How having structure & consistency benefits SEMH pupils

Hello everyone! Hope you've all been doing okay.

Since my my last post on here, I've been keeping busy with my weekday job in an SEMH school. However, as of the 23rd of May, I no longer work at the school due to no longer being needed for the final term. (I was working in the Y11's class, but they are on study leave now, and will be leaving for good in 2 weeks time) And since I'm now currently off work until my agency calls me in to somewhere else, I've got some time to be productive on here.

As the above title states, I want to talk about structure & consistency benefitting SEMH pupils.

There are 2 reasons for this post: Firstly, there has been some major changes to the school. Secondly, I've seen the positive impact those changes have had on the pupils & their behaviour.

When the school opened up after the Christmas break (8th of January), it had marked the start of long & difficult journey. That journey was to simply make the school into a better learning environment & as well as a safe environment for the pupils.

There were 4 minor changes that took place: New uniform, English & Maths lessons every morning & addressing the staff as "sir" or "ms". We even introduced something called "isolation" (IL for short) which is where pupils will spend half a day or a full day in a separate room to do their work. The intention of this is to help the pupils reflect on their behaviour. I'm delighted to say that it was a success! Or at least for most part.

On the 25th of February, there were 2 more changes to the school curriculum, and they were both major ones... A FULL timetable of lessons & the new warning system. The intention of the warning system is to reduce the pupils' behaviour, and is also made up of 3 warnings. If a pupil gets a warning 3, they go to the inclusion hub, and they have to do a 10min detention. Failing that, then it's an IL the following day for the morning. If not, then it's an IL the WHOLE day. Failing THAT, then it leads to a suspension.

During the 5 months that I've been a part of the new changes journey, I've seen how much more settled & calmer the pupils have been! As a result, there has been a reduced number of behavioural incidents, This is why having the consistent structure & routine really helps SEMH pupils to feel more secure in a learning environment, as they know that we care about their education, as well as their mental wellbeing.

Time travelling back to the 25th of November (when I had first started working at the school), I honestly couldn't believe how dysfunctional it was back then, where there were hardly any lessons going on, no timetable structure & there were behaviour incidents happening every single day. Sometimes even a few times a day. It was just insane. I couldn't even imagine how unsettled those pupils must have been feeling back then without the consistent structure & routine. They were scared, anxious & dysregulated (a cliché from that school). Ofsted even gave the school an "inadequate" rating, due to poor leadership & management.

To this day, yes, there will still be some pupil dysregulations, but that doesn't put a small dent on all of the positive progress the school have been making. If anything, the school is only getting better every single day! I'm also optimistic enough that Ofsted will give them a much better rating.

As a youth worker, it really makes me heart warmed to see vulnerable young people thrive in life. Especially those with a complicated background. 

My outtake on YoungMinds #EndTheWait Campaign (20/3/23)

*Just so we're clear, I'm not fully back on here just yet. I'm only making a brief pop up on here, because I want to share my opinion on something that is important/concerning*

I was meant to make this post on Monday, but I never got round to doing so until now. Better late than never I suppose.

On Monday, (20/3/23) local MP's were invited to attend the Houses of Parliament to participate in YoungMinds' EndTheWait Campaign.

Why? This is because the government has not been taking people's mental health seriously enough. The government had opened their eyes up to what was going on, and said that they will make a solid promise to end the wait for people's mental health to be seen to back in January of this year. Unfortunately, that solid promise had been abolished soon after, as the government decided to make other things their priorities instead.

Last summer alone, including the time where the government first delivered its "end the wait" promise, young people have not been getting the much needed support for the following 3 reasons: Didn't feel supported by their GP when trying to seek support, waited over a month or simply turned away when trying to seek support. (Statistics will be shown in the attached link to YoungMinds webpage below this post)

I, as an individual with mental health, find it shocking to say the very least. I actually find the government's actions more appalling, as people (whom had tried seeking support) out there are still suffering with their mental health because of the poor choices that the government had made. I personally feel as though no one has the right to suffer with their mental health due to not being enough support. It's shameful, and something needs to be done to improve on it.

As soon as YoungMinds had announced that the government had broke their promise to "EndTheWait", they sent out the message to everyone that they booked the Houses of Parliament for the 20/3/23, so local MP's would be in attendance to discuss young people's ongoing mental health problems, mental health support & making their voices heard. This was followed by getting young people (including myself) to sign a petition to "EndTheWait" on mental health treatment, as there were a lot of people suffering enough due to the mentioned above circumstances. Yes, I did sign the petition, as I wanted my voice to be heard, as well as participate in the campaign. I feel it was absolutely the right & necessary choice of action, in a bid to hold the government accountable in this manner.

The next part of the campaign, had involved inviting local MP's to the EndTheWait event at Parliament. This also included writing a letter to local MP's explaining why they should attend this event. I wanted to invite my local MP to this event, as again, it was only sensible that they address myself & other young people's concerns over ongoing mental health problems we still face today in society. Like everyone else in this campaign, I thought it was a good idea that local MP's needed to be involved in young people's issues, such as mental health. In my view, if MP's can debate about everyday issues in our country day in, day out as part of their job description, then I don't see any reason why MP's can't step away to address young people's mental health concerns. 

If you've finished reading up to this point, thank you for taking the time to read through. Remember, everyone has their own opinions when it comes to talking about something like this, so please don't be offended in any kind of way. 

Here's the webpage link: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/support-us/join-the-movement/end-the-wait/

Are you with or against 'society'?

This is something fascinating which I've been thinking about lately, as this is proven to be a rather popular topic of discussion to gossip about nowadays; Being that this is the 21st century!

To put these questions in simpler terms:

Do you like to blend in or stand out?

Do you care about what people think of you or are you not bothered?

Do you enjoy being popular or unnoticed?

In relations to all of the above questions, just simply enjoy being who YOU are, regardless if you like to follow society or not.

Scenario 1:

You are a keen sports person, and you follow one of these 'social media influencers' who looks ultra fit, with their six pack, pressed out chest, pressed out pecks, ripped limb muscles and their muscular body. You suddenly decide, you want to look and be EXACTLY like them. So, you therefore start finding ways to build up your muscles, as well as working on your intended six pack. Eventually, you then have this strong thought in your head saying: "I really think people will be impressed with my new and improved body. I can't wait to see their reactions!"

This is that very same voice telling you to push yourself, to encourage you to become a member of 'society'. 

But in reality, you only have an intention of modelling yourself into that influenced person, due to your inside voices telling you to change yourself, just so you can impress your community, as well as your friends and family. FACT: If you watch Love Island, you would see people behave like this ALL THE TIME. In which, lead to 3 unfortunate deaths of those involved with the programme... (Names will be kept anonymous)

Truth to be told, only improve your body if it is to benefit your health.

(The attached picture, shows you an example of what society wants people to look like, just to impress their audience)

 

Scenario 2:

You are a lover of branded clothes, you have a lot of branded clothes, but at the same time, you feel like you don't have enough branded clothes. So you therefore decide to get more branded clothes there and now.

After you feel satisfied with your amount of branded clothes, you now have a happy feeling that you will be able to impress your community, by having so many branded clothes.

However, bare in mind that almost ALL of these branded clothes cost A LOT of money. This will make people think: "This person must be rich if they can afford all of these branded clothes." Which is partly true, as there is a limited budget on how much you can spend on ANY clothing, not just branded clothing.

My final point is, there is absolutely no shame at all by wearing non-branded clothing, as it shows that you have no interest with joining society, including what other people think of you.

(The attached picture, shows you an example of what society wants people to look like, just to impress their audience)

All of this pretty much sums up my discussion about this chosen topic.

Thanks for taking your time to read. I'll be interested to know whatever your thoughts are on society. Please stay tuned for more content!