery.
  • There should be staff training regarding the characteristics of children with social, emotional and mental health problems and the impact on curriculum access. Counselling for individuals from external agencies may be appropriate.
  • Staff training regarding the characteristics of children with SEMH and the impact on curriculum access could be provided by external agencies, e.g.
  • Learning and Behaviour Advisory Team
  • Educational Psychology Service
  • Pastoral Support Plan (PSPs) may be used.
  • Parent /carer involvement in programmes is particularly desirable. All agencies should work together to ensure that parental involvement is achieved wherever possible.
  • Baseline recording of particularly difficult or significant behaviours should be made in order to carry out an ‘ABC analysis’ to inform interventions and evaluations (Antecedents, Behaviour and Consequences).
  • The student may need an individual risk assessment.


    Specialist approaches (few children)

  • Highly individualised and differentiated provision is required.
  • Advice from external professionals, e.g. Specialist Teachers, Educational Psychologists, CAMHS.
  • Information on CAMHS can be found here
  • Analysis of Fixed Term Exclusion data to identify effective strategies to minimise repeat incidents resulting in targeted support for individuals.
  • Robust systems for recording and analysing serious behavioural incidents.

    Relevant information, assessments & links

  • Multi-professional assessment/support which may include the Early Help process.
  • Mental Health and Behaviour Guidance
  • Individual Risk Assessment/Risk Reduction Plan may be required.
  • FREE Beacon House Resources
  • Training on our Local Offer.
  • SEN Support: research evidence on effective approaches and examples of current practice in good and outstanding schools and colleges
  • Supporting mental health in schools and colleges: Survey and case studies with schools on activities to support pupils' mental health and wellbeing.
  • Schools in Mind is a free network for school staff and allied professionals which shares practical, academic and clinical expertise regarding the wellbeing and mental health issues that affect schools.
  • On My Mind aims to empower young people to make informed choices about the mental health support they want, the treatments they receive and the outcomes they desire.
  • YourSpace West Sussex Website |


  • The school will have clear policies in place to promote social, emotional and mental health well-being and the management of behaviours.
  • The school will provide more focused opportunities to build self-esteem, develop friendships and social skills. Self-evaluation encouraged and developed.
  • Children’ self-assessment routinely used to set individual learning targets.
  • Parent/Carer engagement and involvement are positively and actively promoted from the earliest opportunity.
  • Person Centred Planning and Circle of Friends resources to support inclusion.


    Download the PDF version of the Graduated Approach