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.
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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.
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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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