Spring 1 2021 Teaching and Learning Newsletter

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Change By Mica Coleman Jones The current pandemic has increased confusion, and elevated fear and anxiety for everyone. Inevitably, this has brought additional challenges for people who ordinarily become unsettled with change. Research and anecdotal evidence tells us that this is a common experience for autistic people. For some people, adapting to change comes intuitively and without much emotional cost. For others, change, however big or small, is another reminder of the unpredictable world that they live in. At The Beech Academy, we know that sudden and unplanned change, for some of our pupils, can cause emotional distress and prevent them from being able to engage with learning. However, we also recognise that change is inevitable and part of natural life; the bus is late, the train is cancelled, we lose the people that we love, we grow physically and emotionally. If change is inevitable, we cannot prevent it, but we can prepare for how we respond to it. With this in mind, every effort has been taken to create a remote education plan which is familiar and predictable, whilst making time to talk about the changes that are happening around us and providing emotional support to all. This is not to say that autistic people are resistant to all change. We know from experience that our pupils are better able to tolerate planned changes when they have been explained and seem logical. During a recent Science lesson, introducing puberty by exploring feelings towards change and transitions, a pupil gave examples of changes they found distressing. They said, “I get really mad when I don’t know what the change is about, but if someone tells me then that’s alright.” Another pupil, in agreement, added, “Change is confusing. Lockdown has been hard.” Survey research by Pavlopoulou et al (2020) showed that whilst lockdown may potentially have increased pressure for some autistic young people, others have benefitted from less social pressure, lesser sensory challenges, and more time spent on their own interests. It is therefore not surprising that so many schools have reported challenges transitioning pupils back to school, especially with the new set of requirements to maintain social distancing. However, there are also some people who have found comfort in the tighter regulations which organise the school environment. One pupil in Year 9 said they found the one way system in school helpful, and ‘bubbles’ meant fewer pupils in shared spaces, resulting in quieter and more manageable break times. A recent school survey indicated that some pupils felt less anxious at home, and better able to engage with learning via online lessons. Why is this? What is it about their day-to-day experience of school that incites greater feelings of uncertainty and anxiety? It is imperative that we seek to answer these questions, to make the necessary modifications to our approach and the environment in order to secure the emotional stability and educational progress of the pupils, during the course of the pandemic and beyond. Nandy (2012) stated, ‘Without the understanding that some children have greater barriers to overcome and that school is the one place where they can gain the skills, confidence and resilience they will need to overcome them, we are certain to fail the children who most need help.’ In a recent twilight, exploring Attachment Theory, the staff at The Beech Academy learned about ‘The Window of Tolerance’. When you are in your Window of Tolerance, you feel like you can deal with whatever is happening in your life. You might feel stress or pressure, but it doesn’t bother you too much. This is the ideal place to be, and is the optimal zone for engagement and learning. Ultimately, people do not learn best when they are stressed or unmotivated.
Change By Mica Coleman Jones Increased stress and heightened anxiety, can lead to feelings of panic which may trigger a meltdown or shutdown. Dr Luke Beardon (2017) describes a meltdown as a state where a person demonstrates behaviours that appear to be out of context as a reaction to the situation, and may be harmful (to oneself or others or the environment), and shutdown as a passive reaction. The latter appears to be less problematic, but the reality is that a person who shuts down spends huge levels of energy trying to avoid a meltdown and only defers the stress to a later point. This is often referred to as ‘The Coke Bottle Effect’. At this point you might think about the pupil who appears to be coping fine in school, but behaviours that are destructive and challenging are reported by people at home. Historically, schools have wrongfully directed these parents and carers to behaviour management style workshops, instead of actively embedding the anxiety reducing approaches that would prevent a pupil from this type of burnout. One approach that has been used to support pupils to recognise, and respond to, their emotional state, is Zones of Regulation (or Zones for short). This has been introduced to our Nurture classes, Year 7 and Year 8, and the feedback so far has been extremely positive. The Zones of Regulation is an evidence-based practice and forms part of our holistic approach to positively supporting behaviour in school. It provides staff with a framework to teach pupils the skills needed for self-regulation and emotional control, leading to greater independence in managing own emotions and behaviour.
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Page 5 and 6: Online Learning and the return to f
Page 7 and 8: Book Review into Action: How to Tea
Page 9: NQT Pathway By Helen Taylor In the
Page 13 and 14: Novel Change Study at the Beech Aca
Page 15 and 16: Empathy Accentuated By Deborah Wrig
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Spring 1 2021 Teaching and Learning Newsletter

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