Global Pandemic to Global Support - Restorative Approach

This week has been interesting. Alongside the normal anxieties of a new academic year, there has been the added unknown impact of lockdown. We can make bold statements, like, 'of course they don't need to catch up!' or 'Oh my god, they are 6 months behind!', or the most concerning, 'They are the lost generation.' 

Having had children back in school this week, it feels eerily normal. The honeymoon period is definitely upon us, much to everyone's relief: parents are skipping out of school, children are tired but happy, and the staff are firing on all cylinders. 

I would be lying if I didn't say there's a tense undercurrent to all this. The new routes around school, hand hygiene, the lack of mixing across key stages and staff is still the stark reality of the 'new normal'. Those adults and children who attended school during lockdown - you know, when we were closed (eye roll) - have modeled the routines to those still getting used to it.. 

During the lockdown period, all those in education have been beavering away, thinking about how to support those coming back and how they would tackle this faceless beast. I really enjoyed Rob Carpenter's 'Recovery Curriculum' talk and it really allowed me to reflect on the approach I thought was best for our school. Despite 'recovery' being the buzzword for most schools, I just didn't feel that it was right for us. We had already recovered from 'Special Measures' and being in a school in a particularly deprived locality, the negative connotations with the word itself, didn't feel appropriate. 

The team, as usual, have decided to use common sense and simplicity to support the school community. We had a mental health action plan in place before lockdown and we had made some good headway in supporting families in signposting and emotional awareness. Using the good practices in place, alongside the tiered approach (graduated approach) which I use in my SENCo role, was used to create our restorative tiered approach. 

 

Why restorative?

meaning: having the ability to restore health, strength, or well-being.

The school was in a good place, we had systems, approaches and consistency and we were working towards deepening this work. Schools know how to be nurturing and inclusive, those that have good practice haven't suddenly forgotten how to support pupils, despite the white noise of media, news and professionals working outside of schools telling us otherwise!  It's important that we do not lose confidence in our own abilities or think that everything that went before to support mental health and well being was a bit, well, crap.  

 

The approach

 My first plan was to use our school values and create a crib sheet that would give ideas to support pupils and families. It really didn't work. It meant the types of support were scatter-gunned around and it was a hard to navigate. My teachers very quickly told me (before it was all shiny and finished!) so we went back to the drawing board. We considered the Assess, Plan, Do, Review style, but we knew it would need to be a whole school approach and that the support mechanisms could become redundant rapidly. 

Finally, the tiered approach worked for what we needed.

Each tier has strategies, actions and interventions that run alongside our already existing curriculum.This will also provide guidance for adults to resources, strategies or identified people that can support children at an individual level. During our INSET day, we discussed the need for adults to continue to be vigilant, compassionate and understanding while maintaining our high expectations, both behaviorally and educationally. 

Our tiers are unpinned by our behaviour curriculum. 

Tier 1

The actions in tier 1 are our already established practices. Most are the automatic responses and strategies we use in the day to day running of the school. Some probably seem really small and insignificant actions, but they make our school somewhere that feels safe for our pupils. 

 

Tier 1 Universal Whole School Already in place Behaviour expectations reiterated, practiced and returned to regularly by all staff and pupils Adults to continue to be on the door every morning Individual check-ins for those with APDR highlighted strategies Any changes in circumstances for families (Job Loses/Family break ups/Bereavements) to be flagged up to teachers and support staff. Safeguarding updates to continue weekly.  FLO to signpost to community support groups, government support initiatives or through front door system (Early help/SS) Class environments to support a low arousal approach to support SEN pupils Celebrations of children’s work on walls and working walls used for useful resources of basic concepts and recall opportunities until new content is covered. Adults visibly present for children and parents whenever possible SLT member on gate every mornings and evening FLO available for parent support QFT as first strategy in all circumstances SENDCo to contact all families identified as SEN to discuss APDR – Explaining September support and timelines Whole school approaches to support SEN/ALS to continue – ASC Champion to go through process and procedures in line with behaviour policy. Online safety is prioritised in term 1 due to increased internet capacity in locality – ‘Project Evolve’ for all year groups Staff are professional, capable and trusted to get on with their jobs. Teachers will act within their own judgments and assess children accordingly Staff to be vigilant to children with changes in behaviour – Flag up to DSL and Pastoral Team. Using My Concern to record all concerns. Collective Worship to take place outside as whole school if possible (inside, if 1-metre distancing can take place) Every two weeks, protected time for coaching to support staff well-being.  Weekly TA meetings taken by SG on a Wednesday during Collective Worship. Communication with parents via SeeSaw to continue this method since lock down.  Time to Talk – weekly coffee drop-in for parents. Language and speech-link for all new starters Collective worship to continue and each week to reflect the school values – Friendship, community, compassion, trust, forgiveness, respect. To go through each Bible story and for prayer boxes to be available in each room and children to be given an opportunity to write and reflect in prayer space. Physical activity increased. Daily mile, extra 10 mins in afternoon sessions with new playground markings to encourage physical play.

 

Tier 2

 

This tier reflects the enhanced actions in light of COVID-19. These may be temporary changes or practices that we know will ensure the well-being, mental and physical health of the school community. 

 

Tier 2 Enhanced practice Whole School Reviewed at end of term 2 Speaking and listening opportunities to be explicit on timetable through English and PSHE – to give opportunities to widen children’s emotional vocabulary and support an open culture of sharing feelings and reflections in light of recent events Discussions with all children around diversity and protests after society events. Which respected voices would children benefit from hearing from? (Educationalists, the church, respected sport figures, etc…) Protected time to read books, building vocabulary and emotional literacy Whole Class emotional check-ins Adults to make reference to teams, classes, groups and sportsmanship to ensure clarity in expectations when working together Opportunities to continue to work independently, don’t assume everyone wants to be sociable at times! Book corners to be made available for children that want space. Only display boards used in order to keep rooms sensory friendly Social distancing reminders (unless guidance changes) Family lunches to continue with members of team eating with pupils (rota to be confirmed) More frequent than has been done previously. PSHE focus on difference – everyone may have dealt with lockdown in different ways, and that’s ok. PSHE focus on family – family structures may have changed during lockdown – share stories around families and differences Gap analysis and teacher plans to reflect this and ‘slow’ learning of missed concepts and ensure catch up. Normal strategies for differentiation. Protected time for story reading (as before) Books used to discuss PSHE areas and vocabulary, widen and increase to allow articulation and reflection on the lockdown experiences. Corona Virus ‘Time Capsule’ to be used for ‘closure’ and reflection. Copies to go home, copies to create memory book for school log. Greater emphasis and responsibility given to worship leaders and choices on themes given to worship leaders. Sing outside as a whole school when weather allows. Songs familiar and known to the children.

 

 

Tier 3 

 

This tier is specialist intervention. We will already know which children may need this level of support, some may need this further down the line, once the routines and regularity of school is back and children then feel safe to reflect and open up about experiences that may require support.

 

Tier 3  Targeted support Specialist intervention Bereavement policy plans and interventions around loss (using well-being champion to facilitate) Children who have not engaged in any learning – to be identified and check that possible other forms of work have been completed. Moving on from lockdown – Do these pupils need specific lessons on basic concepts (Year group appropriate) Referrals to outside agencies – e.g Front door Early Help and social services Ask for specialist advice from case workers/Inclusion&Attendance/PEO/ Lift referrals to STLS Referrals to CAHMS/NEFLT/OT/OH/School nursing Identified interventions and giving to appropriate person. Bespoke curriculums for children that have been identified Nurture provision referrals Record of concern – Inclusion Excel spreadsheet. Flagged up for inclusion meetings. Available resources in school for assessment or screening to produce bespoke support – in line with SEN Policy ·         Lucid Rapid ·         Lucid Lass (Rapid and Lass are computer based and highlight areas associated with             Dyslexia) ·         Language Link ·         Speech Link ·         Junior Language Link (Speech, Language and Junior Link assess children’s language           and speech skills) ·         Language for Learning ·         The British Picture Vocabulary Scale ·         Star Reading Assessments ·          Maths Snap assessment ·         White Rose Maths Assessments

 

This is obviously something that we will add to, and there will definitely be aspects that we will not need to use. The purpose of creating a tiered approach is to give staff the ability to look at established strategies, but also the confidence to know that they can move between the tiers when needed. Empowerment of staff is vital during such unknown times. Trusting staff as professionals, to act in the best interests of the pupils in their care and know that there is a safety net of support if they feel pupils require more specialist intervention. 

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