In this article, we will discuss each skill, particularly looking at effective listening. We will then look at how to measure the success of your coaching or mentoring sessions, giving you some examples of evaluation questions to use.

What Skills Are Needed to Be an Effective Coach or Mentor?

Coaching and mentoring are increasingly popular processes where individuals receive guidance in order to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience, or meet their goals or objectives. The key difference between the two is that mentoring is directive (i.e., the mentor tends to do most of the talking during meetings, and may tell the mentee what to do), while coaching is non-directive (i.e., the coach gives the coachee the space to come up with their own conclusions and next steps, using techniques like questioning). Have a look at our article here for more information.

Despite the differences between coaching and mentoring, the skills required in order for them to be effective align very closely. These skills are as follows.

1. Active listening

Coaches and mentors need to listen actively in order to understand the coachee or mentee’s perspective, beliefs, and values, as well as barriers they face, and what they want to achieve. Effective listening involves engaging with the person speaking and showing them that you are giving them your undivided attention – this might include making eye contact and asking questions at relevant points, as well as putting your own thoughts and concerns aside. We will discuss this further in the section below.

2. Empathy and understanding

It’s important for coaches and mentors to be able to sense (or intuit) an individual’s state of mind, or in other words to ‘put themselves in that person’s shoes’. This will help you when you’re coming up with solutions that are right for them, or identifying limiting beliefs or other barriers that are restricting their growth – sometimes ones that even they are unaware of.

The ability to be empathic can be developed over time, with practice, so that you might sometimes have a ‘sixth sense’ in the form of a sudden thought or feeling that you want to share, which helps you make a breakthrough in your sessions. Being empathic and understanding can entail being less judgemental, and this is key in building relationships as a coach or mentor.

3. Questioning

Effective questioning allows you to elicit someone’s thoughts and opinions, focus their attention on coming up with a new idea or solution, and empower them to feel that they are an agent of change. Questioning is a particularly important strategy for coaches, who aim to guide or facilitate the coachee’s problem-solving and thought processes, rather than giving them solutions.

4. Communication

It is vital for coaches and mentors to be effective communicators so that they can discuss the individual’s personal thoughts, feelings, or issues sensitively, and can convey intended meanings rather than being ambiguous or coming across in the wrong way. This entails being able to anticipate how the other person might interpret your words and changing what you plan to say, if necessary.

If you are a coach, you should always remember to communicate in a respectful manner, making suggestions but giving the individual the option to disagree or take the discussion elsewhere (e.g. compare ‘What do you think of…?’ and ‘Is it OK if…?’ with ‘I think you should…’ and ‘Why didn’t you…?’). Have a look at our Communication Skills course for more information. 

5. Giving feedback

You will need to be able to give your coachee or mentee feedback that is clear, specific, and honest, but also not judgemental nor overly negative. Focusing on negatives can discourage the individuals you work with. You should never blame the individual for something going wrong – in these situations, the conversation is more likely to go well if you focus on getting them to discuss what happened and what they think they could do differently in future, as a learning experience.

You should also give frequent positive feedback: acknowledge or appreciate their actions when they are effective, validate their successes and hard work, and feed back what you think their strengths are.

6. Goal-setting

This is particularly key for coaches, who need to be able to help the coachee articulate clear, well-defined, and motivating goals (e.g. SMART goals – those that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based), and then discuss how the coachee’s actions are helping or hindering them in reaching those goals. You should help the coachee to be goal-oriented at all times, and to see obstacles as a means of improvement rather than being discouraged.

7. Checking in

You will need to regularly check in with the individual you’re working with, to ensure that they know what action they’re going to take, that they’re happy with it, and that they know what the next steps for your sessions will be afterwards (e.g. are they going to report back the action they took and what happened?). Additionally, you should check your own understanding with the individual regularly – summarise what you think they’ve said back to them, so that you know you are both on the same wavelength. 

8. Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is a discipline – you need intention and effort in order to maintain it, but it pays off in the long run. Being enthusiastic helps you to build relationships with individuals, making them more likely to trust you, and thus helping to get the best out of them. 

Skills and Qualities of a Manager

The skills and qualities of managers are similar to those of coaches and mentors. In many cases, managers do act as coaches or mentors for members of their team. They guide them through day-to-day activities and help them improve their performance or develop their careers. They might also highlight individuals’ strengths, help them reflect on their practice, and help to empower them in their roles.

As a result, it’s important that managers work on the skills we have discussed. Certain areas of development may be more difficult for them, because unlike external coaches and mentors, managers are in a relationship of power with the individuals they work with, and they don’t have the same impartiality.

They have a vested interest in the individual’s performance which can, for example, lead them to jump in with solutions rather than giving the individual the space to come up with their own, or to have preconceived ideas towards the individual and their performance. To try to counteract this, they should particularly focus on asking open questions and being non-judgemental.

Why Are Effective Listening Skills Important in Coaching and Mentoring?

You will notice that listening skills were number one in our list above. This is no coincidence. Along with communication skills, they are fundamental to becoming an effective coach or mentor, since the basis of most coaching and mentoring sessions is discussion. The coach or mentor must listen attentively to the individual, understand what they’re saying, respond and reflect on it, and retain that information for later sessions.

How to Develop Effective Listening Skills

Examples of effective (or ‘active’) listening skills include:

• Maintaining eye contact with the person speaking (if possible), or nodding and displaying positive body language.
• Visualising what the speaker is saying, and focusing on this rather than your own thoughts or concerns.
• Not interrupting or completing sentences for them.
• Waiting for a pause and then asking relevant questions.
• Empathising with the speaker.
• Paying attention to nonverbal cues (e.g. posture, eye gaze, facial expressions).
• Summarising what the speaker has said back to them, to clarify your understanding of it.

In order to develop these skills, you could do active listening exercises with a colleague – for example, roleplay conversations where you hold all your questions until the end, or where you practise displaying positive listening behaviours at first and then non-listening behaviours, discussing how each one made you feel.

When you are in a coaching or mentoring session, maximise your ability to listen effectively by minimising distractions, being OK with silence, and aiming to speak around 20% of the time so that the individual can speak for the other 80%. 

Once you know how to listen effectively, you are more likely to enhance your other coaching and mentoring skills in turn.

How to Develop Other Coaching and Mentoring Skills

It is likely that you will need to work on some of the skills we listed above to become more effective as a coach or mentor. You can do this by first identifying your areas of strength and weakness, and then setting goals. It may be helpful to acquire feedback from those you work with (both clients and colleagues) and then incorporate this into the goals. Remember to make your goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based).

Once you have set the goals, you will need to come up with an action plan for meeting them. Consider seeking a mentor of your own to give you help and guidance throughout the process. Finally, remember to keep track of your progress and what you have achieved.

Want to Learn More?

If you want to develop your skills as a coach or mentor, our Coaching and Mentoring course will give you practical tools and techniques to help. Have a look at our course library to find out more about this and other courses.

Measuring the Success of Coaching

It is important to measure the impact that your coaching sessions have had. The individual you are working with may feel motivated and encouraged by seeing their progress and development, while you (as the coach) can adapt your practice in the future according to where you experience success.

You can measure the success of coaching in several ways, including:

• 360 degree feedback programs before and after the coaching process – these programs involve the individual being given confidential, anonymous feedback by their manager and peers.
• Employee engagement/satisfaction surveys.
• Completion or progress toward individual development plans/action plans.
• Achievement of coaching objectives.
• Rate of promotion or promotability.

You should agree how you will measure success or impact upfront – this is why you need to come up with coaching objectives that both you and the coachee agree on. For example, this might involve the individual feeling prepared for a future promotion.

Coaching Evaluation Questions

Coaching evaluation questions are another way to measure and evaluate the success of coaching sessions. These questions prompt the individual to:

• Identify the focus and outcomes – e.g. what do you want to get out of the coaching sessions? 
• Decide what success might look like – e.g. how will you know that you’ve achieved your goal? 

You should write the answers to these questions down – for example, in a coaching evaluation form – and share it with the coachee as a reminder of what you are working towards.

Throughout the coaching process, you should ensure that you and the coachee give each other regular feedback on progress towards goals, and how helpful they are finding the sessions.

In order to develop your coaching and mentoring skills, it’s important to understand what skills are required of you, how you can use these skills effectively to help others, and how you can measure your success in this area. You may require professional development training in order to do this, and you should focus on continuous learning for yourself as well as for the individuals you work with.

Further Resources:

• Coaching and Mentoring Course
• What is Instructional Coaching?
• What are Transferable Skills?
• Leadership and Management Quiz
• 6 Types of Leadership: Which Leadership Style is Right For Me?
• Tips for First Time Supervisors

The post How to Develop Coaching and Mentoring Skills appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will compare coaching and mentoring, describe their potential benefits, and touch on the key principles of making coaching or mentoring successful.

What Are Coaching and Mentoring?

In the process of coaching, an individual is provided with guidance on their goals or objectives in order to help them reach their full potential in specific personal or career development areas. The coach helps the individual to come to their own conclusions and next steps by listening, questioning, and respectfully challenging their views – they can help them to shape or grow their mindset, and break goals down into more achievable steps.

In mentoring, a senior or more experienced individual acts as an adviser or guide to a junior or trainee staff member. The mentor provides support to – and feedback on – the individual, and shares their knowledge, skills, and/or experience to help them develop and grow, after taking the time to understand the individual and their personal challenges. Mentoring might open doors and opportunities to an individual, such as providing introductions to key stakeholders which enhance the mentee’s career prospects.

You might use a coach for support when an individual is facing a specific challenge, needs to acquire a specific skill, or is being considered for advancement in an organisation. You might use a mentor as a form of personal development, such as to help an individual realise their potential, accelerate their development, or achieve more in their career.

Similarities and Differences Between Coaching and Mentoring

There are both similarities and differences when it comes to coaching and mentoring. It is important to understand this so you can best choose the approach that is right for you or for a certain context.

Similarities

Both coaching and mentoring:

• Support a person’s development, including sharing knowledge, increasing self-awareness, developing skills, and being exposed to new perspectives. This may lead to career progression and real, lasting change.
• Are generally based on one-to-one relationships which are supportive and non-judgemental.
• Generally involve a series of meetings over several months.
• Tend to require a personal agreement (sometimes a ‘contract’) between those involved, which might cover the goals of the sessions and how progress towards these goals will be assessed.
• Involve observing, listening, and asking questions to understand the individual’s situation.
• Use questioning techniques to facilitate the individual’s thought processes.

Differences

The two approaches diverge in several areas – this can be seen most clearly from the table below, comparing them side by side. Broadly, however, the difference is that mentoring is directive (i.e., the mentor tends to do most of the talking during meetings, and may tell the mentee what to do), while coaching is non-directive (i.e., the coach gives the person being coached the opportunity to do most of the talking – such as by asking them questions – and the person may come up with their own action plan, with some prompting).

Note that a mentor may sometimes use the skills involved in coaching (e.g. asking reflective questions), and a coach may sometimes use a more personal approach (e.g. sharing their own personal experience).

Want to Learn More?

If you’re considering being a coach or mentor, our Coaching and Mentoring course will give you the practical tools and techniques to help you get started. Have a look at our course library to find out more about this and other courses.

When deciding whether to use a coach or a mentor, think about the differences listed above. It is helpful to consider what you want to achieve, and which method is best suited to that. It may be the case that the methods could complement one another.

Coaching vs. Training

Coaching might also be viewed as similar to training. The difference here is that training involves the sharing of information to teach an individual – and the trainer sets the topic or writes the material based on a brief or need of the individual. In contrast, as we have seen, coaches do not provide information or insights, but simply the space for the individual to come up with their own answers.

What Are the Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring?

The benefits shared by both coaching and mentoring are:

• They are both effective learning techniques which can improve individual performance.
• They can increase employee engagement and retention.
• They are easy to implement into any organisation or business structure.
• They can increase the confidence and interpersonal skills of both people involved, as well as developing communication and leadership skills, and giving them exposure to different perspectives.
• They can enhance morale and motivation, reducing staff turnover.
• They help organisations to fulfil their goals and objectives whilst also taking into account the personal development needs of individuals.

Within specific industries, there are further benefits that coaching and mentoring can bring.

Principles for Coaching and Mentoring Success

By familiarising yourself with the principles of coaching and mentoring, you can increase the likelihood that it will be successful. The principles are:

• Ensure that there is trust, confidentiality, mutual respect, and sensitivity throughout the process.
• Agree boundaries and ground rules, such as how often you will meet, how long the relationship will last, the different roles in the process, preferred methods of communication and feedback, and the desired outcome. This may be set out in a coaching or mentoring contract.
• Allow the individual to drive the relationship, identifying goals and challenges and taking responsibility for their own self-reflection and development, without coercion.

Finally, if you are the coach or mentor, always seek assistance or advice where needed. The process is not purely one-sided, and coaching or mentoring sessions are an opportunity for you to grow and develop, as well as the individual you are working with. Developing your coaching and mentoring skills can both improve practice and help you to achieve personal growth.

Both coaching and mentoring are beneficial, effective methods of personal development. However, there are differences between the two approaches, which can be helpful to understand when deciding whether to implement them personally or in your setting.

Further Resources:

• Coaching and Mentoring Course
• How to Develop Coaching and Mentoring Skills
• Leadership and Management Training Course
• What is Instructional Coaching?

The post Coaching vs. Mentoring: What’s the Difference? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will explain what the Local Offer is and how it benefits families, as well as looking at how schools can contribute to it. We will also provide a couple of examples of local offers in the Bradford and Wakefield areas.

The SEND Local Offer

The Local Offer is an information directory where individuals with SEND aged 0-25, as well as their parents or carers, can go to find out what support or provision they can expect to be available in their local area.

It covers a range of local agencies, including education, health, and social care services – such as childcare, independent schools or colleges, care placements, apprenticeships, transport arrangements between home and education settings, specialist teachers, therapy services, and other specialist support. It should also include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with rare and more complex SEND. 

The Offer should detail support for both those with Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans and those without. It must include arrangements for:

• Identifying and assessing individuals’ SEND, including in the early years.
• Requesting an EHC assessment.
• Consulting parents.
• Securing services, provision, and equipment required.
• Funding and allocation of budgets, including top-up high-needs funding.
• Supporting transitions between phases of education, plus preparations for adulthood and independent living.
• Appealing decisions, making complaints, and resolving disagreements with regards to provision.

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, each Local Authority has a legal responsibility to publish their particular Local Offer. It needs to be published online, as well as in an alternative format for those without internet access. 

Purposes of the Local Offer

The two key purposes of the Local Offer are:

1. To provide clear, detailed, accessible, and up-to-date information about the provision available and how it can be accessed (including eligibility criteria). It must be easy to understand and well-signposted. 
2. To respond to local needs and see where gaps in the provision are by directly involving children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers – in addition to service providers – in its development and review. In other words, the Local Authority must ensure that comments can be made about the Local Offer, and they must take these comments into account.

You can look at Chapter 4 of the 2015 SEND Code of Practice for more information. Note that the Local Offer is not legally binding – there is no guarantee that a service mentioned in it will be available. 

Want to Learn More?

Our SEND in the Classroom Course discusses best practice for supporting children in each of the four areas of need, and what Universal Provision (including high-quality teaching) should look like.

What Are the Benefits for Families of a Local Offer?

The Local Offer has many benefits for the families of children with SEND. Before it was created, families experienced difficulties in accessing information about provision, as well as the provision itself. As a result, many parents or carers felt they had no choice but to give up work to care for their children (Working Families, 2015), causing them to experience financial challenges. By setting out the nearest and most suitable services available, the Local Offer aims to reduce problems in this area.

In addition, by signposting families to high-quality provision, the Local Offer attempts to ensure that all children with SEND can have the best possible support, leading to the best possible outcomes – it has been shown that there is a link between the quality of provision and the outcomes of the child.

Because the development and review of the Offer involves those with SEND and their parents or carers, it makes provision in a local area more responsive to local needs and aspirations. Consequently, it should be fit for purpose, and adapt according to the feedback or concerns of those using the services within it.

How Can Schools Contribute to the Local Offer?

Schools and other education settings must contribute to the Local Offer (as well as using it themselves to find out which provision they can access, from area SENCos to sensory support services and specialist therapies, as part of the Graduated Approach). 

Their contributions will involve ensuring that there are clear arrangements in place for requesting the services that they might require from the Local Authority. Education settings must also agree the range of local services with the Local Authority – for example, discussing what their setting will provide from the funding they receive for SEND, training provision, and transport arrangements.

SEN Information Report

Schools must publish this information in their own version of the ‘Local Offer’, in the form of the SEN information report, including details on:

• The kinds of SEN that are provided for in the school.
• Policies for identifying children and young people with SEN and assessing their needs, including the name and contact details of the SENCo.
• Arrangements for assessing and reviewing progress towards outcomes.
• Arrangements for consulting parents/carers of children with SEN and involving them in their child’s education, and for consulting young people with SEN themselves and involving them in their education review.
• Arrangements for supporting children and young people in moving between phases of education and in preparing for adulthood.
• The approach to teaching those with SEN, including how adaptations are made to the curriculum and learning environment, the expertise and training of staff in relation to SEN, and how specialist expertise is secured.
• An evaluation of the effectiveness of the provision made.
• How those with SEN are enabled to join in activities beside those without.
• Support for improving emotional and social development (e.g. extra pastoral support arrangements and measures to prevent bullying).
• How the school involves other sectors in supporting those with SEN, details of the school’s contribution to the Local Offer, and signposts to it.
• Arrangements for handling complaints about provision.
• Arrangements for supporting looked-after children with SEN.

The SEN information report should be available on the school’s website and updated at least annually. Again, it should be created in partnership with parents/carers and children (where possible), and must use clear, straightforward language.

Examples of Local Offers

It can be helpful to see an example of a Local Offer in order to gain a deeper understanding of what it is. Your Local Offer will depend on the area you live in – however, we will provide you with links to a few examples here (see Bradford’s Local Offer and Wakefield’s Local Offer), as well as explaining the general format.

Sections of a Local Offer tend to include:

• Special educational, health, and social care provision for children and young people with SEND – this should include online and blended learning.
• Details of how parents and young people can request an assessment for an EHC plan. 
• Arrangements for identifying and assessing children and young people’s SEND – this should include arrangements for EHC needs assessments. 
• Other educational provision – for example, sports or arts provision, or paired reading schemes. 
• Post-16 education and training provision. 
• Apprenticeships, traineeships, and supported internships. 
• Information about provision to assist in preparing children and young people for adulthood. 
• Arrangements for travel to and from schools, post-16 institutions, and early years providers.
• Support to help children and young people move between phases of education (for example, from early years to school, from primary to secondary). 
• Sources of information, advice, and support in the Local Authority’s area relating to SEND, including information and advice provided under Section 32 of the Children and Families Act 2014, forums for parents and carers, and support groups. 
• Childcare, including suitable provision for those with SEND.
• Leisure activities. 
• Support available to young people in higher education, particularly the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and the process and timescales for making an application for DSA. 
• Arrangements for resolving disagreements and for mediation, and details about making complaints. 
• Parents’ and young people’s rights to appeal a decision of the Local Authority to the First-Tier Tribunal (SEND) in respect of SEND and provision. 
• The Local Authority’s accessibility strategy (under Paragraph 1 Schedule 10 to the Equality Act 2010). 
• Institutions approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

This may vary across different Local Authorities.

The Local Offer was introduced to help improve the lives of children with SEND and their families. By providing them with access to information on the support and provision that they can expect in their area, it aims to improve children’s outcomes and reduce the struggles that families were previously experiencing.

Further Resources:

• ADHD Training
• Supporting Pupils With SEN in the Classroom
• SEND in the Classroom Course
• How to Support Individuals With Learning Disabilities
• What is SEND in Early Years?
• 7 Creative Classroom Exercises for Teaching SEN Children

The post What is the Local Offer? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

• Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?
• Supporting Language Development in the Early Years
• Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years Course
• How to Encourage Children to Express Feelings and Emotions
• Promoting Social Development in Children Through Structured Group Play
• Child Mental Health Quiz

The post Child Development Quiz appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

For example, almost 90% of girls and nearly 50% of boys said that being sent explicit pictures or videos that they did not want to see happened to them or their peers a lot or sometimes. The prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour in schools means that a high number of children are having to deal with serious adverse outcomes, which can have lasting effects into adulthood.

As a result, it is vital that all school staff know how to recognise harmful sexual behaviour and respond to incidents appropriately and effectively. In this article, we will define what is meant by harmful sexual behaviour and highlight some examples alongside scenarios which you may come across in schools. There will also be guidance on responding to incidents, and we will include tips and a downloadable PDF to help you meet Ofsted’s requirements in this area.

What is Harmful Sexual Behaviour?

The term ‘harmful sexual behaviour’ refers to sexual behaviour which is developmentally inappropriate, abusive, and sometimes violent. Examples of this sort of behaviour include:

• Sexual harassment – unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, or humiliated, such as sexualised gestures and unwanted sexually explicit and/or derogatory, degrading, homophobic, or misogynistic comments (e.g. ‘slut’ or ‘slag’).
• Sexual violence – engaging in (or causing someone to engage in) sexual activity without consent, whether this is physical (such as rape, assault by penetration, and sexual touching without consent) or online (such as the sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos of children, including ‘revenge porn’). Other connected issues include upskirting (taking a picture underneath someone’s clothes without their knowledge) and forcing someone to strip, touch themselves sexually, or engage in sexual activity with a third party.

Key features of harmful sexual behaviour include misuse of power, coercion, violence, and lack of informed or free consent, as well as a significant age gap (generally of more than two years) between children who engage in the behaviour.

Harmful sexual behaviour is a type of peer-on-peer abuse (abuse of children by other children). It can occur between children of any age.

Causes of Harmful Sexual Behaviour

The causes of sexual harassment and sexual violence in school are often complex and different for each child, but may include:

• Normalisation of the behaviour in society through pornography – which rarely shows or deals with issues of mutual consent and respect – and popular culture (e.g. song lyrics, video games, and TV shows). Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to feeling pressure to ‘fit in’ with what they perceive to be normal.
• Past experience of maltreatment or abuse – according to Hackett et al. (2013), 50% of children displaying harmful sexual behaviour have experienced sexual abuse, and two thirds have experienced another kind of abuse or neglect (Hackett et al., 2016). Children may also have experienced poor sexual boundaries at home, such as family members performing sexual acts with the door open or with the child in the room.
• Alcohol or drug use.
• Intense emotions and a lack of strategies for dealing with them.
• Few or no negative consequences resulting from their behaviour.
• The availability of websites and chat apps that can be used to share sexual imagery easily and instantly, with little thought about the potential consequences.

Harmful sexual behaviour can negatively impact both the child experiencing it and the child displaying it.

How Should Schools Respond to Harmful Sexual Behaviour Incidents?

Schools have a statutory duty to protect children from incidents of peer-on-peer abuse – including harmful sexual behaviour. The Department for Education states that school staff should act on the assumption that all children and young people are affected by harmful sexual behaviour, due to the prevalence of it.

When responding to an incident of harmful sexual behaviour, you should take into account:

• The nature of the incident, and whether a crime has been committed.
• The context, including the ages and developmental stages of the children involved, their backgrounds, and whether there is any sort of power imbalance.
• Whether the incident is a one-off or part of a sustained pattern of abuse.
• Whether there are links between the incident and other related issues (e.g. child sexual or criminal exploitation).
• Whether there are ongoing risks to the victim, other children, and school or college staff.
• How the child who was affected by the behaviour wants to proceed – you will need to balance respecting their wishes with your responsibilities to protect other children.
• Whether there is any need for disciplinary action (e.g. sanctions or remedial action, such as making an area of the school more safe).

You can broadly split incidents – and your responses – into low-level and high-level.

Need Training?

It can be difficult to know how to handle incidents of harmful behaviour. Our Harmful Sexual Behaviour in Schools course is designed to give you the skills and knowledge you need. The course categorises different types of harmful sexual behaviour on a continuum, delineating the responses you should take at each stage. It explains the causes and consequences of the behaviour, and sets out how you can reduce the likelihood of it occurring in the first place. Have a look at our course library for more information about this and other courses.

Examples of Harmful Sexual Behaviour: Scenarios in Schools

The scenarios below will help to contextualise what harmful sexual behaviour might look like in a school setting, and how you might respond.

Scenario 1

As you are walking along the corridor to the staff room in your secondary school, you overhear a group of boys calling Priti, a 16-year-old girl, a “slut”. You tell the group that that sort of language is unacceptable and give them a detention, following your school’s behaviour policy. You ensure that Priti is OK and record the incident in your school’s behaviour management system. Since one of the boys has a record of this behaviour, you inform the DSL: he may need an intervention.

Scenario 2

In your Year 9 Geography class, one of the boys – Amir – appears upset. You speak to him after the lesson and he discloses to you that, while they were in the changing rooms after PE, he was seriously sexually assaulted by his peer, Lewis. You immediately refer the incident to the DSL and take Amir to the pastoral team for support. The DSL reports the incident to both social care and the police, so they can carry out an investigation. The DSL also talks to both the children and their parents about the incident. Lewis is given a fixed-term exclusion in line with the behaviour policy. 

Scenario 3

A 17-year-old girl has been sharing nudes with her 17-year-old boyfriend. However, when she breaks up with him, he sends her nudes to numerous friends as revenge, who then post it online. You find out when the girl discloses the situation to you. You make a report to CEOP to get the image deleted and talk to your DSL, who refers the incident to social care and the police. Both children’s parents are contacted, and the boy is given a fixed-term exclusion. You also decide to move him to other classes when he returns, away from the girl.

Tips for an Ofsted Inspection Focusing on Harmful Sexual Behaviour

The issue of harmful sexual behaviour is very much in the spotlight of national and local news, after the creation of the website Everyone’s Invited and several high-profile incidents in 2021. This means that both parents and Ofsted are very aware of it, and will hold the school accountable.

In relation to this issue, Ofsted will:

• Request that college leaders supply records and analysis of sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online, to inspectors. The Independent Schools Inspectorate will also specifically request schools to provide the same records upon notification of inspection, in addition to its current practice.
• Speak with single-sex groups of pupils, where this helps them to better understand a school or college’s approach to tackling sexual harassment and violence, including online.
• Feed this part of the inspection into a judgement of safeguarding and leadership and management. If a school’s processes are not adequate, Ofsted is likely to judge both their safeguarding practices and leadership and management as inadequate.

Your behaviour and safeguarding/child protection policies will likely be checked to see whether they set out clear and effective procedures to prevent and respond to incidents. It will be expected that you have a zero-tolerance approach to all harmful sexual behaviour.

You should be able to show that you provide high-quality education within RSHE/PSHE and Relationships, Health, and Sex Education (where relevant) to reduce the likelihood of incidents occurring.

School staff will need adequate training on the subject in order to be confident and effective in their response. You can download a free PDF below listing the training that all staff members should receive.

Finally, be aware that Ofsted inspectors could use any evidence in connection with the school’s arrangements around harmful sexual behaviour when coming to a judgement about personal development and behaviour. The evidence can be used to decide whether students feel safe and the nature of pastoral support available.

Harmful sexual behaviour – including sexual harassment and sexual violence – is an issue which all school staff need to be aware of. The serious consequences that incidents can have on the children involved make it vital that you know how to respond to the behaviour and reduce the likelihood of it occurring. This is a key safeguarding area, and one which will remain high priority.

Further Resources:

• Harmful Sexual Behaviour in Schools Course
• Safeguarding Courses
• Safeguarding Against Child Exploitation and Abuse: A Resource Pack for Schools
• Child Sexual Abuse: Guidance for Schools
• Understanding the Different Forms of Child Neglect

The post How to Respond to Harmful Sexual Behaviour in Schools appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will go into detail about what SLCN are, why it’s important to identify these needs in schools and early years settings, and how they can have an impact on learning. We will also provide you with a free SLCN support plan to use in your setting.

What Are Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN)?

Speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) are difficulties across one or more aspects of communication and interaction. They range from mild to very severe, and they are a type of special educational need and/or disability (SEND). They can occur in conjunction with other conditions, such as autism spectrum conditions or cerebral palsy, but they can also occur alone. While some SLCN may be present from birth, others may arise during a person’s life: for example, adults might develop SLCN as a result of brain injury or progressive illness.

SLCN are often termed ‘hidden needs’ – many individuals with these needs go unidentified or are given inadequate support, causing their future outcomes to be severely impacted.

Examples of SLCN

There are broadly two types of SLCN: delays and disorders. 

A delay is a temporary or short-term form of SLCN, where a child is developing skills in the right order but is behind the average in achieving each milestone. Delays can occur in any area, such as the development of speech sounds, vocabulary, attention and listening, or non-verbal/pragmatic skills (such as taking turns in conversations and following other unwritten social communication rules).

More than half of language delays in children under three are resolved by giving the child support as soon as possible. This then allows them to catch up with their age group. However, if children don’t receive any support, it can lead to more complex, long-term difficulties.

A disorder is likely to require long-term support – we use this term to describe a child who is developing in an unusual or atypical way in one or more areas. For example, a child might have problems understanding language and following what is going on (receptive developmental language disorder), have problems remembering words and forming sentences (expressive developmental language disorder), get stuck on a certain sound or part of a word (stammer), struggle coordinating their muscles to produce sounds (verbal dyspraxia), or have communication anxiety in certain situations that prevents them from speaking (selective mutism). 

How Do Speech and Language Disorders Affect Learning?

A child with SLCN might be affected in the following areas:

• Expressing needs, wishes, and ideas. We need speech, language, and communication to tell others what we need, what we want, and what we think about a certain topic. 
• Social interaction. To interact with others and make friends, we need to be able to communicate and understand social rules. Those with SLCN are more likely to be isolated or bullied (Knox and Conti-Ramsden, 2003).
• Emotional development. We use language to understand, recognise, label, and explain our own and others’ emotions. Those with better communication skills are more likely to be empathic, have higher self-esteem, and be resilient (Public Health England, 2016).
• Learning. Spoken language is our main method of teaching in the UK. Children with poor language skills find it more difficult to understand new words and concepts, instructions, and feedback, leading to lower academic achievement (Snowling et al., 2011).
• Literacy skills. In the UK, early reading is taught using a phonic approach, which begins with hearing, recognising, and reproducing individual sounds, then learning to segment and blend them  in words. These phonic skills form the basis of reading and spelling – with children learning the graphemes (written form of the sound) alongside the phonemes (the sound itself). Poor awareness of speech sounds makes this process more difficult.
• Behaviour. Language helps us learn and follow rules, and exercise self-control (being calm/rational). Those who struggle to understand or express language may become frustrated and display challenging behaviour; one third of youth offenders and 81% of children with emotional or behavioural disorders have SLCN (Early Intervention Foundation, 2017).
• Mental health. Poor communication skills are a mental health risk factor: children with SLCN are five times more likely to develop mental health problems than those without (NHS Digital 2018).
• Future employment. Jobs today often require strong communication and literacy skills. Those lacking these skills have fewer job options and earn on average 11% less. Children with poor language skills at age five are also twice as likely to be unemployed in adulthood (Early Intervention Foundation, 2017).

Why Is It Important to Identify SLCN in Schools and Educational Settings?

By identifying SLCN – the earlier the better – you can provide children with the support they need to achieve their best possible outcomes. This might be in the area of educational outcomes, employability, mental health, or making friends, all of which are vital to a child’s life.

However, as we’ve discussed, it can be difficult to identify and know how to help a child with speech and language problems. These types of needs are considered to be ‘hidden disabilities’. Awareness of the potential warning signs and training in this area can be useful tools to improve the likelihood of early identification and support. 

Need SLCN Training?

Our course on Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years gives you the information you need to identify and support SLCN, providing you with detailed strategies for each potential need. The course also explains what you can do to support the development of children without SLCN – such as having a communication-friendly setting – and what typical development looks like, including for children with EAL. Find out more about this and our other courses in our course library.

Free SLCN Support Plan

We have created a free downloadable SLCN support plan to help you identify what a child may be struggling with and come up with ways you could help. It also prompts you to think about the outcomes you’re seeking from the child, and has space to review the effectiveness of the plan, as well as coming up with adaptations to improve it.

Any education professional can use the plan, and it can be used for children with or without a diagnosed need. The plan should be agreed by the child’s parents or carers, key person, and your SENCo or SEN Lead (if applicable). 

You can download the SLCN support plan here:

Speech, language, and communication needs are prevalent across the country, and can have a huge impact on a child’s life and future outcomes. It’s important for those who work with children to understand how to identify SLCN and put support strategies in place, using tools such as our free downloadable SLCN support plan.

Further Resources:

• Supporting Speech and Language Development in the Early Years
• Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?
• Supporting Pupils With SEN in the Classroom: Guidance for Teachers
• How to Help a Child with Dyslexia in the Classroom
• Recognising the Signs of Dyslexia in Children
• What is the Graduated Approach?
• How to Support a Child with Autism in the Classroom
• Epilepsy Awareness Training

The post How to Support Children With Speech, Language, and Communication Needs appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

You might be doing initial research into volunteering or may have already signed up and want to know what’s expected of you. In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of volunteering and the benefits it can have, the different types of roles, and the requirements they have (with a particular focus on volunteering in an education setting).

What Are Volunteer Roles?

A volunteer role is one where individuals freely offer their time, labour, and expertise – often carrying out work that is much needed but organisations can’t afford to pay for.

In schools, volunteer roles might include:

• Governors.
• Trustees.
• Reading with pupils.
• Sharing specialist skills with pupils (e.g. literacy, numeracy, an after-school club, or talking about your career).
• Helping on school trips.
• Helping with events or school productions.
• Volunteer classroom or school assistant.
• The PTA.
• Maintenance or improvement work around the school (e.g. painting or gardening).

Primary schools are particularly welcoming of volunteers.

Volunteers in education settings help to improve the learning experience, and often have an impact even after they have left. They aren’t accountable for the outcomes of the children they work with in the same way that teachers are, meaning that their roles can offer a way to work in education without the pressure of a permanent job.

Volunteers might be parents, college or university students, or other adults in the local area – you don’t need any experience working with children in order to become one.

Benefits of Volunteering in Schools

The benefits of being a volunteer in school can be wide-ranging, and include:

• Gaining experience – if you’re thinking of starting a career in education, the experience of working in a school before you commit to it can help you decide if the career path is right for you. You will have the opportunity to work with and observe experienced teachers, get to know the curriculum, and develop the necessary skills for more permanent roles. To future employers, your time as a volunteer will show your interest in the role, as well as giving you practical examples of situations to talk about in interviews. It may even be the case that roles come up at the school you’re volunteering in – and having an existing good reputation with them means that you could be their first choice.
• Improving outcomes – One of the reasons that volunteer roles are so popular is that they’re extremely rewarding. Volunteers feel as though they can make a difference, whether that’s in making lessons more interesting, helping a child learn to read, or making sure there are enough adults to accompany the class on an exciting trip. Schools are always appreciative of the work that volunteers do for them.
• Helping your own child – Some parents might volunteer at school when their child has just started in Reception, in order to help them have an easier transition. Others might see that an area of the school is lacking and have the skills to improve it – for example, being a governor allows you to get involved in the school’s strategic direction and have an impact on its long-term success.
• Improving your wellbeing – One of the NHS’ five ways to wellbeing is giving back to the community. Volunteering makes us feel good about ourselves and enriches our mental health.

Working with children and young people can be an enriching experience – their innovative perspectives on life can be both entertaining and inspiring.

If you’re considering taking on a volunteer role, our Coaching and Mentoring course is designed to give you the practical tools and techniques needed to kickstart your journey successfully.

What Are the Different Education Volunteer Opportunities?

The different education volunteer opportunities that are available can be roughly divided into roles that involve working directly with children, roles that aren’t wholly classroom-based, and roles that don’t involve any direct work with children.

Schools may advertise for volunteers with a specific role in mind, or leave it open to your own suggestions. They will often ask for expressions of interest in volunteering at the start of the school year, and allocate people to their positions later on, based on the person’s skills, experience, and availability.

Requirements for Volunteering in Schools

Before you volunteer in a school, it’s useful to know what is required of you. Below, we will discuss the different requirements, as well as the application process.

Qualifications

There are no required qualifications for volunteering in schools. However, some volunteers wish to take short-term courses like the WEA’s Preparing for Helping in Schools programme, which equips parents who want to volunteer in schools, to accredited courses like the Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools Level 2 qualifications and apprenticeships. This is entirely optional and the benefits will depend on the role you intend to take on.

Skills

The skills that you may need to succeed in your volunteer role include:

• An understanding of and commitment to safeguarding children.
• Enthusiasm and a can-do attitude.
• A good work ethic.
• Friendliness.
• Passion for education or helping others.
• An understanding of the UK curriculum or school system.
• Excellent people skills (and perhaps experience working with children or young people).

Application Process

The school may advertise volunteer roles being available, or you may be able to informally approach a member of staff and ask if they are taking on volunteers. You may then be asked to fill in a short application form, containing your contact details and a brief explanation of why you want to volunteer and when you might be available to do so.

You may need a DBS check before you begin your role. This is a check of your criminal record, which will show details of all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings held on central police records. A DBS check is not required if you have already worked in a school, further education institution, or 16-19 academy in England (where you had regular contact with children) in the three months prior to beginning your role.

A DBS check is also not necessary if you are not going to be working in regulated activity. Regulated activity is where you carry out work for the purpose of the school and have contact with children (unsupervised). If you will always be supervised by a member of school staff, or your role does not involve contact with children, you do not need a DBS check (for example, if you help out once at a bake sale). However, the school can still request that you do one. They will make this decision based on risk assessments that they have carried out.

In addition to a DBS check, the school is required to ask you to provide two references – which must be people who know you in a professional capacity, such as previous employers, tutors, or teachers – and you may then be invited for interview to discuss:

• Your reasons for applying.
• Your motivation.
• Previous experience, qualifications, skills, or training (including previous voluntary work experience).
• Health considerations (both physical and mental).
• Expectations of roles and responsibilities.
• Child protection issues.
• Previous convictions (if relevant)
• References and their relationship to you.
• Your availability.

After this, the school is obliged to provide you with relevant training, which may include safeguarding training, as well as an induction programme. They should assign you a mentor, who you should contact whenever you have questions or concerns.

Need Training?

Our range of Safeguarding and Health and Safety Training Courses aim to provide you with the required knowledge to carry out your work whilst meeting training requirements. Take a look at our Course Library, where you’ll find everything from Introduction to Safeguarding Children to Paediatric First Aid.

Safer Recruitment in Education

The checks and references required of volunteers in education settings are compulsory so that the school is able to ensure that pupils are safe. They are part of a process known as safer recruitment in education. You can find out more about safer recruitment practices in our article: ‘What is Safer Recruitment?’.

Schools have a duty to safeguard children, and with regards to volunteers, they’ll want to ensure that you have the right motivations, attitudes, values, and behaviours to work with or near children. While some may see it as over-the-top for volunteers to have to submit an application form and go through a fixed process, this really is necessary to keep children safe from adults who may pose a threat.

Volunteering is a rewarding way to broaden your skillset, meet new people, and give back to your community. Whether you’re a parent volunteer in a school, a local looking to use your skills for good, or a student looking to gain experience, there are plenty of opportunities out there for you to enjoy.

Further Resources:

• What is Regulated Activity?
• What is Safer Recruitment?
• What are the Roles & Responsibilities of a School Governor?
• Safer Recruitment in Education Training

The post Volunteer Roles in Schools: What Are the Requirements? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will discuss the types of abuse that might occur in sports settings, the legal responsibilities of sports leaders, and how you could help to safeguard children in your sports club.

What Are the Types of Abuse in a Sports Setting?

There are many different types of abuse that children might experience – they may experience only one type, or more than one at the same time. Abusers may be family members, family friends, other young people, caregivers, volunteers, or sports coaches – both male and female.

Abuse which they may encounter in a sports setting in particular includes:

Emotional abuse

This is the “persistent maltreatment of a child so as to cause severe and enduring adverse effects on the child’s emotional development”. It might take the form of repeated criticism, sarcasm, name-calling, racism, sexism, or verbal abuse based on sexual orientation. A child might feel ignored or excluded, or pressured to perform to unrealistically high expectations, or be given excessive punishments.

Physical abuse

This is when someone deliberately hurts or harms a child, including hitting, shaking, throwing, or burning them. In sport, physical abuse might occur if they are given intense training beyond the capacity of their immature growing body, if they are required to participate when injured, if sanctions used by coaches involve inflicting pain, or if they are encouraged to use drugs or harmful substances to enhance their performance or delay puberty.

Sexual abuse

This involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is really going on. It includes rape, sexual assault, or getting a child to watch sexual activity (including online pornography). Paul Stewart, who worked with us on our Safeguarding in Sport course, was the victim of sexual abuse – he was “told that I had to do these things if I wanted to be a footballer. I only ever wanted to be a footballer as a child. He [the coach] was threatening that he would kill my parents and my two brothers if I ever spoke out.”

Grooming

This is where somebody builds an emotional connection with a child and gains their trust, usually for the purpose of sexual abuse and exploitation, or criminal exploitation and county lines. Groomers in sport settings may offer children with advice and understanding, tell them they’re special or destined for great things, or give them extra one-to-one coaching in order to make it easier to exploit them.

Neglect

This is where a child’s basic physical or psychological needs are not met. In sport, it might include a coach failing to ensure children are safe, exposing them to undue cold, heat, or extreme weather conditions without adequate clothing or hydration, exposing them to unnecessary risk of injury by ignoring safe practice guidelines, failing to ensure the use of safety equipment, or requiring young people to participate when injured or unwell.

Peer-on-peer abuse

This might include bullying or harmful sexual behaviour directed towards a child by their peers. Harmful sexual behaviour is behaviour which is developmentally inappropriate, abusive, and sometimes violent, such as sexual harassment, sexual assault, or rape.

Abuse can take place across any type of sport, as has become apparent in recent years, with a number of athletes speaking out about their experiences. You can find out more about the signs that abuse is occurring in our article here.

It is also worth noting that poor practice in sports settings could lead to an environment which is conducive to more serious abuse, and so needs to be challenged. Poor practice is behaviour of staff or volunteers that falls below the required standard set out in your organisation’s code of conduct, such as turning up drunk, smoking and swearing in front of children, and favouring or picking on a child.

Free Safeguarding in Sport Course

Our Safeguarding in Sport Course will provide you with practical tools and knowledge to use in your sports club or organisation, helping you to ensure your commitment to excellence in safeguarding. We are very pleased to be able to offer this course for free to all.

What Are the Legal Responsibilities of a Sports Leader?

It is important that sports leaders are aware of the legal responsibilities that come with their position of authority. A sports leader’s legal responsibility to the people in their care involve giving appropriate advice and guidance. They should not offer any advice outside their level of qualification.

Health and Safety

Sports leaders are responsible for the health and safety of those in their care and are required to ensure a safe environment in which the sport can be undertaken.

Sports leaders must always have access to First Aid in case of injury. They must also ensure that all equipment is safe and appropriate for the intended use, that people have been fully introduced to all equipment, and that they understand how to use it in a safe manner. When running sports sessions, leaders must also ensure that children are always matched appropriately in terms of size and ability.

Health and safety should always be a top priority for sports leaders.

Protection from Abuse

Sports leaders have a responsibility to protect those in their charge from the four main types of abuse, which are:

• Neglect.
• Emotional abuse.
• Sexual abuse.
• Physical abuse.

It is important that coaches are familiar with, and can recognise, any indicators that may suggest a child is a victim of abuse. They must also be aware of the appropriate action to take if they have any concerns regarding a child’s safety. Therefore, they should familiarise themselves with their organisation’s policy and guidelines regarding child abuse.

Protection from abuse also encompasses protecting all children from harassment, discrimination and any other actions which may also be described as bullying. Bullying must not be ignored. Sports leaders have the responsibility to ensure that every child feels safe participating in the sport and, therefore, intolerance of negative behaviour is important to promote good athletic conduct.

DBS Checks

While many people who want to work or volunteer with children have good intentions, this is unfortunately not always the case. Some individuals are not suitable to work with, or around, children. Therefore, it’s crucial to recruit safely and carry out a thorough selection process to screen out unsuitable individuals.

DBS checks (previously CRB checks) provide a full criminal record check and are a requirement for individuals who want to work or volunteer with vulnerable people, such as children and young people. DBS checks will exclude unsuitable individuals from working in close proximity with them.

Insurance

Sports leaders are required to have appropriate insurance that covers personal accidents and public liability. This is often included as part of the affiliation fee for many sports governing bodies, but sports leaders should ensure they are covered before working with children and young people.

Additionally, even though it is strongly recommended that sports leaders do not use personal vehicles when transporting children to sporting venues, if there is no alternative, proper licencing and insurance must be secured.

How Can Sports Clubs Help to Safeguard Children?

Whether you’re a coach, volunteer, safeguarding lead, or parent, it’s crucial to understand what you can do to safeguard children in your sports club. There are many benefits to having effective safeguarding measures in place, including:

• Everyone will know what is considered acceptable conduct, and what is not.
• Participants are aware of how they can report a concern.
• Participants and coaches will be aware of how they can access support.
• Coaches will be protected from false allegations.
• Management will know how to respond appropriately to concerns.

Here are five strategies to help you create a strong safeguarding culture.

1. Have an effective safeguarding framework – including a safeguarding policy.

Your organisation must set out the procedures you will take to safeguard children – from preventative measures and a staff code of conduct, to naming a designated safeguarding lead (DSL) or welfare officer that everyone can report concerns to – in a safeguarding policy document.

Staff, volunteers, parents, and children should all be given a copy of this document to familiarise themselves with, and you must ensure that everyone follows the procedures you have agreed upon in this document. This will help to create a safe environment in the organisation, where everyone understands how to report safeguarding concerns and knows that they will be taken seriously.

2. Have the confidence to challenge poor practice.

If you notice that a staff member’s practice is below the agreed standard in your organisation, always challenge it. This stops it from escalating and allowing abuse to happen. Have zero tolerance for anyone mocking a child, picking on a child, making racist or sexist remarks, or acting inappropriately with them (for example, being ‘friends’ with them on social media).

3. Understand that not reporting is not an option.

If a safeguarding concern is brought to your attention, you must report it – this is vital. It is not up to you to decide whether or not a child is abused; you simply have to pass the information on to someone who can.

In cases where a child has experienced or is at risk of experiencing significant harm (e.g. a crime has been committed), you should call the police. In other cases, always speak to your DSL or welfare officer as soon as possible – within 24 hours of it coming to your attention – and they will pass it on to the local authority, who’ll decide what response is necessary within one day.

You should also speak to the child’s parents or carers about the concern, if doing so wouldn’t put the child or anyone else at further risk, and make a written record of the incident’s details, including the date, time, and place, and how you responded.

Sporting organisations can use our Incident Report Form Template to help properly document and report any child safeguarding concerns that may arise.

Download Our Incident Report Form Here

Download Our Incident Report Form Here

4. Follow safer recruitment practices.

When you’re recruiting for volunteers or new staff, you must always obtain DBS checks, attain references for candidates, and give candidates a copy of your safeguarding policy, so they are aware of their responsibilities. Ensure that you recruit people who are the best for the job, who uphold the same safeguarding values, and who will make a positive difference to the children’s lives. Don’t simply hire someone who is ‘the best of a bad bunch’. Have a look at our article on safer recruitment for more information.

5. Ensure that all staff have appropriate training.

In order to meet safeguarding standards, all staff and volunteers should complete induction training (including a safeguarding aspect) plus regular top-up safeguarding training at least annually after induction. Courses like Level 1 Safeguarding Children or Safeguarding in Sport should meet your training needs.

The topic of safeguarding in sport is a really important one, and it’s vital that you understand the different types of abuse that can occur in sports settings, what you can do to safeguard children, and why this is important. We hope that this article is helpful.

Further Reading:

• Guide to Safeguarding Children Legislation
• Safeguarding in Sport Course
• Signs of Abuse in Children
• Child Protection Photography Policy: Free Consent Form Template
• Safeguarding in Sport Research: Partnering with Paul Stewart
• What is Safeguarding Training & Why is it so Important?
• Safeguarding Responsibilities of School Staff
• Safeguarding Flowchart: Procedure for Reporting Concerns
• How to Become a Sports Coach
• Safeguarding Online Courses

The post Guide to Safeguarding Children in Sport appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will look at all of the above, tying it into ways you can make effective provisions for personal, social, and emotional development, as you are required to do if you are Ofsted-registered.

How to Promote Positive Behaviour in Nursery

The EYFS framework describes ‘positive behaviour’ to consist of:

• Emotional Intelligence:  Managing feelings and behaviour (self-regulation), being able to express your emotions effectively, and being empathic towards others.
• Social Skills: Being able to form positive, respectful relationships.
• Cognitive Skills: Having self-confidence and self-awareness, and the ability to understand different feelings. 

Before children go to school, they learn essential skills like the above through play, interaction, and discussion. Nursery plays a key role in facilitating these opportunities for learning and development.

Some broad strategies that you can use to help children develop the ability to behave in a positive way include:

Making use of activities, structured and explorative play, and games that encourage curiosity – this develops children’s reasoning and problem-solving (i.e. cognitive skills). They learn best by playing, listening, watching, asking questions, and doing, so set this in motion – for example, try setting them a challenge, such as building a bridge or tower.

Using structured group play to encourage positive and respectful relationships (i.e. social development). For example, you could play games where children learn to share, such as circle games or board games where they have to take turns to roll a dice. Additionally, make sure you and other adults have a trusting relationship with the children – you can be a role model for good relationships. Strong relationships also link to emotional development, making children feel more able to share their feelings with you. 

Recognising their emotional needs and acknowledging them by articulating them, to aid children’s emotional intelligence. For example, you could say: “I understand it’s hard for you to stop playing on the bike, but it’s someone else’s turn now.” This does three things.

1. Aids the development of empathy.
2. Helps children to connect the dots between how they’re feeling and what they’re doing – spotting where emotions come from can help children develop self-awareness.
3. Triggers a soothing biochemical reaction. When a child feels understood, their neural pathway linked to emotional intelligence grows, and in time, children will learn to soothe themselves by accepting their emotions.

Other methods of developing emotional intelligence include accepting and listening to expressions of emotion, rather than shushing them, telling them to stop crying, or scolding them. Everyone should be allowed to express how they are feeling and know that it is valid. You might think that children often overreact, but this is because their brains are developing so quickly that they can be easily overwhelmed with emotion. In other words, this is natural, and should be accepted and accounted for in your setting.

Want to Learn More?

Build on your existing knowledge or learn new skills to help you in the classroom with our wide range of Training Courses for Teachers and Schools. Find everything from Autism Awareness to Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years.

What Behaviour Should I Expect From a Child at Different Stages?

Behaviour expectations are key when working with children – you should be clear about how you expect children to behave in different scenarios, and communicate this to them. For example, you might have two golden rules for toddlers (e.g. ‘kind hands’ and ‘take turns when playing with toys’), and three rules for children who are older. You should repeat these rules every day, and have a visual reminder of them on the walls of the room (e.g. photos of children following the rules). 

However, before you set your behaviour expectations, you need to consider what typical behaviour for children at each stage of development looks like. This helps you to know what is a reasonable expectation and what is not. For example, it’s unreasonable to hold children to adult standards, because they’re not yet ready to behave in that way – it takes time to build up the ability to do so. 

Typical behaviour for each age range, based on Birth to 5 Matters guidance, looks like:

You can find out more about typical development using the Birth to 5 Matters guidance here. It might be useful to display the above information in an age-appropriate behaviour chart within your nursery, as a reminder to all staff, as well as giving it out in a parent-friendly format.

Creating a Positive Behaviour Policy or Procedure

Every early years setting should have and follow a set behaviour policy or procedure. This does not always need to be written down, but all staff should know and be aware of it. This promotes positive behaviour and ensures a safe, secure, and effective learning environment where incidents are always dealt with fairly, consistently, and proportionately. 

You can use your policy or procedure as a selling point – it demonstrates your commitment to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and to child development. This document sells your values, ethics, and principles to parents wanting to find excellent childcare.

Your behaviour policy or procedure will set out expectations for everyone’s behaviour in the setting (including the adults), as well the strategies that will be used to guide children’s behaviour – both rewards and consequences. You can also include your commitment to families within it (e.g. ‘We will make sure that your child is taught right and wrong in a gentle way’). It is important for parents to be on board with the policy or procedure, because consistency is key – all adults need to take the same approach to behaviour management in order for it to be maximally effective.  

You can use the information given in this article, including the strategies that we will discuss in the next section, to create your behaviour policy or procedure. 

Strategies to Manage Difficult Behaviour

We have collated eight strategies that you can use to manage challenging behaviour in early years. These strategies should be useful for all kinds of behaviour issues, but we have also put together a specific guide for behaviours such as tantrums, hitting and biting, and refusal to do something.

1. Ask for the behaviour you want.

It’s always better to have a positive approach – frame your rules by asking for the behaviour you would like to see, rather than the behaviour that you wouldn’t. For example, rather than saying ‘no hitting’, ask for ‘kind hands’. When a child is displaying difficult behaviour, remind them of the rule in a positive manner and give them time to process and follow it – don’t overload them with too many sentences.

2. Reward good behaviour.

Whenever children are behaving well, reinforce them (e.g. ‘Well done for showing us kind hands, Sam!’). Make sure that praise is specific – what exactly did they do that you liked? This helps children to understand what is expected of them and choose their actions accordingly. You could also have a reward chart to add an incentive to behave – this might be a traffic light or weather board system, where you move a child’s name to a different part of the board based on their behaviour. You could also give out stickers, which might add up to an even bigger reward (e.g. a certificate, a small toy, or a class party).

3. Make the consequences clear.

When children don’t follow your expectations, give them a second chance to correct the behaviour by reminding them of the rules – but if they still don’t correct themselves, there should be an age-appropriate consequence. Consequences are most effective if they are immediate, logical, and decided in advance – you should set out in your behaviour policy which consequences you might give for different behaviours. They might be as simple as moving a child’s name on the behaviour chart, or you might decide to use methods such as thinking time (also known as time-out, though this can have a negative connotation).

If you do use thinking time, keep it for more challenging behaviours, and make sure that you sit with the child throughout – don’t abandon or isolate them. It should be an opportunity for them to calm down and sit in a quiet space, which should last for roughly one minute for each year of their life (two minutes for a two-year-old, three minutes for a three-year-old, etc). You could use a sand timer to show them how long they will be there for. After thinking time, it should be a fresh start for the child: the incident has been resolved.

4. Take note of triggers.

Certain children might display challenging behaviour regularly, and it is useful to observe what triggers this behaviour in them. You could use an ABC chart to monitor what happened directly before and after the behaviour, and see if you can spot any patterns. This will help you to fix the problem. For example, you might find that a child displays challenging behaviour whenever it’s time to tidy up – this might suggest that they struggle with transitions. As a result, you could put strategies like visual timetables in place to make it easier for them. 

5. Talk about feelings.

Discuss your own feelings with the children in your nursery to make them aware that everyone has them, as well as labelling what you think they’re feeling when they behave in a challenging way. Research has shown that labelling feelings reduces the negative effects they are having, helping the child to behave in a more positive way. You can find out more in our article here. 

6. Be a role model.

Children learn how to behave by watching others. As a result, it’s important that you stay calm and level-headed, never raising your voice, and follow your own behaviour expectations at all times. Additionally, don’t shame or humiliate children for their actions – this can be very damaging to their long-term mental health, and is not an effective behaviour management tool. As we’ve discussed, consequences like time-out are not a punishment, but simply time for the child to calm down, phrased in a positive way – in no circumstances should we ever tell a child they’re going to the ‘naughty step’ or ‘naughty chair’.

7. Look at additional needs (SEND).

Some children might display challenging behaviour as a result of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). If you suspect additional needs, you should leave diagnoses to medical professionals, but do ask your setting’s SENCo for advice, discuss your thoughts with parents, and/or get help from the Local Authority.

8. Review your strategies.

  Make sure you set aside some time regularly to think about which strategies are effective for which child, and whether you need to try something different. Your behaviour management toolset should grow and adapt over time with experience, in order to be as effective as it can be.

How to Stop a Child From Biting

In response to a child looking as if they are going to bite, you could:

• Try to divert or distract them before they do it – invite them to join in with a different activity or come and see something interesting. 
• Give them alternative things to bite on, especially if they are teething.
• Talk about what mouths are used for (e.g. laughing, smiling, eating) and what they’re not used for (biting other people).
• Praise the child when they use their mouth to do the right thing.

If a child does bite, you could:

• Say ‘Ouch, hurts’, with an appropriate facial expression.
• Say ‘Stop’ firmly, with an accompanying hand signal.
• Turn your attention to the child that’s been bitten first. This ensures that the child that has bitten doesn’t learn that they will get attention for doing this.

How to Stop a Child From Hitting, Kicking, Pinching, or Scratching

With this type of challenging behaviour, it’s important to put proactive strategies in place to reduce the likelihood of it occurring. This includes:

• Teaching your expectations clearly (e.g. ‘We use gentle hands and feet’). You may do small group activities focused around these expectations to make sure that children know what they mean.
• Modelling how to play in different situations, including sharing. Act out good behaviour in front of the children.
• Reinforcing them when they do it correctly, giving them praise or attention. 
• Providing activities where children can express their feelings so they don’t need to resort to challenging behaviour, such as puppets, circle time, and quiet areas to go to.

If the behaviour does occur:

• Make sure the other child is OK.
• Take the child to a quiet space for thinking time if they need it – not as a punishment, but to help them calm down and not hurt anyone else.
• Let the child know you understand how they feel, but separate the feeling from behaviour (e.g. ‘I can see that you’re angry because Sam took the toy you were playing with, but it’s not OK to bite’).
• Don’t force the child to apologise, but wait until they have calmed down, and then discuss how you could make the injured child feel better.

Strategies for Refusal to Do Something

When a child refuses to do what’s expected of them, try:

• Giving them a choice of two things you want them to do (e.g. ‘Do you want some banana or some apple?’). 
• Asking them why they don’t want to do it, if they are of an age where they can explain this to you.
• Explaining to them why you want them to do something. This can help to persuade them that it really is necessary.

To reduce the likelihood that a child will refuse to do what you’ve asked, make sure that you always:

• Give plenty of warning of change ? try sand timers or visual timetables.  
• Choose activities that they like to build up a habit of compliance.  
• Shorten the length of time of the activity.  
• Change the activity or social grouping.
• Make sure that the activity is appropriate to them.  
• Give lots of positive attention when the child participates in adult?led tasks.

Strategies for Tantrums

Remember that tantrums are normal – it is easy for children to become overwhelmed with everything that is going on around them. When a tantrum does occur:

• Try to divert or distract them, if you spot it early.
• Make sure that the child is in a safe space where they can’t hurt themselves. 
• Ask them if they want to go to a quiet space for thinking time (if appropriate).
• Wait for the child to calm down, and then offer them reassurance (e.g. ‘It’s OK’ or offering a cuddle or special toy).
• Only intervene physically if there is a risk of damage to the child, other children, or property. Remember that you will need to keep a record of any times you have physically intervened with a child.

Promoting positive behaviour in nurseries is an important aspect of your practice, but all staff should remember that we can’t expect adult behaviour from a young child. By keeping typical development in mind, teaching children how to regulate and express their emotions, and having pre-determined strategies for behaviour that challenges, you can ensure that your nursery is a safe, supportive learning environment for all children.

Further Resources:

• Supporting Speech & Language Development in Early Years
• Challenging Behaviour Online Training
• Conflict in the Classroom: Coaching Children to Act Responsibly
• Curiosity Approach in Early Years: Importance and Ideas
• How to Become an Early Years Practitioner
• Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?
• Child Mental Health Quiz

The post Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline the behaviours you can expect from a child who is still learning to express their feelings appropriately, as well as explaining why a child may struggle to communicate the way they feel, and providing strategies for helping children to do so.

Behaviour and Feelings

Being unable to express feelings verbally can be one of the causes of challenging behaviour. Children might not have the ability to talk about their emotions due to their age, particularly if they are under five – for example:

• Up to two years old, they will usually be possessive – particularly of people and toys they love – and easily frustrated, which might result in shouting and throwing things.
• At three years old, they might have more language with which to express themselves, but still be prone to sudden mood swings or behaving in extreme ways without necessarily knowing the reason why.

By five years old, children will usually be able to express and manage their feelings some or most of the time, but some children struggle to do this even as they get older. This could be due to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) like Autism Spectrum Disorder, speech, language, and communication needs or social, emotional, and mental health needs (e.g. anxiety). Children with these needs might, instead of talking about their feelings:

• Frequently cry or have tantrums.
• Have aggressive outbursts, including hitting, biting, or throwing things.
• Often feel hurt, misunderstood, or like a victim.
• Worry too much or too long over minor things.
• Be quick to get frustrated and give up.
• Have trouble letting go of things that are upsetting.
• Become overexcited about social activities or events, having a sudden burst of energy.

Teaching children about emotions and encouraging them to express their feelings can have a positive impact on their behaviour, as it gives them the words to talk about how they feel.

Want to Learn More?

Our Challenging Behaviour training course is recommended for professionals who want to have a better understanding of how to respond to the behaviour of the children and young people that they work with. It emphasises proactive strategies to prevent behaviour incidents, as well as going through research-based reactive strategies (including reacting to extreme behaviour) and putting support in place after behaviour incidents. Visit our course library to have a look at this and our other available training courses.

Why Might a Child Struggle to Identify Emotions?

Emotional development is a complex process. Identifying emotions in others – and in yourself – involves recognising cues and matching them to the specific emotion, such as tears for sadness or frowning for anger. It also involves understanding which situations might evoke a certain emotion, so that children can identify why someone might be feeling the way they are. 

It takes time for children to build up the ability to do this, and they may also not have the language available to them to describe their – or other people’s – feelings adequately yet. However, with practice, children can learn to identify emotions accurately.

How Can I Help Children to Express Their Feelings?

All adults who work with or care for children have a role in encouraging children to express their feelings. You are their role model as well as their coach – you can demonstrate different emotions and reactions to events, and coping strategies, as well as helping them practise saying their thoughts out loud.

It’s important to do this because children who have high levels of emotional intelligence are more likely to:

• Be empathic and supportive of others.
• Have good mental health and wellbeing (including reduced risk of anxiety).
• Behave appropriately.
• Have positive and stable relationships.
• Perform well at school and in their career.

Having the freedom to express themselves also shows children that you care about them and want to take their feelings into account. They know that you will listen to them, never minimising or dismissing the way they feel.

Ideas for helping children to express their feelings include:

• Role-playing different emotions and how to talk about them – come up with a scenario, explain or ask them to guess what you’re each feeling (talking about the reactions in your body, such as tears or butterflies in your stomach), and work together to find a constructive way of handling it.
• Labelling emotions for them until they can do it themselves, creating a link between the feeling and the word – research has shown that simply labelling a feeling reduces the negative effects it is having on you. For example, you might say: “You look sad – are you sad because you wanted to play with Lily?” Use picture books, photos, and videos to talk about other people’s facial expressions and think about what they might be feeling. In the classroom, you could choose books that spark discussion about emotions during literacy, such as The Day The Crayons Quit, Wonder, The Birds, or Hug Me (also available on CBeebies bedtime stories).
• Drawing, painting, and colouring – some children might benefit from drawing what they think their emotion looks like. This can help them to process it, as well as helping you understand how they’re feeling, reducing frustration on both sides.
• Modelling positive behaviours – show them how to handle challenging situations and disappointment appropriately by doing it yourself. You might tell them how you feel and why, then model coping strategies such as listening to music, taking a bath, or sitting in a calm, quiet area.

Tips for Improving a Child’s Emotional Development

We have collated five tips you can use to improve a child’s emotional development and encourage them to express their feelings.

1. Respond to their emotional cues

Recognising and responding to emotions is a two-way process – if you want to teach children how to do it, read the cues they are sending out and respond as soon as you can. Remember not to invalidate or dismiss their feelings. 

2. Help them express feelings in a positive way – even if this isn’t verbal

While we’ve discussed how important it is to express feelings verbally, sometimes this won’t be possible. In these cases, there are other ways that children can express themselves positively, such as having an outlet for the emotional energy – dancing, running, singing, or star jumps can be great for this, as can taking some deep breaths, or having time out to relax. Brainstorm strategies with the child when you can – what do they think might help?

In the classroom, strategies such as feelings boards (where each child places their name of a photograph of them into a different area of emotion on the board) and feelings scales (where you work with the child to develop a scale charting emotions from ‘one’ – calm and ready to learn – to ‘five’ – heightened negative emotions – and come up with strategies to help at each level) could help to get children thinking about how they feel and how to handle it.

3. Positively reinforce them

When the child expresses their feelings in an appropriate way, praise them. This shows them that feelings are normal and it’s OK to express them, but also reinforces that there is an appropriate way of doing so. The child will then be more likely to repeat the appropriate behaviour in the future.

4. Be approachable

Use open body language, friendly facial expressions, and kind words to show children that you’re there for them and open to what they have to say. Listen actively throughout conversations about feelings – don’t get distracted. Often, children only need to be heard and understood, and then they feel able to move past the problem.

5. Draw their attention to other children’s feelings

Young children aren’t aware of other people’s feelings in the same way that adults are – by drawing their attention to the fact that their actions can affect others, you can help them to make steps in their emotional development. If two children have an argument, listen to both perspectives, and discuss how both of them have needs and feelings that need to be resolved. Help to remind children of this consistently – for example, you might say: “Oh dear, Mo is sitting in the corner and he looks sad – why do you think he might be upset? Can you think of anything to do to make him feel better?”

Emotional development is important to children’s outcomes later on, and there are plenty of strategies that you can use to be supportive and encouraging. Remember to be a good role model and use everyday situations as teaching points – building children’s abilities to understand, recognise, and express feelings reduces the likelihood of challenging behaviour. 

Further Resources:

• Challenging Behaviour Training
• How to Support SEMH in Schools
• Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?
• How to Deal with Challenging Behaviour in the Classroom
• What is Effective Questioning & Why Should I Use it in My Classroom?
• Conflict in the Classroom: Coaching Children in Acting Responsibly
• Understanding the Importance of Motivation in Education
• Promoting Social Development in Children Through Structured Group Play
• 8 Ideas for Building Resilience in Children at School
• Autism Feelings Chart for Children
• How to Support a Child with Autism in the Classroom
• Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries
• Supporting Language Development in the Early Years
• Mental Health Resource Pack for Schools
• What is Restorative Practice in Schools & Social Work?
• Child Mental Health Quiz
• Child Development Quiz
  

The post How to Encourage Children to Express Feelings & Emotions appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.