Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
Teresa is our wonderful Nursery Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) who works full time here at the nursery (out of ratio and across all ages). Teresa supports our team in the implementation of our positive behaviour policy here at the nursery. She will often work with parents and staff on ways to best support our children. Generally, ideas that are consistent and are approached as a combined effort usually have the best chances of success.
Teresa shares that when it comes to dealing with children’s difficult and challenging behaviours it is first really important to be calm and patient, which I can appreciate can be tough at times.
Sometimes it can seem that children seem to know how best to trigger our emotions, but in truth, they just like to seek out attention in general and they are not concerned at this stage whether it is positive or negative….it is still attention! Therefore we need to teach them that it is positive behaviour that will get the attention they want.
We always emphasise that positive reinforcements are vital in teaching and encouraging children. Tell your child what you want them to do rather than what you don’t want. For example, if they are banging their cup at the dinner table you may want to say ‘stop banging your cup’ it is much more beneficial to say ‘use your cup to drink, or put the cup on the table’ ending with a ‘Thank you’ as this is then assuming that they will do it rather than asking them to do it which gives them an option not to!!
A top tip for parents at home is to try to catch your child being good- This is something as a parent it can be easy to forget to do as normally we are quick to notice and deal with the unwanted behaviours. So when your child is being very kind or helpful or playing nicely or sitting quietly with a book, then go and praise them for it and reward them with a lot of love and attention. They will want to repeat this behaviour to get more it.
Rules and boundaries are very important. Children need to know right from wrong and they need to have great role models around them. So if for example, you want them to sit down whilst they are eating, or talk in quiet voices in the house then you yourself need to ensure you are doing these things too!
Remember that every child and family is individual; try not to make comparisons with others. You know your child best and what works for them and for your family situation.
Thanks Teresa – we are lucky to have you here at the nursery.
If parents would like any more ideas, tips or support then please feel free to email Teresa through the nursery inbox and we can arrange a time to talk. You can also click here to read the nursery’s policy on Dealing with Positive Behaviour to find out more about the ways we implement this practice.
Teresa will be available for the University parents to meet via Zoom on 15 July from 11am to 12pm. Contact us for more information.
