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Behaviour Support Team

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 traded service with the Learner Support Service that works in partnership with those schools that have opted to purchase traded Behaviour Support Team from the Local Authority (LA) under the terms of a Service Level Agreement between the LA and schools on an individual basis. 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.

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 that 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 opportunity 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 services that the service can provide include consultation, advice and guidance for schools in supporting a wide range of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) at a whole school, group and individual level, assessment and identification of learner needs, responses to individual referrals, bespoke packages of training for professional development.

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.

Our Team Commitment

We are committed to providing an accessible and responsive service. In exceptional circumstances, and in the event of a serious breach of the school behaviour policy, children and young people can be prioritised for urgent involvement. This would need to be negotiated with the member of staff concerned and supported by evidence of informed parental consent confirmed in writing.  Support services for schools are provided on three levels, reflecting the graduated response outlined in the Code of Practice for Wales.

Support Available from the Behaviour Support Team on Strategic Interventions:

  • Advice and provision of training around SEBD issues for teachers and a range of support staff.
  • Facilitation of a multi-agency approach to behaviour management
  • Advice and training to schools on Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP) targets and strategies
  • Advice to schools on fixed term and permanent exclusion processes
  • Advice on exclusion prevention strategies
  • systemic work to support school development and improvement, including supportive reviews
  • consultation and advice on behaviour and wellbeing related policies and procedure development
  • Support and challenge 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 relating to School Improvement Plans
  • whole school audit and reviews e.g. anti-bullying strategies; SEN provision for behaviour/wellbeing etc
  • Advising schools on national and local developments in relation to behaviour and wellbeing.

Support available to schools who wish the Behaviour Support Team 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 using sociometric data and the development of interventions to bring about change (Wellbeing in Education project)
  • development of transition approaches
  • supporting schools to develop in house provision for vulnerable, disaffected and/or disengaged learners
  • development work on pilot projects
  • support for classroom management and organisation
  • modelling and collaborative teaching to promote strong classroom management of behaviour and positive relationships (Circle time and Circle of friends)
  • Environmental analysis and interventions.
  • Provision of specific co-operative play sessions during unstructured times e.g. lunch times, to improve
  • The social skills of learners and enhance the skills of support staff

Support available from the Behaviour Support Team for Individual Interventions:

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 reviews of progress e.g. school action/school action plus, statements of SEN, Pastoral Support Plans, and Team around the Family etc.
  • collaborative development of pupil support strategies
  • specialist support and direct interventions to address social, emotional and behavioural needs
  • 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
  • report writing 
  • 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
  • telephone and e-mail support
  • representation at panels/Disciplinary Committee meetings 

Anti-Bullying Policy

New Welsh Government anti-bullying guidance to challenge bullying in schools

The guidance, aimed at governing bodies for maintained schools, local authorities, parents, carers and children and young people.

The guidance can be accessed at: https://gov.wales/anti-bullying-guidance