Strategies Used to Ensure Access to Education for a Pupil with Extreme Behavioural Issues By Rebecca Hayward Phoenix Centre

Starting points Background: Severe neglect In care at the age of 4 Attachment issues Initial Assessment: Visit to Amin in his home environment Amin began a placement in Phoenix December 2012

Initial Plan: After Initial Assessment One hour sessions One small room – link to home Transferential object – (hat) Three staff – each leading for 10 minutes at a time Focus on nurture activities and early years play activities Praise desired behaviours Ignore or distract from undesired behaviour Log book for staff to reflect on the session each day and adapt practice where needed.

Moving Out of the Main Room Moved to larger room. Three staff – each leading for 10 minutes at a time (after few weeks this moved to two) Increased time by half an hour Began to introduce a range of activities Use of timer to give Amin a sense of how long he was on an activity Ensured that staff were aware of Amin’s interests so that they can be incorporated into rewards. Began to introduce children to play with Amin

Where We are Now How this has been achieved Rigour and pace Consistent ways of working Clear structure to sessions Visual timetable Breaking the morning up into 3 activities at a time Daily reward system with something special to work towards. Daily reflection by staff on areas that need adapting to fit in with the needs of Amin. Amin attending Phoenix for three and a half hours Working with an increased range of staff (as long as core staff are present) Taking part in both nurture and academic based activities Beginning to take part in some of the larger group activities Working with up to 3 children at a time

We are beginning to see a boy who is happy to take part in a range of activities and loves to learn!

Next Steps Ensure that the rigour and pace is kept Gradually increase the time that Amin is in Phoenix. Train other staff to work with Amin using the strategies already in place. Gradually increase the time in which Amin spends in the ‘main group’ Ensure that all staff working with Amin are reflecting daily and adjusting practice where necessary.

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