SEND
Discipline – isolation is not
the solution In her regular column for Education Today this month EMMA SANDERSON, Managing Director of Options Autism, a specialist provider of education for autistic pupils and those with complex needs, considers whether current approaches address the challenges of pupil behaviour.
The recent publication of the Government’s Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews Final Report 2023, highlights the detrimental impact on the mental health and welfare of autistic children and young people, who experience time-out/ isolation or seclusion within educational and care settings. In drawing its conclusions, the report found: ‘…no therapeutic benefit to solitary confinement…. The resulting sensory and social isolation is invariably harmful, leading to far-reaching difficulties in any rehabilitation from the confinement, such as the ability to re-establish meaningful relational connections when released...’ and recommended ‘solitary confinement’ become ‘never events’ for autistic children and young people.
Many schools have a proportion of children on the margins who have experienced either exclusion or isolation during their education. The report implies that the seeds of a lifetime of exclusion and incarceration for some autistic individuals, are sewn during their schooling.
There is limited evidence that isolation/time-out strategies have any positive impact on children’s ability to manage their emotions or behaviour in the long term. To put this in context, consider how a child learns - with the understanding, support and guidance of a caregiver or adult. If a child is isolated whenever they exhibit a behaviour perceived as ‘challenging’, they have no opportunity to reflect on why they have been left alone, or to experience any guidance relating to their behaviour.
If time-out/isolation is to be effectively implemented as part of an overall behaviour response strategy, the child must link their behaviour to being isolated, and understand why, communicate their understanding, and be able to then return to the activity/ environment as soon as possible. Autistic children and young people often lack the ability to connect their behaviour to the time-out. Without positive behaviour support in place, such isolation will likely induce shame, powerlessness and humiliation, and cause distress or even traumatise a child.
The Mental Health Act Code of Practice (2015) acknowledges the particular risks attached to seclusion: ‘Seclusion can be a traumatic experience for any individual but can have particularly adverse implications for the emotional development of a child or young person.’
With the increasing numbers of autistic pupils attending mainstream schools, appropriate modifications need to be made to behaviour strategies for their neurodiverse population. Rather than implementing isolation rooms or internal confinement, proactive tactics make more sense – such as scheduled breaks, or teaching pupils self-management skills so they can ask for sensory breaks when class becomes overwhelming or situations are triggering.
Schools need the right tools, resources, and support to help autistic pupils, otherwise they will continue to find it difficult to support them and address behaviour concerns. It requires a truly inclusive culture, and the staff capacity and training to understand pupil behaviour, and interact with them effectively, utilising their preferred methods of communication. Isolation is not the solution.
www.optionsautism.co.uk December 2023
The importance of effective recruitment and retention in building a high-quality, robust workforce
In her column this month JAYNE FOSTER, CEO of Ethos Academy Trust, casts her
eye over the challenging recruitment and retention landscape in education and offers some pointers for overcoming the challenges.
One of the biggest challenges for our sector, arguably a close second after funding shortages, is recruitment. With a year-on-year rise in the number of young people who are not having their needs met in mainstream education, there is a nationwide need to fill the gaps in middle and senior leadership roles as well as create an expansive pipeline of new talent that will meet the needs of our children of tomorrow.
Like many of my colleagues and peers across the country, I am happy to bang the drum all day every day for the rich rewards on offer to those who choose to devote their working lives to supporting young people with social, emotional and mental health challenges and wider special educational needs. And it’s imperative that we do because we need to change the narrative if we want to attract like-minded people into these roles.
As I mentioned in our column in June, recruitment is a core objective in our overall strategy which is why we made the decision to expand our HR team in headcount and expertise. Led by Lesley Conway, our ‘People and Culture Lead’, this team has developed a sustainable and agile recruitment strategy to support our objective to develop a highly skilled and devoted workforce to sustain our growth and achieve our vision.
Recent research including staff surveys and induction interviews has highlighted that our recruitment processes are robust and that new staff are early adopters of our trust-wide vision and core values. Furthermore, we attract staff that want to stay. Four of our current Heads of School started their teaching careers at Ethos. We have encouraged and supported their progression to the leadership roles they hold today and are so proud of them all. Retention is key to building a consistently strong and stable workforce. We value our exceptionally high retention rates - our teacher turnover rates fall consistently well below the national average. This shows that our communication strategy is working particularly in our outward-facing work. We are a unique trust with a clear, unapologetic direction and relentless commitment to bettering the lives of as many vulnerable young people as we can. The only way we can achieve this is through recruiting and retaining the very best people who get ‘this’ and get ‘us’.
These are just some of the things we have done that have really helped our recruitment journey: • Implemented a talent acquisition strategy, led by our highly experienced HR team • Developed a ‘grow our own’ strategy and introduced succession planning sessions with all headteachers to identify talent and deploy staff effectively trust-wide
• Developed a strong People Strategy – teasing out staff journeys compelling stories that depict our culture.
• Created a ‘Recruitment Portal’ with a prominent tab on our website homepage
https://www.eat.uk.com/recruitment-portal/current opportunities/
• Raised the profile of our employee brand within the local, regional and national markets (our advertisements have been widened in recent months to capture untapped and underrepresented talents.
• Consistent, simple, straight messaging outlining our ‘why’ – i.e. ‘working at Ethos Academy Trust gives you the opportunity to have a real impact on children, families and local communities, whatever your role in our teams.
• Delivered targeted and proactive recruitment campaigns, with the majority of our vacancies successfully filled within a single campaign.
• Introduced academy employment engagement events - inviting potential employees to come to the academy, with presentations on trust values and vision, tours and meet the team opportunities.
• Created social media campaigns that really activate our brand and engage with our audience through consistent themes and key messages (including staff soundbites and videos that showcase what it’s really like to be part of the Ethos family).
• Invested in a quality recruitment platform to enhance the candidate experience (My New Term).
• Implemented an employee referral scheme to encourage the sharing of social media campaigns/stories etc.
• Engaged in a number of recruitment fairs this year which have generated interest in and raised the profile of Ethos (and also helped towards changing the narrative linked to SEMH schools and pupils)
For more information about our recruitment processes, our trust or how to get involved please go to
https://www.eat.uk.com/
www.education-today.co.uk 23
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