1. Quality Relationships
Going beyond behaviour management techniques: Relationships for wellbeing and learning Ian Hunkin The Harbour School Portsmouth
Quality Relationships

2. Aims:
An overview of the key messages from research regarding going beyond behaviour management techniques to identify what schools can do to support children and young people through relationships for wellbeing and learning.
To have the opportunity to start to reflect on your own practice with regard to these key messages and identify both what you are already doing well and ideally one or two additional actions to support children and young people.
To have the opportunity to feedback the next priorities for further development as a whole school.
To be signposted to further information and training opportunities.

3. The good news is that schools can and often do make a difference
Research regarding promoting resilience in children and young people demonstrates that the most effective protective factors that we can provide for children and young people’s future success in life are:
Someone who believes in you as a worthwhile person.
A sense of belonging – opportunities to participate in your community.
High expectations – being encouraged to do your best in all situations.
“The evidence shows that consistent small positive differences in what we say and do, the expectations we have and the support we provide to meet these, have the potential overtime to impact on improved motivation, engagement and behaviour in even the most challenging students.”
Sue Roffey (Changing Behaviour in Schools, 2011)

4. Going beyond behaviour management techniques to support children and young people through relationships for wellbeing and learning.
Sue Roffey in her review of changing behaviour in schools (2011) concludes that, “The core message is that positive relationships and school connectedness lead to both improved learning and better behaviour for all students.”
She concludes that we need to go beyond behaviour management techniques to identify what we might do to support long term changes in behaviour through:
Showing students that they are worthwhile and wanted
Modelling wanted behaviour
Maximising participation
Helping students identify their strengths and encourage them to set their own goals
Emphasising choice rather than control (though still being clear about boundaries and consequences)
I wholeheartedly agree with all of the above and would add:
Teaching students the skills they need to succeed
Activity: Self-review

5. Relationships for wellbeing and learning start with a specific mindset / philosophy
Sue Roffey encourages us to reflect upon how we think about children and young people’s behaviour as how we think influences how we feel and what we do. She promotes a philosophy that moves away from seeing CYP as bad or mad and instead seeing challenging behaviour as:
an interaction with the environment
an attempt to get basic needs met
a SEN or developmental delay
This philosophy is best represented, for me, by the following success and failure cycles for children and young people.

6. Success Shared, Celebrated and Reinforced
The Success Cycle
Improved
Self-Image
Positive Attitude
Small Steps of Success
Self-Esteem and Relationships
Experience of Success
Success Shared, Celebrated and Reinforced
Note: Success breeds success

7. Increasingly negative self-image Limited range of skills
The Failure Cycle
Reduced confidence to try out new skills to solve problems
Increasingly negative self-image
Limited range of skills
Self-Esteem and Relationships
Attempt to get needs met with limited success and frequent failure
Situation requiring skill(s) which are not yet learned

8. At The Harbour School we use the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach (CPSA)
“Behind every challenging behaviour is an unsolved problem or skills that have not yet been learned (or both)”
Ross Greene (Lost at School, 2009)
Therefore our task becomes to teach young people the skills to be able to solve their own problems and get their own needs met in a positive way.

9. There are three key parts to the CPSA:
An mindset / philosophy towards the children and young who we work with that is summed up by Ross Greene as, “Kids do well if they can” or “Behind every challenging behaviour is an unsolved problem or skills that have not yet been learned (or both).”
A recognition that to help children and young people presenting with challenging behaviour we need to go beyond behaviour management techniques to teach them the social and emotional skills that they have not yet learned.
Collaborative Problem Solving promotes the use of a 3 step approach to support children and young people to solve their own problems.

10. The 3 step approach of CPSA:
Empathy or Listening Step (identifying the child’s concern with them)
Define the Problem Step (restating the child’s concern and stating your concern)
Invitation Step (problem solve solutions together and agree the best way forward)
NB. Ideally proactive rather than emergency

11. Collaborative Problem Solving overtime
The CPSA was first developed by Dr Ross Greene in his work with children and young people with Oppositional Defiance Disorder, children whom Greene describes as ‘explosive in temperament.’ The approach has been proven to be highly effective in schools, families and residential settings (including young offenders institutions) in that its use, overtime, has led to reductions in challenging behaviour and children and young people learning to solve future problems peacefully.
The use of the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach overtime, after multiple repetitions, with a young person should significantly reduce challenging behaviour. Problems will be solved one at a time. The young person will learn that his/her concerns will be heard and addressed. And, at the same time, the young person will be learning skills which are crucial to handling life’s social, emotional and behavioural challenges.

12. Relationships for wellbeing and learning
“The core message is that positive relationships and school connectedness lead to both improved learning and better behaviour for all students.”
Sue Roffey (2011)
“The beginning and end of outstanding teaching is great relationships in the classroom. All other efforts are wasted if relationships in the classroom are not built on trust, respect and co-operation. This is how the scene is set for deep learning to occur and how the challenges of an active learning environment are traversed. Focus on building relationships during every term and all other measures will flow far more easily.”
Elizabeth Holmes (2013)

13. DfE and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in schools
Provides stimulation, challenge and opportunities to use diverse talents
Makes children feel individually valued
Promotes ownership and belonging; promotes social interaction; makes children feel known and cared about as individuals
Makes children feel safe and secure
Meets physical needs

14. Aims:
An overview of the key messages from research regarding going beyond behaviour management techniques to identify what schools can do to support children and young people through relationships for wellbeing and learning.
To have the opportunity to start to reflect on your own practice with regard to these key messages and identify both what you are already doing well and ideally one or two additional actions to support children and young people.
To have the opportunity to feedback the next priorities for further development as a whole school.
To be signposted to further information and training opportunities.

15. Signposting to other information
Useful article: Changing Behaviour from the Inside Out by Sue Roffey
Summary handout: The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach
Useful book: Lost at School by Ross Greene
Useful web site:
Useful action: Self-Review based on Sue Roffey’s work

16. A final word from Sue Roffey
“The core message is that positive relationships and school connectedness lead to both improved learning and better behaviour for all students.” “Research regarding risk and resilience identifies having someone who believes in you as worthwhile as the strongest protective factor to develop resilience.” “There are educators all over the world making a difference in changing the life trajectory of our most vulnerable and hard to manage children. They invariably do this by establishing relationships that give the child a positive self-concept and the opportunity to experience success.”

17. A final word from the young people
A good teacher…
Is kind
Is fair
Listens
Helps
Has faith in me
Encourages
Takes time to help and explain

18. …………………… Non-teflon activity
“To keep doing the same things that you have always done and expect things to change is a form of insanity”
……………………
Activity: Please complete your evaluation.