Role of the Team:
The Behaviour Support Team (BST) consists of a team of dedicated practitioners with extensive experience of working in Rhondda Cynon Taf schools to promote children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and behaviour. The team is a part of the Local Authority’s Learner Support Service. This service strives to achieve positive outcomes for children and young people and their families and aims to support schools to develop a culture of positive and effective behaviour management. RCT has invested in trai8ning from Nurture UK for every school and is developing a Trauma Informed Approach.
We believe that:
- behaviour is a means of communicating unmet needs
- every child and young person deserves to be heard and can be taught strategies to succeed and learn
- every child and young person has a right to equality of opportunity, inclusion and have their individual needs be met through a child-centred approach
- every child and young person can develop their social, emotional and behavioural skills and create their own opportunities for change
- early and targeted support can help to develop independence and emotional resilience
- positive relationships between school, families, children and young people help to overcome barriers to learning and engagement
- parents/carers are powerful agents of change for their children
- Every child and young person can flourish, develop their individual strengths and make a valuable contribution to society.
Core approaches include consultation, advice and guidance for schools in supporting social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) at a whole school, group and individual level, assessment and identification of learner needs, responses to individual referrals and bespoke packages of training for professional development. Schools access support through a referral process; new referrals are discussed each week. Advice, support and guidance can be provided in Welsh and English.
Through effective partnership working the BST will aim to improve the experiences and inclusion of children and young people with significant social, emotional and behaviour difficulties thus reducing the need for schools to exclude.
Support Available for School Strategic Development:
- Advice and provision of training for teachers and support staff including Team Teach accreditation.
- Facilitation of a multi-agency approach to behaviour management
- Advice to schools on fixed term and permanent exclusion processes
- Advice on exclusion prevention strategies
- systemic work to support school development and improvement.
- consultation and advice on positive relationship, behaviour and wellbeing related policies and procedure development
- Supportive visits to address areas of concern e.g. exclusion, bullying incidents, use of time out, positive physical intervention etc.
- support for school based project work and interventions
- whole school audit and reviews e.g. anti-bullying strategies; ALN provision for behaviour/wellbeing etc
- Advising schools on national and local developments in relation to behaviour and wellbeing.
Support available to schools to support Group Interventions:
These can include:
- consultation advice and guidance on group interventions and/or strategies to improve behaviour and wellbeing
- group interventions aimed at the development of social, emotional and behavioural skills
- analysis of classroom relationships and the development of interventions to bring about change
- development of transition approaches
- supporting schools to develop in house provision for vulnerable, disaffected and/or disengaged learners
- support for classroom management and organisation
- modelling and collaborative teaching to promote strong classroom management of behaviour and positive relationships
- Environmental analysis and interventions.
- Provision of training for specific co-operative play sessions during unstructured times e.g. lunch times,
- The social skills of learners and enhance the skills of support staff
Support available from the Behaviour Support Team for Individuals:
These can include:
- consultation, advice and guidance on interventions to improve behaviour and wellbeing
- consultation, advice and guidance on the development of Individual Play Plans, Individual Behaviour Plans, Pastoral Support Plans, Risk Assessments, Positive Handling Plans
- Involvement in progress reviews e.g. Person Centred Plans, Pastoral Support Plans, and Risk Assessments
- collaborative development of pupil support strategies
- coaching children and young people around behaviour strategies
- behaviour surgeries/advice drop-ins for children, young people, school staff or parents
- dedicated transition and re-integration support
- solution-focused and therapeutic interventions
- observation and assessment of children and young people’s needs
- advice, support and training for classroom and pastoral staff
- restorative interventions, meetings and conferences
- multi-agency work to support parents/carers, including attendance at meetings
- exclusion advice and guidance
- support to facilitate re-integration following a period of exclusion
- representation at panels/Disciplinary Committee meetings
Rights, Respect and Equality - Anti-Bullying Guidance
RCT guidance based on Welsh Government anti-bullying guidance to challenge bullying in schools
The guidance is aimed at governing bodies for maintained schools, local authorities, parents, carers and children and young people.