SEMH

Intent
At Greenfield Primary school we have alternative provision for a small number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) children called ’The Den’

The students in The Den have a variety of additional needs including Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). Children with SEMH have difficulties in managing their behaviour and emotions. They often show inappropriate responses and feelings too situations. This means they have trouble in building and maintaining relationships with peers and adults. They can struggle to engage with learning and to cope in the mainstream classroom. Children with SEMH will often feel anxious, scared and misunderstood.

We are supporting our students with SEMH difficulties through their ‘sensory diet’. This helps children to manage processing dysfunction. It supports child in feeling calm and provides calming techniques that can be used during times of dysregulation which then allows them to attend, learn and behave to the best of their ability. It is an individually tailored program of sensory and physical based activities. It is used to manage a child’s sensory motor needs and reduce the impact any such disjunction may be having upon their attention and activity levels, behaviour and / or learning skill development

Through the use of individual sensory diets, we intend to:

• Make a difference to the lives of our young people
• Promote positive mental health
• Manage challenging behaviour
• Create an inclusive and supporting learning environment
• Build relationships
• Teach students how to identify and manage triggers
• Develop a collaborative relationship with parents and carers to support students.

 Implementation
Each of the children is assessed using a sensory checklist provided by Beacon Behaviour Support. The aim of this is to help identify which senses may be impacted upon and why this might result in the child becoming Each child then has a personalised plan of activities including movement and tactile experiences designed to meet their individual needs which is delivered at key times throughout the day. This may include things like jumping, on a trampoline, deep pressure activities, such as hugging a weighted blanket or rolling on a peanut ball, lights and calming sounds. It is structured in such a way as to provide the right amount of sensory input to help the child regulate their emotions. Each of the children’s sensory diets is unique and based on specific sensory need.

 Impact
By providing our students with their own unique sensory diet we aim to:

• Support then to develop their own individual regulation techniques
• Improve their focus and attention
• Manage anxiety
• Supporting them to engage more fully

We will know that this has been successful when our students are calmer and more organised, and better able to engage with their environment. This has impacted on their ability to socially interact with their peers, behaviour and overall wellbeing.