De-escalating Behaviour

Note the behaviour, however, choose to ignore it in order to allow the pupil to stop their behaviour independently.

Offer the child support and praise them for their efforts so far. Remind them of previous successes that could assist them to achieve the learning.

Praise the behaviour you are wanting to see. E.g. "Thank you Sam for putting your hand up."

If the child feels there has been an injustice you could agree with their opinion.

This could be a subtle thumbs up in response to a child demonstrating the behaviour you wish to see or quiet verbal praise for this choice.

Offer public praise for the child for their behaviour choices.

Think about your body language, this should be relaxed. Also, think about where you are stood in the room - if you are blocking an exit the child may feel trapped.

Negotiate with the child to achieve an intended outcome. E.g. "If you complete three questions then you can have your reward time."

Offer a limited amount of choices that you want the child to complete. This can be helpful if the child you are supporting likes to feel in control. E.g. "You can write up the experiment first or answer questions 1-5."

Be careful using humour as it can inflame the situation. Make sure you know the child and have a secure positive relationship before trying to use humour to support them de-escalate their behaviour.

If you are going to put a consequence in place, think about whether it is proportionate to the behaviour, but also consider if it will help the child make better behavioural choices in the future.

Give the child time to reflect on the instructions you have given. Be clear about a set time and also consider whether the child would benefit from this being a visual timer.

The child being allowed to access a specific destination for an agreed time period for them to calm down and re-focus. You may choose to use calming activities to support the child in this area.

It can be beneficial at times to change the adult who is supporting the child as a fresh face can offer the child a reset on their behaviour choices and a new way for them to progress forwards.

Listen to what the child has to say. You should not correct them, you are just allowing them to share their thoughts and feelings for their behaviour choices.

Think about your use of voice and how this may be perceived by others. You can vary this to support different children. Avoid shouting.

If you have made a mistake, accept it and apologise. This is also a good opportunity to model accepting you are wrong and how to apologise.

Positive language is more that giving praise. It is part of the process of self-concept enhancement, building self-awareness and feelings of self worth in our pupils. It is about creating a climate in which children can feel valued and secure so that their self-image and self-awareness can improve and flourish. It is about reducing the number of occasions on which children feel put down and threatened. It is about eradicating vagueness and uncertainty so that children know what we want them to do and what is expected of them.

Allow the child the space they require to reflect themselves. This can be monitoring them from a distance if they are walking around the field to make sure they are safe.

This could be by changing activity or changing the child's focus. You could play a short game to allow the child to calm down before returning to class.