Positive Intervention for Pupils who Struggle at School

Creating a Modified Primary Curriculum

Helen Sonnet

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781135176556
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

Positive Intervention for Pupils who Struggle at School provides the resources and information primary teachers need to ensure a happy and effective school experience for all children, particularly those who are seriously struggling. This tried and tested intervention is designed specifically for those children who have been through all the standard interventions, to no avail, and who are now in danger of being excluded.Explaining the thinking behind the suggested modified curriculum, this innovative book considers the reasons why certain children experience difficulties and looks at how this curriculum addresses their needs and enables them to develop personal, social and emotional skills. The activities are chosen to develop and enhance skills for learning, including listening, speaking, concentrating, a positive disposition and a willingness to take on new challenges.

Helen Sonnet demonstrates how success has been achieved through this strategy and provides valuable information to help teachers to set up similar groups in their own schools, including how to:

• 
  
  

• ensure firm foundations for the group

• 
  
  

• select the children who will benefit most

• 
  
  

• establish the structures and routine of a successful group

• 
  
  

• assess the children's progress

• 
  
  

• reintegrate children into their mainstream classes effectively.

In line with government initiatives this important and effective intervention strategy can make the world of difference, giving teachers new, proven strategies to enable them to support children who are struggling in mainstream primary schools.

CHAPTER 1
Introduction

The current Primary Review has highlighted issues that teachers have been aware of and have been repeatedly raising for many years, namely ‘that today’s children are under intense and perhaps excessive pressure from the policy-driven demands of their schools…’, and ‘that the primary curriculum is too rigidly prescribed and, because of SATs, too narrow’ (see www.primaryreview.org.uk).

In particular, vulnerable and needy children in our schools suffer from the Government’s drive to raise academic standards with ‘the aggravation of the gap between high and lower achievers…’. Children with special educational needs are more likely to be excluded, particularly during the primary school years. The Review notes that its findings suggest that ‘teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to support children with special educational needs in mainstream primary schools’.

The Review concludes that ‘[t]here is a need to support schools as they strive to provide for children’s needs rather than simply deliver a curriculum’.

Moreover, the Review considers the need for a reassessment of the aims of primary education, ‘[s]hifting from the currently narrow view of utility to one which is based on a more comprehensive and humane analysis of what is necessary for a productive adult life’.

My school, like countless others, was suffering from these issues relating to the National Curriculum. A small minority of the children were failing to learn satisfactorily. Moreover, none of the intervention strategies that had been introduced to help them were successful in the long term, which prompted me to look afresh at the purpose of these provisions to see where they were currently failing.

I concluded that, in spite of the good quality assistance in the classroom, the differentiation available and the extra-curricular support, many of the interventions were failing to address the root causes of the problems. I was convinced that these children could only really be helped by adopting a more radical approach that could not easily be delivered in their normal classroom setting. This would entail removing them from the classroom for a set period each day to follow an alternative curriculum that was better suited to their needs and offered a broader perspective.

At the same time, the children needed to experience an empathic, understanding attitude from the adults involved, such as is advocated for nurture groups. The perceived deficits in the children’s skills make them vulnerable and uncertain, and they have a great need to be accepted and liked for who they are.

The alternative curriculum that we offered would be based on the aims and values deemed necessary to help these children towards enjoying both success in school and a productive adult life. In other words, we would be focusing on developing rounded individuals who possessed perceived competencies, a healthy view of self and a valued place in their world.

This book is intended, above all, as a practical resource for teachers who wish to set up a modified curriculum group in their school. I have not discussed in depth the various conditions that children may have, such as ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome or dyslexia. Nor have I looked at strategies that deal with a particular focus, for example anger management. There are many excellent resources that deal with these issues, however, the focus of this book is to present a tried and tested alternative curriculum to help children who struggle.

There is a wealth of ideas available, but, especially with any new initiative, choosing the most effective interventions can be a minefield of trial and error. My school has had eight years to try out and test ideas, adopting those that are successful and discarding others that did not produce the desired outcomes. My aim in this book is to provide as comprehensive an action plan as possible. This, of course, does not mean that you have to follow the text to the letter. Rather, it should act as a guideline to help and support you as you embark on your own initiative.

The early part of the book examines the benefits of providing an alternative timetable and details what is involved. The book then considers which children would benefit from an intervention strategy of this type and gives examples in the form of case histories.

An example of a policy document on page 101 will help to focus your thoughts on exactly what you want to provide in your intervention. I strongly advise that you produce a policy document, as it will add status to your group. Moreover, it will demonstrate the level of forethought and care behind your intervention that can be useful, for example, during an Ofsted inspection.

PSHE plays a large part in our modified curriculum, as many of the children have emotional and behavioural issues, and a section of the book is devoted to how we make this a regular feature of our group.

We have found a themed approach to be very effective in the delivery of our curriculum and there is an example of how this can be put into practice on page 43, with many interesting and motivational activities.

I have also included the detailed plans for a twelve-week term of four afternoon sessions a week as an aid to help anyone starting up a similar group. These plans provide a suitable curriculum based on our experiences over the past eight years. At the beginning of each week, a prompt box reminds you of the resources you will need for each day’s session, although you may need to read through the detailed plans to gain a full understanding of what is required. A sentence is included at the beginning of each day’s plans that details the focus of the circle activities.

Finally, there is a section of photocopiable materials and other resources that can be adapted to suit the needs of your group.

CHAPTER 2
The benefits of a modified curriculum

The majority of children are able, to a greater or lesser degree, to access the National Curriculum. Their successful progress gives them the confidence and encouragement to continue to make an effort with their learning.

However, for the few children who do not succeed in their attempts to access the curriculum, their failure saps their confidence and breeds a fear that discourages them from further effort. They are also often aware that they do not make the same valuable contribution in their mainstream classes as other children and, therefore, feel unworthy and become demoralised. These children may then develop strategies, such as challenging or withdrawn behaviour, that enable them to avoid those situations they find difficult and reduce the incidence of continued failure.

As the children progress through the school and lack the inner resources to deal with frustration and other negative feelings, their behaviours become entrenched and often escalate, prompting the teaching staff to look for suitable intervention strategies. However, the strategies tend to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem and, therefore, have limited success. Adults within the school may come to see the children’s behaviour as inherent character traits that cannot be changed, rather than a response to a difficult situation. However, with the correct intervention, these children can change. They do not have to be stuck with their problems and negative patterns of behaviour.

Within our school, providing a modified curriculum to a small group of children in a nurturing environment has been an extremely successful intervention. It has enabled all the children who have attended to return to their mainstream classroom and cope satisfactorily for the remainder of their time in the school. It has also eliminated the need for exclusions.

Providing a modified curriculum to a small group of children in this way has many benefits. Perhaps the most immediate benefit is the removal of the classroom pressures that generate fear of failure in these children, which, in turn, reduces the need for the avoidance behaviours that they have developed.

The small number of children in the group encourages a close-knit community that is an aid to learning. Moreover, with fewer children to look after, the adults have more time and opportunities to develop trusting relationships that enable the children to lower their defences.

One of the problems with the system in schools is the general assumption that children are, more or less, at a certain level of development when they enter Reception classes. However, this is often not the case. The alternative timetable and modified curriculum mean that the group can support the children’s needs more effectively and take them forward from where they are at their actual current stage, rather than where they are expected to be.

So, for example, the timetable may include more activities with a PSHE focus to help develop the children’s social skills and emotional learning. There is also a greater emphasis on communication and simple talking-based activities that give the children plenty of practice in developing language skills. Such development is a very important aspect of the children’s learning because, if they do not understand the language of the classroom, they will not be able to respond appropriately and do what is required of them. Moreover, if their language is undeveloped and limited, they cannot communicate their problems effectively. Within the small group, there is greater opportunity for the children to practise understanding and following instruction, and to use expressive language.

Following instruction is a very important aspect of life in the mainstream class. Within the group, this can be practised as an exercise in its own right. Beginning with simple commands, the sets of instructions can become increasingly complex as the children learn how to focus on and retain the given information.

The greater flexibility in the delivery of sessions within the group allows for modification, depending on how things are going. This would be difficult to effect in a mainstream class. So, for example, children can be given longer to respond, activities can be curtailed or continued, and even omitted altogether, or extra activities can be added so as to meet the children’s needs more effectively.

The children experience success very quickly and this encourages them to take on new challenges. They learn that, in spite of their problems, they can still achieve. Their success empowers them to have more control over their behaviour, as they see that they are able to change and improve. Some children are desperate to lose their ‘naughty and disruptive’ image, but their behaviour in the classroom has become entrenched and they do not know how to effect change. These children respond very quickly to the positive focus within the group and, almost from day one, may present a different persona, as they become aware that they are worthwhile and likeable and that they matter to someone in the school.

As the children’s confidence grows, their avoidance behaviour diminishes. A positive change can often be seen by other adults within the school after a few weeks of the children joining the group.

The impact of this intervention strategy on the attitudes of the whole school cannot be stressed too highly. Members of staff no longer see naughty, disruptive and dislikeable children, but rather they see children with problems who can be helped to change if they are given the correct intervention.

When teachers hear the staff from the modified curriculum group talk about their difficult children in a more positive light, they begin to see another side to the children and can revise their own opinions. This approach also encourages members of staff to consider more fully the children’s needs and where they may not be being met, and to develop a more empathetic approach. Empathy is a very important component of any approach, although it may not always be easy to see situations through the children’s eyes. For example, it may be difficult to understand why a child finds assemblies very threatening and refuses to go into the hall. However, even though you may not always understand the threat, you can learn to accept that, from the child’s perspective, it is very real to them and therefore not dismiss it so lightly. The impact, therefore, on the whole school is to generate a more hopeful attitude and a more caring ethos.

The modified curriculum incorporates routines and well-defined behaviour boundaries that create a secure environment. The approach of the adults is warm and relaxed in order to develop positive relationships and form close bonds with the children who attend. This is particularly important to create a more suitable learning environment for those anxious or unhappy children who crave emotional security. The familiar routines allow them to anticipate confidently what will happen.

Perhaps the greatest testament to the success of this intervention is the children themselves. They love being part of the group. Their attendance in school, alongside their behaviour, improves, as an upward spiral of success is created. They are able to return full-time to their mainstream classes, in due course, without further problems.

CHAPTER 3
Providing a positive identity

Providing a positive identity for children is paramount to their future success in the mainstream classroom. All the children who join the group have a history of failure. They arrive demoralised and disaffected, unable or unwilling to learn satisfactorily. They have no confidence in their ability to succeed in the classroom and, until the negative picture they hold of themselves is replaced with a more positive one, they will continue to fail. While giving children a more positive identity does not guarantee that they will achieve greater academic success, it will enable them to participate more fully in their mainstream classroom and cope with what is asked of them, in the knowledge that they too are worthwhile individuals.

The most important initial approach is to make the children feel welcome in the group, to show them that you are pleased to see them and that they are liked and valued. This is not always easy with some of the children who go out of their way to challenge authority or who have developed very annoying habits. This does not mean that poor behaviour is acceptable within the group. On the contrary, with such children it is important to be particularly stringent in your demand for appropriate and considerate behaviour. Any infringement of the group’s rules (see page 10 for suggested rules) should result in an immediate consequence for the child, namely time away from the group to consider their actions. If the inappropriate behaviour is serious, one of the adults may need to talk to the child as well. However, once the consequence has taken place, the child can rejoin the group with a clean slate and immediately enjoy the esteem of the adults again. In this way, the children quickly learn that it is their behaviour, rather than themselves, that you do not like.

It is important that the children believe you like them. Their self-image is largely based on the reflected picture of themselves they receive from others. If the people they come into contact with react negatively towards them, these children will develop the opinion that they are not likeable and have little worth, and this will be reaffirmed with each negative encounter. It may be very difficult at times to respond with warmth and affection to...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• CHAPTER 1 Introduction
• CHAPTER 2 The benefits of a modified curriculum
• CHAPTER 3 Providing a positive identity
• CHAPTER 4 Promoting positive behaviour
• CHAPTER 5 Developing social skills
• CHAPTER 6 Personal, social and emotional development
• CHAPTER 7 Enhancing the children’s learning skills
• CHAPTER 8 Selecting the children
• CHAPTER 9 Case studies
• CHAPTER 10 An alternative curriculum
• CHAPTER 11 Using a themed approach
• CHAPTER 12 Devising a suitable programme
• CHAPTER 13 Working with the parents
• CHAPTER 14 Working with outside agencies
• CHAPTER 15 Appointing the staff
• CHAPTER 16 Final thoughts
• CHAPTER 17 Resources
• Useful resources
• Photocopiable resources