Social Emotional & Mental Health

In the UK, the category of social, emotional, and mental health difficulties (SEMH) was brought in to replace behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties (BESD). For many children their behaviour may be a result of these of underlying factors. The iceberg model shows five domains which can contribute to unexpected behaviour in a child. This behaviour should be regarded as communication, and a clue that something is not right. For this reason, the word 'behaviour' was removed to encourage professionals to focus on the underlying issues. A reward and sanction system may help address the behaviour, but does little to address the reasons for it.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) falls under the category of SEMH. However, it is often diagnosed alongside other conditions such as ASD or SpLD. Some of the strategies on this page may be of great help to someone with ADHD, but there are more specific strategies that can be found here.

What leads to SEMH?

There are wide-ranging social and emotional factors that can have short- and long-term impact on a child's mental health. Schools are generally well-equipped to deal with short-term issues, such as the death of a pet. Persistent or accumulative issues and high-impact events can have significant long-term effects on a child's mental health. These may manifest themselves in a number of ways; examples are shown below:

Passive Behaviours:

Anxiety
Low mood
Being withdrawn
Avoiding risks
Unable to make choices
Low self-worth
Isolated
Refusing to accept praise
Failure to engage
Poor personal presentation
Lethargy/apathy
Daydreaming
Unable to make and maintain friendships
Speech anxiety/ reluctance to speak
Task avoidance

Active Behaviours:

Challenging behaviours
Restlessness/over-activity
Non-compliance
Mood swings
Impulsivity
Physical aggression
Verbal aggression
Perceived injustices
Disproportionate reactions to situations
Difficulties with change/transitions
Absconding
Eating issues
Lack of empathy
Lack of personal boundaries
Poor awareness of personal space

Managing SEMH in schools...

Schools vary significantly in size, location, culture, socioeconomic background of pupils, and many other factors. These will influence the forms of SEMH difficulties that their students are more likely to encounter. Schools will also vary in their level of access to specialist support services for these difficulties. It is essential for schools to have systems in place that allow rapid identification of the early signs of SEMH, and lines of communication (internally and externally) that are effective in providing support. Many schools employ specialist staff to work with the children or to engage the services of external agencies via referral.

Safeguarding procedures in schools play a key role in the early identification of SEMH. The importance of understanding and following safeguarding procedures cannot be understated. Changes in, or patterns of, children's behaviour may be noticed by any member of school staff, and the safeguarding communication route allows this to be passed to the appropriate staff. What may seem insignificant and 'not really worth mentioning' may actually be an early warning sign that a child is developing an SEMH difficulty.

School Strategies

The UK-based SEMH website has some excellent suggestions for whole-school intervention strategies
The same website also provides advice on whole school issues such as behaviour and the restorative approach to improving behaviour and relationships
This website was used to list the examples of passive and active behaviours above
Further examples can be found on this website, along with some excellent classroom strategies for students with SEMH
This PDF takes the strategies from the previous bullet point, and places them in a checklist with a little more detail

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