Tremendous Power
I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It’s my personal approach that creates the climate,
It’s my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power
To make a child’s life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture,
Or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides,
Whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated
And a child humanized or de-humanized.
By Haim Ginott
Kings Meadow School
Karen Lewis
Marian McClelland
Believe &
Achieve
Objectives
 To share and explore knowledge, skills and understanding
which underpins the ethos and practice of Kings Meadow
School.
 To provide an opportunity to reflect on your understanding
and practice, including how your school adapts to meet the
needs of dysregulated children.
Our Beliefs
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All children can and will achieve.
There is always a reason behind a child’s behaviour response.
The greatest cognitive growth happens when needs are met.
Knowing the children we teach is as important as knowing
what we teach.
Knowing the families of the children we teach and working
with them is essential to children’s education.
Social and emotional development is equal to academic
development.
How children learn is as important as what children learn.
Lasting change starts with the adult community.
What does BESD mean to you?
Some neuroscience
“The kind of parenting we
get as babies makes a big
difference to the brain we
develop. If we’re nurtured
lovingly, we thrive
emotionally.”
Sue Gerhardt Why Love
Matters (2004)
Experiences Build Brain Architecture clip
Secure attachments provide…
 An Internal Working Model
 A sense of self as worthy of affection and
respect
 A capacity to relate to others with sensitivity
and respect
 A capacity to tolerate frustration and
uncertainty
Windows of Stress Tolerance
Max
Maxine
Help for Billy (2012) Heather T. Forbes
Brain scan of a child from a
Romanian orphanage
Brain scan of a child who received
loving parenting
Building up self-awareness and the capacity to
regulate arousal
Developing Positive Relationships
 Focus on the child rather than the problem
 Be present
 Acknowledge how you perceive the child to be feeling
 Stay in the present and be calm and patient
 Listen to the child and hear what they are saying
 Be understanding and accepting
 Be mentally and emotionally available ~ provide a safe and stable
relationship
Building up self-awareness and the capacity to
regulate arousal
• What happens when we don’t pay attention to low-anxiety
behaviours?
• Child may become anxious, dysregulated and out of control
• This will mean that the child may:
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Continue to have poor self-awareness
Have difficulties relating to others
Not be able to think clearly
Not have experience of being in a state of calm
Have other physiological difficulties due to high levels of cortisol
in their bodies
Regulation support – stage 1
 Name the behaviour and link to gentle feedback e.g.
“I think you might be feeling anxious right now as you
are pacing the room”.
This needs to be commented upon in a neutral and quiet
voice so as not to shame the child.
Get alongside the child with empathy.
Recognise our responsibility for enabling anxiety to be
lowered.
Regulation support – stage 2
 Match the behaviour with the possible feeling and trigger
(you should be attuned to the child)
 Make it clear you are guessing.
e.g. “You’re pacing. I think you might be a little anxious. This
work might be hard for you and you might need some
help.”
Regulation support – stage 3
 Next give the child a tool to regulate their arousal level.
Provide some type of soothing.
 Give legitimate control e.g. “We could breathe deeply
together, make a pizza on our backs or …..” (Use calm box)
 Adult can co-regulate the child just by engaging in
soothing activity together
Regulation support – stage 4
 Final stage of the regulation process is that the child
internalises the process of calming down.
Necessary elements needed
for change
• Healthy relationships
• Regulated environment
• Meeting child’s emotional and social needs
• Reducing stress that leads to overwhelm
Chance
for
Change
We have a responsibility to make best use of what we know.
We now know that we need to adapt our practice in schools
in order to support children whose emotional age may be
much younger than their chronological age, and who may
have complex needs.
Louise Bomber 2007