SEN and Wellbeing

SEN and Wellbeing reflective sessions

A new initiative for staff development and addressing pupil needs has been introduced this half term as part of Support360. Education is a demanding arena. Navigating learning, achievement, success and taking into consideration why things happen and how they could be made better, more efficient, more worthwhile for the pupil is something which often we do not find the time to reflect on as a whole. Lurching from one day to the next can mean that patterns are missed, obstacles keep recurring or occasionally that the intention and the outcome can become very far apart. In equal parts we can fail to use or recall those shining moments of success. The change in the school day gave us, as a department, a golden window to capitalise on. The reflection session is a 30-minute daily occurrence, which happens between 3 and 3.30pm. There is a clear set format to ensure that defined steps are taken and that people do not feel targeted but rather with growing confidence. This builds a forum of trust and shared responsibility, as well as an intention to reflect on practice to make a better school day for students and teachers. The sessions are intended to bring together people’s concepts, experiences and communicate as a team. It’s important that everyone takes the opportunity to lead, which ensures that everyone has a voice and that the reflection continually moves forward to its conclusion which is an action point, change in strategy or solution with members involved in the process taking ownership for change. A reflection session may consist of discussion around a certain student's behaviour, a moment in the day, a particular obstacle that the team or an individual experienced amongst many other things which develop throughout the day. The Reflection Session is not a whinge, it is a time to prioritise a singular moment or up to three moments in that day which were poignant for the team or individual student. It is important to remember that a reflection can be a success story or something to change. In just a few sessions of the initiative, we have seen the department grow from questioning what qualifies as a ‘good scenario’ for Reflection to analysing the finite strands of an obstacle or a success to create next steps/action points or strategy changes. It’s not just the students who benefit from the outcomes of the Reflection Session. Professional development occurs throughout and as leading pathways for further exploration and enhances naturally reflective practice. In its infancy, we are seeing positive results as a team. Thirty minutes of sharing strategies, exchanging experiences, and exploring new avenues of development and personal insight. The next steps will be to see how we evaluate this form of organic professional development and more specifically how the learning is implemented for the success of meeting the needs of the whole child academically, socially and emotionally in equal measure. Maryam Rashid and Nick Belcher Support 360 Team