Supporting Challenging Behaviour

Some things to consider and discuss with the school:

• Check the school website to view their SEN policy, Behaviour policy and SEN Information Report – any policies should have regard for the SEND Code of Practice, which is a statutory guidance for education settings and governing bodies
• Share any background information with school, i.e. issues that might be affecting behaviour or where you are exploring or have received a diagnosis from a health practitioner.
• Discuss with school if you believe your child needs help in lessons, to manage their feelings or with friendships/relationships.
• Look for patterns or triggers for behaviour, for example, are the instances always in a particular lesson or time of the day?
• Strategies such as a time-out card, planned lesson breaks or short-term working in smaller break-out spaces can have a positive impact to behaviour.
• Identifying key members of staff and reassuring your child about who they can speak to with any worries, can be helpful to reduce anxieties.
• Create opportunities for praise which are achievable – finding a way to praise even the smallest of things can have a positive effect.  Speak to the school about their rewards and sanctions – how do they reward good behaviour?
• Think about and discuss with school the behaviour targets set, breaking these down to bite-sized achievable targets (such as getting through a lesson without incident) can be a good way to manage. This could help to break the cycle of challenging behaviour.
• Arrange a school based meeting with any involved professional or outside service that can share their knowledge of how to manage challenge behaviour to ensure that the appropriate support is detailed on a One Plan e.g. learning how to regulate their own emotions/therapy/understanding consequences of behaviour/self esteem and confidence building. 
• A reduced/part-time timetable for a short-term period can be effective where other options have been exhausted. This can only be implemented with parental consent and should be reviewed regularly to ensure your child returns to a full-time education as soon as possible.
• It can be helpful to discuss alternative support options where exclusion is not providing an effective sanction.
• Where there is an EHC plan in place, you can request an early annual review to discuss what is working/not working and share your views.  You should ask for the SEND Operations Team to attend the Annual Review. 

You can ask to meet with school to review support, share ideas and discuss possible next steps.  With your consent, school might consider one or more of these referral options:

• Counselling (some schools have a regular counsellor available for children and young people)
• Involvement of the SEND Inclusion & Psychology Team - ask the school if they can seek advice from their local Inclusion Partner
• Referral to the Emotional Wellbeing & Mental Health Service (parents can also make a parental referral)
• Referral to external services or agencies for group/or one to one mentoring on self esteem, building confidence and how to manage and regulate emotions
• Arrange a Team Around the Family meeting with all involved professionals to discuss alternative options 
• A process called a managed move to another school (a voluntary agreement with consent from everyone involved, including the new school). A managed move is often used as an alternative to permanent exclusion.
• Make a request for an Education Health & Care Needs Assessment (parents have the right to make a request directly with the local authority)

If your child has special educational needs, you may find that you need different rules and techniques to help your child at home

• Challenging behaviour can also be a sign that something is wrong, like pain or discomfort, that your child cannot express in another way.  Visit your local GP to rule out medical concerns eg. a child may be banging their head due to an ear infection/toothache but may not be able to tell you about this pain.  Your GP can also refer to Emotional Wellbeing & Mental Health Service, who may be able to identify triggers of your child’s behaviour and suggest support strategies to try.
• It might be that there is something else your child is worried about or being affected by at the moment for example, bullying, a family split, or bereavement. Share this information with school so that you can work together to find a way to support them.
• Provide structure and timetable activities to avoid anxieties.  Helping your child to prepare for activities and events will help your child to be more comfortable and to understand what is happening or going to happen.  You can use photographs or visual prompts to help with this.  
• Environment kit - if your child is sensitive to changes in their environment it may help to have a support kit to hand.  This could contain ear defenders to block out noise, sunglasses to reduce light, or something to reduce strong smells, or something they like the smell of that they can hold to their face such as lavender on a hanky.  You could also bring with you fidget toys and favourite clothing to reduce anxieties and help them to settle. 
• Give them a safe place.  This can be hard to provide and can often be limited but having a little space they can retreat to when they are finding things overwhelming can really help.  This doesn't have to be a large space - a bean bag in a quiet corner with something that interests them eg. ipad or book or a designated room. 
• Offer alternatives, for example if your child engages in smearing behaviours provide an alternative 0f a similar texture for them to use/play with eg. finger painting. 
• Keep it consistent - it can be really confusing for your child to react one way to their behaviour but someone else reacts differently.  Encourage others around you to use the same approach/your preferred approach.  This way your child will not get mixed messages. 
• Clear communication is key - Children may also have difficulties because they are given too much language to process and only understand key words. They might interpret language literally.  Making sure other people communicate in a way that the person understands (making good use of the context and situation, using simple language, providing additional forms such as objects, signs, symbols and photographs etc). 
• Break down your language - in moments of frustration or distress children’s ability to understand language reduces.  Try breaking instructions down into each part and providing pieces of information one at a time.
• Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a way of using pictures to help children request what they want.
• Reward, praise and behaviour charts - A reward chart is a tool for encouraging and praising the positive behaviour of your child. It’s a way to help your child to learn new skills, like following instructions. A reward behaviour chart can also tackle more challenging behaviour. 
• Create opportunities for praise which are achievable – finding a way to praise even the smallest of things can have a positive effect.