Fagus Starter Guide 1

Getting Started 1. Key aims and Before you begin

Key aims Noun: Latin Fãgus (“beech”) – The Tree of Learning

1) Improve knowledge and understanding in schools relating to children’s social and emotional development and make clear judgements about their behaviour (taking the developmental approach).

2) Help teaching staff to apply this understanding to identify what a pupil’s individual social and emotional needs are as well as their strengths, set developmentally appropriate goals for pupils in social and emotional areas and target strategies and focus interventions.

3) Provide a framework to monitor social and emotional development and measure the impact of interventions.

“The 13th Social and Emotional Domain is Attachment. Definition: The emotional bond that we share with others – “The affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one – a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time”. Ainsworth & Bell, 1970

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Before you begin

1) Check that you have received all your Fagus resource components:

A personal activation code for your licence to access the Fagus online resources (via email).

Log in and check you have access to the online guides in the Dashboard.

2) Appoint a Fagus ‘lead’: This is a useful and important role. It could be you or someone in your team who will invest some time becoming familiar with the resource and guide other members of staff through the process.

3) Read through the Manual: You’ll find this with the online guides in the Dashboard. It is a comprehensive in-depth reference guide to using Fagus. We recommend you read this before starting or if you ever get stuck/need more information.

4) Watch the training video: This gives you an overview of Fagus and shows you how to create Developmental Profiles using the online tool: https://survey.fagus.org.uk/how-to-use-the-fagus-materials/

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Noun: Latin Fãgus (“beech”) – The Tree of Learning

5) Browse through some of the Developmental Guides: You may want to get a feel for the layout and content. It is useful to read the introduction to each one for a definition of each developmental domain. They are reference guides so don’t feel you have to learn them by heart.

6) Decide which children you will start with: These will be children with emotional and social difficulties but we suggest you don’t start with the most complex until you are familiar with the resource. Fagus was principally created for children with attachment and developmental trauma related difficulties.

7) Decide who will create the child’s Developmental Profile: It is important that whoever is completing the checklists to create a Developmental Profile knows the child well and has seen them in a variety of situations.

8) Consider parental involvement: It is up to you to decide at which stage you want to involve the child’s parent or carer.

9) Please feel confident that there is no ‘right way’ to use Fagus: Since its inception, many schools have now embedded the framework into their school life and adapted its use for their own bespoke needs.

Using Fagus depends on your objectives, your selected cohort of pupils, what knowledge, skills and resources already exist in your setting and what inventions you are using.

If you have any questions or feedback, contact us on 01628 367358 or email: enquiries@fagus.org.uk 4