When it comes to approaching children about their behaviour, we believe every interaction should guide children to gain insight into their feelings and behaviours and develop the strategies they need to manage them. Leading with connection not disconnection.
Our four C’s give you the steps you need to do this:
“The impact is really hard to put into words. We have happy children who love coming to school and who want to learn. We have children who no longer attack staff, kick in walls and trash rooms!”
Personalised Learning Pathways Manager
Respond and interact with children using therapeutic response skills, before focusing on the behaviour. Leading with connection they are struggling. Offering responses that give them insight into their feelings, and how those feelings link to their behaviour. Helping them feel validated, heard and supported. Calming their survival/ emotional response and helping them access the rational thinking part of the brain.
Ensuring the child is able to regulate as part of your response to their emotional state/ behaviour when they are struggling, either through co-regulation or self-regulation. Calming the brain down to access rational and also helping develop healthy coping strategies in the moment which will contribute to increased emotional intelligence and life skills.
Offer safe, realistic boundaries that allow the child to learn from the situation rather than punish, helping to teach them how to make amends whilst also feeling safe, knowing the adult can meet their emotional needs. Thus focusing on their self-development, life skills and emotional intelligence. Rather than punishing and rejecting.
Offer this consistent, reliable, trauma informed approach that creates a sense of safety, trust and models secure attachment. Ensuring you are reflective in practice rather than reactive and helping to form new brain pathways which will lead to positive outcomes.
“This information should be given to new foster carers, maybe in the training that has to be done before being passed as a carer and before placements arrive!”
Foster Carer
Our resource hub is available to you no matter what your role, whether you are a school, professional, carer, parent or even a young person looking for answers.
