When teens take risks

Testing boundaries may be a normal part of growing up, but many forms of risk-taking behaviours pose serious dangers to young people’s health and well-being. Simon Legrand reports on a new programme which aims to help teenagers understand and mitigate the risks they face in everyday life.

Risk-taking behaviour in adolescence is nothing new. It’s part of their transition from childhood to adolescence, and the move towards independence from parents and families.

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      string(5639) "31www.teachingtimes.com n Vol 2.1Leading LearningSENSchool Leadership TodayThe value of earlyinterventionEarly support for children struggling with SEN can save thousandsof pounds helping them at secondary school– so why aren’t more schools investing inspecialist tutors, asks Jean GrossEvery year, the number of children identified as having special educational needsrises. Expenditure grows to match. But does the 5.1 billion invested last year – upfrom 4.1 billion in 2005-06 – offer value for money?Ofsted and the National Strategies say no, and the statistics support them.Children with SEN don’t seem to do any better year-on-year in SATs or GCSEs, despite theincreased spend. Even though literacy and numeracy difficulties are the most commontypes of SEN, and schools spend heavily on supporting children with these difficulties, the32 Vol 2.1 n www.teachingtimes.comLeading Learning SENpercentage of children achieving below level 3 in Englishand/or maths at the end of key stage 2 has bumped alongthe 8 per cent mark since 1998. In secondary schools, onlyaround 50 per cent of pupils who have SEN and who got alevel 4 in science, maths or English at the end of key stage2 (so can be assumed ‘intellectually capable’ of achieving atage-related levels) achieve level 5 by the end of key stage 3.Nor has our investment in SEN had much effect onbehavioural difficulties. About 70 per cent of permanentlyexcluded children are on special needs registers.Investment in SEN could have made a difference inpersonal and life skills. But we have no evidence in this area,since we have no agreed means of assessing and recordingchildren’s development. We do know, from the Ofsted ‘TellUs’ survey, that pupils with SEN are less likely to say theyhave good relationships with friends and very much morelikely to report that they have been bullied.Is there a better way? If the evidence of impact of SENspend is slender, it is important to look at schools that havereduced their number of children with persistent literacy,numeracy, speech and language or social, emotional andbehavioural difficulties. These schools tend to rely on highlytrained specialists – specialist teachers, expert mental healthworkers or speech and language therapists.Most schools do not spend their SEN budgets onspecialists, but on in-class support from teaching assistants.Research has shown that children of all ages receivingsupport of this nature make less progress than children whodo not receive such support but are otherwise similar (that is,matched for SEN status, prior attainment, behaviour, socialdisadvantage and all the other factors that could have ledthem to need in-class support in the first place).These findings, reported by Peter Blatchford andhis colleagues in the last issue of this magazine, makeuncomfortable reading. But most headteachers will still say:“My TAs are wonderful!” And so they are – this low-paidgroup of workers represent some of schools’ most dedicatedstaff, skilled in making warm relationships with children andmuch valued by class and subject teachers.So what’s going on? Research shows that TAs tendto make children dependent – rather than teach themstrategies to manage their own learning.An example comes from David Moore, an inspector, whoobserved a secondary class being taught about the spinningjenny. The worksheets were difficult, and the TA (who hada physics degree) was encouraging a boy to ask the teacherwhat they meant. “Don’t get worried,” the boy told her, “Inever do.” When the inspector asked him what he meant, hesaid: “Cos she’s here to do the work for me, i’n’t she?”TAs focus more on activities than on learning outcomes.If the child finishes the worksheet, that’s a success. Thepresence of a TA has also been shown to reduce the level ofcontact targeted children have with their peers, and vastlyreduce the amount of contact they have with their teachers.One headteacher said: “Often our children who find ithardest to learn are working with the least skilled part of theworkforce.” Class and subject teachers, knowing that a childhas support, will turn their attention elsewhere. In affluentareas, where many TAs are graduates, this may not matter.In disadvantaged areas, where special educational needs aremost prevalent and TAs are often less qualified, it matters agreat deal.The Every Child a Reader and Every Child Countsprogrammes give examples of the results that can beachieved with specialist teachers. In 2008-09, over half of allchildren involved in Every Child Counts had been identifiedby their schools as having SEN. But as a result of an average20 hours of one-to-one help from a teacher with one year’sspecialist training, two in three of these children achievedlevel 2 or above in maths at the end of key stage 1. None hadbeen predicted to do so.Results for the Every Child a Reader programme aresimilar. About 57 per cent of children on the programmehave SEN, but nearly 80 per cent catch up with their peersafter an average of 40 hours of daily one-to-one tuition froma highly trained Reading Recovery teacher.These results appear to be lasting. Researchers from theInstitute of Education (in The impact of Reading Recoverythree years after intervention) monitored the progress of 73very disadvantaged children who took part in Every Child aReader in 2005 when they were in year 1. Even though thechildren had wide-ranging problems associated with generalability, language, behaviour and home environment, their33www.teachingtimes.com n Vol 2.1Leading LearningSENreading and"
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Leadership

The value of early intervention

11 Apr 2010

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      string(5655) "their workshop helpful, 96% agreed that it had increased their knowledge about how to communicate effectively with their child’s school, and 98% felt able to practise and reinforce key strategies. The parents of the severely bullied children who attended the ZAP workshops were given the tools to support them, so it was encouraging that they continued to report a greatly increased level of confidence, knowledge and most importantly, a sense of empowerment when liaising with schools and a variety of outside agencies.The two-month surveys that families have completed have given us some useful insights into the longer-term impact of the workshops for both children and parents.  77% of parents have reported that their child is more confident, 70% that they are more able to deal with bullying and 81% that they feel better about themselves.  Parents have spoken of the benefit to both their child and themselves, but in particular about the transformation it has brought to their child’s life: Chloe’s* mum from Birmingham:  “Before the workshop, she didn’t feel like she was of the same calibre as some of her girlfriends. But now she thinks of herself as an amazing girl like them.” Ben’s* mum from London: “We signed up, not knowing how incredible it was going to be. Now Ben knows what bullying is, he has the tools and he knows what should and shouldn’t be accepted and tolerated. He’s such a happy little boy now.”Cerys’s mum from Newcastle:  “She will just say, stop it, go away, leave me alone and walk away – whereas before she would either get really upset or lash out… it’s helped her take a step back.”Zayam’s* mum from Birmingham:  “He has become so much more assertive now; he’s a lot more confident. He doesn’t feel like he’s the only one, that there’s something wrong with him because he met other children there who were like him, just normal boys.”*Names have been changedThese findings are representative of those yielded by our analysis of ZAP evaluations since the original version of the programme was launched in 2000. The children’s reactions remain the most powerful evidence of the ZAP course. When they first arrive for their session they are generally anxious and withdrawn. By lunchtime the majority have become relaxed and excited. At the end of the session they greet their parents very positively, with a new confidence and an eagerness to discuss the skills that they have learned. The findings gathered from numerous ZAP sessions make it reasonable to conclude that they support our original hypothesis.The type of intervention offered by the teaching of the Kidscape toolbox can successfully break the negative cycle caused by bullying. It is for this reason that we have incorporated it as an important element of our other major programmes. For example, Kidscape’s Primary Bullying Intervention Training (BIT), a Department for Education funded project, provided free at the point of delivery early intervention and anti-bullying training to primary school professionals and children in years 4 and 5 in 13 London boroughs. Between 2013- 2016 more than 20,000 children across 250 schools were equipped with vital life skills with an emphasis on prevention. The feedback from school staff was consistently positive and evaluations provided by the children were also extremely encouraging:92% felt that the lessons helped them understand how bullying affects people.83% felt more able to help someone who is being bullied.82% felt better about themselves.“Doing the bullying sessions has made me feel confident to stand up for myself.”“The most useful thing I have learnt is to never be a bully and also how people feel when they have been bullied.”The significant impact of the Kidscape tool box, as initially evidenced through the development and evolution of ZAP, also led us to design a programme aimed at diverting young people from pathways into offending. Positive Assertiveness Confidence Skills (PACS) is a preventative and early intervention model aimed at challenging and vulnerable young people in years 5 – 8. It provides practical skills training based on the Kidscape toolbox with the addition of anger management, conflict resolution and mediation modules. Between 2012 and 2015 PACS staff delivered over 62,000 hours of training across three counties to 5,200 students aged 8-13 within 250 schools with at least one staff member trained in each.Over 75% of students who participated in the programme reported that they were equipped with strategies that helped them to remain calm in challenging situations and that they felt confident about using these strategies. Over 50% felt more assertive since completing PACS and 30% found it easier to understand other people’s points of view.  Before the intervention 50% were likely to respond to challenging situations with aggression. After participating in the PACS programme only 19% felt that they would respond in that way. Importantly 75% of staff in participating schools saw an improvement in pupils’ attitude towards learning, and 85% saw improved levels of confidence leading to greater engagement with the curriculum. Feedback from young people, project leads and other professionals who have experienced PACS has been very positive, as shown below:“I have anger issues. Doing PACS helped me not to make things physical.”“It’s helped me to control myself. I’m now better at walking away from an argument.” (Two year 6 boys interviewed in July 2015 –"
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Behaviour

"I will not be bullied!"

13 Mar 2017

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      string(5628) "There is a high incidence of young people with special educational needs in the youth justice system. For all those who enter the system with EHC Plans/Statements of SEN or additional needs, there are more than double this number who enter the system with unidentified needs. They have gone through the education system, without their needs being ‘picked up’. There is a moral imperative on society, and particularly on youth offending teams across the country to do something about it, to secure better outcomes for these young people. In this article Marius Frank looks at a Department for Education funded project, which aims to do just that and is having promising results.The project- the Youth Justice SEND Project brings together Achievement for All, the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers and Manchester Metropolitan University to support professionals to bring about a culture and behaviour change around effective SEND joint working. Funded by the Department for Education (co-managed with Youth Justice Board and Ministry of Justice) it builds on the pioneering work of both the Council for Disabled Children and Sheffield Futures. The project which endeavours to continue driving and embedding a culture-change around effective SEND joint working, transforming outcomes for young people with SEND who offend (or who are at risk of dong so)is focused around the following strands:  a)  Building local networks and sharing good practice: Creating effective, active and sustainable local networks of professionals and sector champions (including representatives of local authorities, Youth Offending Teams, health, social care, education providers and the secure estate) that are able to develop and implement practice that improves outcomes for these young people.b)  Continuing to build knowledge and understanding of the SEND reforms (building on last year’s work led by CDC and Sheffield Futures)- particularly around how the reforms impact on current practice within the Youth Justice System through research and through the networks established through this project (sharing evidence based effective practice and innovation). Engage busy professionals with ideas that help meet their needs, including new cross-cutting training.c)   Monitoring outcomes and improving the system – Helping the sector monitor and analyse local authority SEN and disability support and outcomes of children and young people pre-, during and post-custody and address identified weaknesses and gaps (using evidence and data to best effect). d)  Working with young offenders and their parents – Building a good understanding of the challenges that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents, have prior to, during and post custody.ResultsThe results are promising and show that by embedding this type of joint approach around the young people, better outcomes are possible.  220 survey responses were analysed, from 86 Youth Offending Teams (YOT) covering 92 Local Authorities. Witness testimonies were gathered through a series of regional workshops across the country from nearly 400 professionals working across youth offending and LA SEND straddling nearly 120 Local Authority areas, as well as some staff from the secure estate, charities working in the sector and NHS England. Interviews were secured with over 30 children and young people within (or with recent experience of) the secure estate.Key Findings show that:a.  The proportion of children and young people they are working with who may have SEND is higher than official statistics suggest (both in the case of CYP with needs that are significant enough to trigger the EHCP process, and those that schools and academies would normally support through delegated SEN Support funding)b.  Information flow and case management between LA SEND Teams and YOTs appears to be adequate in some instances, with room to improve in many areas of the countryc.  Information flow and provision continuity between sending LAs and secure estate lacks consistency; whilst some outstanding practice is apparent, there is much that can be improved in terms of communication, liaison and meeting individual learner needs within elements of the secure estated.  LA Staff have welcomed a professional support and development resource to illuminate the youth justice pathway more clearly, and YOTs have welcomed a similar resource that helps all staff understand the types of SEN that are prevalent in the youth justice system, and a database of strategies ideas and advice from other providers to inform intelligent design and redesign of local services (The Youth Justice SEND Bubble)e.  Some YOTs find it extremely hard to secure adequate resources to support CYPs with SEN in the youth justice system. However, there are examples of local effective practice that other areas can learn from.Effective practice includes:1. 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Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Caught in the Youth Justice System!

16 Oct 2017

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Ele Ramsay argues that failure to detect thisdisability results in children being excluded, punished and evencriminalised.Diagnosing difficultiesChildren with speech, language and communication problems have difficulty:Expressing themselves through speaking, writing or non-verbal communicationUnderstanding the spoken or written word, body language and facial expressionsListening to what is being said to themRemembering the information they receiveExpressing their feelings and emotions in an appropriate way e.g. theymay use violence instead of words to express themselvesRelating to others in socially acceptable ways.The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)has developed an “SOS” (or seven Signs Of Speech language andcommunication problems) to look out for in children, which may indicatethat a child has communication disability:“My child can find it difficult to say what they want or to understand people.”“My child doesn’t talk as much as children of the same age.”“My child seems to get stuck on some words.”“People find it difficult to understand what my child is saying.”“My child gets teased about the way they talk.”“My child finds it difficult to talk to other children and make friends.”“My child’s voice sounds strange.”The RCSLT recommends that if people hear parents or carers refer to a childin one of these seven ways, they should recommend a referral for assessmentto a speech and language therapist.nnnnnnand less responsive to therapy.Communication disability can lead todevelopmental disadvantage, behaviouralproblems, emotional difficulties and mentalillness. 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Special Needs

Are you talking to me?

20 Dec 2010