CSS South QuadrantSharon Wilson – Headteacher

Complex PRU made up of three centres, off site team, hospital schoolroom, crèche for babies of teenage mumsAll ages taught 5-16All students out of schoolMedical, psychological, social, behaviourPrimary Unit – BESD – mostly statementedPathways project – 20 KS4 students with BESD statements.At present approx 200 children with 50 with statementsRises to 300 by February110 staff (teachers, TAs, engagement mentors, HSLWs, admin, caretakers and cleaners)

• When we agreed to work with the NCB on this project I was Head of a PRU which had one Centre – 65-80 students, 40 staff.

• We started to work with the NCB in early 2010 on a project funded by the DCSF, “Building capacity to meet the mental health needs of young people in Pupil Referral Units”

After meeting with Jacqui Newvell (NCB) and Liz Brown (consultant) we took part in a “matching needs and services audit”

We had the luxury of spending two days finding out what the needs of our young people really were. We looked at needs such as

Living situation Family and social relationships Social and antisocial behaviour Physical and psychological health Education and employment

Working with NCB

AUDIT

We discovered that our young people had a very diverse set of mental health needs, caused by:

Poor adult/child relationships Impact of loss or trauma Poor care at home Inconsistent boundaries at home Domestic violence Inability to make friends Impact of physical illness Parental drug /drink misuse or mental health

problems

AUDIT

Examples of the needs of the Young People Year 10 student whose mother has rejected her.

She self harms, is anorexic and has been a psychiatric in-patient

Year 11 student whose relationship with his mother has broken down. His gang seems to have become his family. He is violent and involved in crime.

Year 5 child who is unable to interact with other children. His clothes are dirty, he does not know how to play and sometimes chooses not tospeak.

AUDIT

Interesting outcomes 68% significant impairment threshold 51% low self esteem 68% mental health problems 59% single parent households 30% serious problems with family relationships 17% suffering loss and trauma 20% parents misusing drugs/alcohol

Out of 63 children 62 were thought to have needs that were not met or only partially met

What next?

Following the publication of the audit, (early 2011) we worked with staff to identify how we could better meet the needs of the young people, and what training we might need to do so.

The Caspari Foundation was identified by NCB to deliver the training, and Jacqui, Michael Reeves from Caspari and I worked on a programme.

We decided to concentrate on training that helped staff to understand where children were coming from, and how their early experiences impacted on their behaviour and mental health.

Caspari Training Four days – whole staff training including support

staff + our tier two mental health workers Three days – small group more intensive work We worked with a number of highly skilled trainers Marie Delaney led the main days Jenny Dover led the small group work Michael Reeves did all the organisation At the end of each main day we held a discussion

group with me, my deputies and Marie. These were fun and often challenging, and the next training day was adjusted according to our discussion.

Caspari Training

Main days Day 1 - teaching the unteachable – what lies behind

pupils’ behaviour Day 2 – attachment, neuroscience and the classroom Day 3 – unconscious processes and systemic ideas Day 4 – Using therapeutic approachesSmall Group days Day 1 – families and attachment Day 2 - thinking about unconscious processes in

families Day 3 – therapeutic approaches and families

Caspari training – the impact

The training reinforced, challenged and expanded our

understanding and beliefs.

The importance of managing our own state…

As teachers we manage relationships which are often full of unmanaged emotion.

We need to reflect consciously on our own emotional (and physical) states.

Our emotional state both affects and is affected by our students.

Our own feelings are valid and suppressing them blocks thinking

The Caspari Training

Challenged our beliefs by asking us to consider therapeutic thinking to reflect on behaviour looking at:

Unconscious Defence MechanismsContainmentAttachment TheoryTherapeutic Stories and Tasks

Unconscious Defence Mechanisms

Projection – Students projecting their feelings on us or us projecting our feelings on the students.

What we are doing now considering our feelings and how they are

affecting our students and vice versa. building opportunities for us and students

to discuss feelings and thoughts in lessons and in the curriculum.

Unconscious Defence Mechanisms

Displacement – the displacement of feelings for one person onto another.

What we are doing now reminding ourselves that these feelings

might not be meant for us. using the emotion to investigate its origin

and help the student to come to a realisation.

Unconscious Defence Mechanisms

Transference – when old feelings are triggered by events in the present.

What we are doing now reminding ourselves that transference can

be triggered by all kinds of things such as a look or even a tone of voice.

reminding ourselves that students may trigger in us negative transferred emotions.

look at ways to break the pattern of transference.

Attachment Theory When a person has not developed a

relationship with at least one primary care giver, social and emotional development may not occur normally

What we are doing now Creating opportunities to build trust. Modelling positive interactions and responses. Actively teaching students how to positively

manage their emotions and feelings.

Therapeutic Stories and Tasks

We were shown how stories, pictures and tasks could be used to externalise some

of the anxiety, rage and fear that can block learning and development.

What we are doing now Considering how we can use the

curriculum therapeutically Consider the relationships between

tasks, students and teachers.

Our understanding was expanded when we discussed that…

Our Reptilian Brain was the “emotional alarm centre” for our brain.

What we are doing now Considering the emotional state of the

students (and ourselves) when giving instructions.

Using the knowledge to help the students regulate and manage the feelings and decision making progress (and our own)

Using the rethink principles

Is the behaviour a result of an unmet need from the child’s earlier life?

Children without boundaries go in search of them

There are two people in the teaching/learning relationship

We cannot change young people only our reaction to them

Holding onto the ability to think and not just react is crucial

We need to notice what is working

How we have responded

By creating or utilising thinking spaces, such as Behaviour Forums and de-briefing sessions so that we can reflect and off load.

By using positive anchors more widely (such as “good books” “success walls” and even private anchors) to remind us all of positive times and what we can achieve.

By reinforcing the open and collaborative nature of the service, so that we are able to discuss our feelings with each other in a non judgemental solution focused way.

How we have responded

By reminding us that our feelings are important and influence student behaviour.

By reminding us that we should focus on things that we can control (ourselves)

By reinforcing the service ethos of focusing on the positives and on solution focused thinking.

Made me more aware of the behaviour of pupils and how to respond to it

Made me reflect on my teaching styles Gave me the opportunity to reflect and

challenge some of the ways that I work It made me think about how I react to the

pupils and how they see me Improved my awareness of my own feelings

and therefore my responses A better understanding of where our pupils are

coming from and how we can help / support them in managing their emotions

What do staff say?

I Consider pupils’ home lives more I am more aware of students’ behaviour in

terms of power seeking, attention seeking, etc I approach the way I speak to students

differently, understanding how I could be placing my feelings for another person onto them

It helped us to understand how early childhood trauma can affect the adolescents we work with

It has helped me not to take the pupils’ rants personally

What do staff say?

Thinking consciously what underlying defence mechanisms might be in operation

Recognising what is coming from us and what from the child

Thinking about the child in terms of attachment

Re-framing behaviour and asking ourselves what underlying need it might be showing us

Creating positive expectations of students Planning tasks which take into account the

student’s emotional and social development and attachment needs.

Skills we are developing

Overall the Caspari Training

Made us more reflective practitioners Made us realise that “thinking” is action Made us consider more greatly that to

manage behaviour we must manage our own. Gave us a shared vocabulary Gave us formats for discussions about

students Made us realise that by being more aware of

emotional states we can help students access education more easily

Assessment tools

Following the training Berni Graham was brought in to design an assessment tool to measure soft outcomes.

This has been a collaborative working exercise between us and Berni, and we are very pleased with the outcome.

As a PRU we make as much or more difference to these soft outcomes than we do to academic levels.

Progress, both academic and non academic are extremely important to the students at a PRU, and measuring both are vital.

Challenges

Having so much training of one kind caused some staff to lose the focus of “education” and make too much allowance for bad behaviour

The organisation of training for 100 staff Using all our inset days in one year on one

aspect of our work Having to re-address the balance this year

towards the academic Balancing the academic and the non

academic.

SUCCESS

Overall the whole experience has been enlightening, inspiring, developmental.

When we started the training we had just been restructured and there was a lot of angst among staff

The training brought us together physically and emotionally.

We had to work together, and learn together It helped to steer us all in the same direction It helped us become a team.

Jacqui Liz Michael Marie Jenny All the other presenters Berni

Thank you NCB and Caspari