Supporting students through behaviour improvement programmes

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How did behaviour improvement programmes support schools, students and parents?

Behaviour professional either in BESTs (BIP) or engaged through contact between teacher coaches and the LA (PBAP) carried out a range of interventions in order to support teachers, students and their parents, including:

One-to-one interventions
Group interventions for pupils, such as circle time sessions, anger management groups, nurture groups
Transition Work for students between school phases
Establishing effective links with parents
Support for parents
Whole-school approaches that focused mostly on behaviour management, including guidance in devising behaviour policies and classroom management techniques.

Behaviour professionals helped to provide support at whole school, group and individual level. For example, BESTs adopted a number of approaches towards individual work including pupil (one-to one), family therapy and in-school support (e.g. learning support). Other approaches they used included: outdoor pursuits activities; relaxation techniques; crime reduction sessions; and a ‘psychology for young people’ course (a whole class lesson focusing on identifying and labeling feelings). In addition, several teams offered consultation or ‘surgery’ sessions to schools (and in one case parents), during which team members were available to offer support and guidance on a range of issues including health problems and social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.

BESTs worked with parents through family workers, social workers and Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs). They were often able to improve the relationship between home and school and to open communication routes. This led to better understanding by each party of the other’s concerns and constraints, and resulted in more effective support for the child:

I’ve been quite effective in bringing parents and schools together,
trying to be a kind of mediator for them, because some of them had
never even been to the school gates, and were very negative about
their schooling. (Education welfare officer)

The PBAP included attempts to increase parental involvement in their children’s education through the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) activities which engaged children through circle time and PSHE. Whilst parental involvement was slow to develop some parents reported that both they and their children had been influenced by the programme:

‘I can see the positives in my son. …He talks a lot more about what is happening at school, whereas before it was very general, but now there are specific issues, bullying or things that people have said in circle time. He comes home and talks to me about them. It is like an opening in a way for things we have never really discussed before.’
(Parent)

Teachers believed SEAL had helped them in meetings with parents as the children were better able to explain what had happened and this made discussions easier.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How did the pupils benefit? How did schools and their staff benefit from working with other agencies? What impact did behaviour improvement programmes have on parents, families and the community? How did the location and structure of BESTs affect their work? How did behaviour improvement programmes support schools, students and parents? How was the evidence collected? What are the implications for practice? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader Supporting students through behaviour improvement programmes This digest found in Behaviour Send to a friend Word doc 90KB Printer friendly Collate for later How did behaviour improvement programmes support schools, students and parents? Behaviour professional either in BESTs (BIP) or engaged through contact between teacher coaches and the LA (PBAP) carried out a range of interventions in order to support teachers, students and their parents, including: One-to-one interventions Group interventions for pupils, such as circle time sessions, anger management groups, nurture groups Transition Work for students between school phases Establishing effective links with parents Support for parents Whole-school approaches that focused mostly on behaviour management, including guidance in devising behaviour policies and classroom management techniques. Behaviour professionals helped to provide support at whole school, group and individual level. For example, BESTs adopted a number of approaches towards individual work including pupil (one-to one), family therapy and in-school support (e.g. learning support). Other approaches they used included: outdoor pursuits activities; relaxation techniques; crime reduction sessions; and a ‘psychology for young people’ course (a whole class lesson focusing on identifying and labeling feelings). In addition, several teams offered consultation or ‘surgery’ sessions to schools (and in one case parents), during which team members were available to offer support and guidance on a range of issues including health problems and social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. BESTs worked with parents through family workers, social workers and Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs). They were often able to improve the relationship between home and school and to open communication routes. This led to better understanding by each party of the other’s concerns and constraints, and resulted in more effective support for the child: I’ve been quite effective in bringing parents and schools together, trying to be a kind of mediator for them, because some of them had never even been to the school gates, and were very negative about their schooling. (Education welfare officer) The PBAP included attempts to increase parental involvement in their children’s education through the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) activities which engaged children through circle time and PSHE. Whilst parental involvement was slow to develop some parents reported that both they and their children had been influenced by the programme: ‘I can see the positives in my son. …He talks a lot more about what is happening at school, whereas before it was very general, but now there are specific issues, bullying or things that people have said in circle time. He comes home and talks to me about them. It is like an opening in a way for things we have never really discussed before.’ (Parent) Teachers believed SEAL had helped them in meetings with parents as the children were better able to explain what had happened and this made discussions easier.