Page 50 - SEN114 September/October 2021

SEMH
Applying mentally
healthy schools resources
Rahi Popat reflects on the values and practical approaches of his school, and how the Mentally Healthy Schools resource hub has supported their efforts to better understand and nurture their pupils.
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Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) is a term that describes a range of difficulties. You’re most likely to hear it when discussing a young person’s ‘naughty’ or ‘bad’ behaviour. But that behaviour is just
the symptom – SEBD students actually have a huge variety of needs and are facing a wide range of issues, and a vital part of my job is working to understand what’s really going on with a student.
It’s easy to apply a label like behavioural difficulties, but once you scratch beneath the surface, you often see that there are so many things that could be causing the behaviour. It could be something in their environment or things going on at home. As we build a relationship with the student we can understand them better, help them manage their emotions and behaviour, and become more self-aware and self-reflective.
A student might also have issues such as ADHD, autism, sensory, medical or cognitive difficulties. Such issues can be the catalyst that makes the student display SEBD. We have to strip back the behaviour and look at the layers, and see what is causing them to behave that way. Sometimes it’s a cry for help, and the behaviour is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Look at exactly what their needs and difficulties are”
A student with SEBD may also have social anxiety or emotional regulation problems. A lot of our pupils struggle to form friendships and relationships. They may have an idea of how to interact with people, but those skills are not honed or developed.
We often find that we have to help them regulate their emotions. They might get things out of proportion, or they might be non- verbal or unable to communicate for a host of reasons. If they fall into that bracket, we try to manage the situation using the tools that we have at our disposal. We look at exactly what their needs and difficulties are, and how we can best help that specific child. We’ve found the Mentally Healthy Schools website (mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk) really useful for this
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