Caledonia Training

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It is common for schools, especially primary schools, to face considerable difficulties in providing appropriate support packages for children who have significant social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.  The emergence of a adversarial relationship between home and school is often the product of a conflict between anxious parents, and a school management that has to balance the safety, welfare and learning of the majority, with the individual needs of a small number of very challenging pupils.  Schools face a number of constraints in trying to meet the needs of all pupils not least of which is the lack of alternative provision available in many areas, and the legislative framework structured around the Inclusion agenda and Disability Discrimination Act (1995, 2005).

Caledonia Training provides a consultancy service that gives impartial advice on how to adapt existing provision to support children in mainstream schools to achieve their potential.  Assessment and reporting is;

Comprehensive - based on expert assessment  and classroom observation
Impartial
Solution-focused

In some cases, staff training is recommended to allow support strategies to become embedded within the school and these are supported by modifications that may be made at home in terms of;

• Daily routine
• Communication
• Boundaries
• Consequences
• Rewards and positive encouragement
• Parenting styles

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Additional Resources

A 'typical' consultation will take the following form;

• Initial contact with school
  Telephone conversation lasting 30-60 mins.
• Initial school visit
  Discussion with Head Teacher, Class Teacher and support staff (2 hours)
• Classroom observation
   Observation of learning and behaviour in the school environment; attention, task shifting, impulse inhibition, peer interaction (inc intervals), handwriting, core academic skills, social skills.
• Parent Interview – preferably at home
• Report and recommendations
• Follow-up – at school or as appropriate.

 

Case Study

David (9) had been withdrawn from school by his parents after a series of violent 'attacks' on staff and fellow pupils.  He had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome but was unable to cope with the sensory challenges that the school environment provided, nor the inevitable changes in routine that raised stress levels and resulted in aggressive behaviour. Parents, teachers and David's educational psychologist believed that he should be placed in an out-of-region special school at considerable expense to the LEA. Following two consultations with the school and a lengthy interview with David's mother, a specialist support package was established that focused on David's needs rather than his overt behaviours.  Some adaptations to the curriculum were made, a higher level of structure provided and sensory difficulties addressed via an imaginative use of tactile and olfactory inputs. Within two weeks, David went from being a non-attender to becoming a full-time student and since then has made a very successful transition to secondary school.