This programme depends on a number of issues
* a desire by the management and staff to support their challenged children
* being prepared to set up a suitable room with the required equipment and environment
* putting in the right levels of staffing -- ideally two TAs
* ensuring staff are the right people to undertake the task
Ideally, this programme will run alongside a Relationship, Repair and Recovery model of behaviour management rather than a compliance based model. The ultimate goal of this programme will be to teach children emotional literacy skills in a non-challenging and non-threatening environment so that even the most resistant and challenging of students will begin to participate.
It is envisaged that in the initial phase, this programme may only work with the most challenging 10% of the school. Probably, 5% of the students will be at regular risk of exclusion and will be a constant source of disruption within the classroom environment as well as during unstructured times – playtimes, lunchtimes and even PPA time. The students require a very consistent approach but one that allows a great deal of flexibility in the initial phases.
The task in the extreme cases is to engage the students in a recovery programme based in the timeout room. Initially, the students may have a great deal of resistance to any intervention programmes, however sensitive and caring they may be, as often, their experience has told them that participation often leads to punishment.
These most difficult of students, therefore, seem to put up all the barriers and are the most difficult to reach and recover. A non-judgemental approach which begins with an acceptance and understanding of why the student maybe upset or annoyed along with the acknowledgement that it is all right to be annoyed at times.
Beginning to understand how they feel is a key factor in recovering children back to the classroom. Asking children simple questions about how they feel, what they think happened and what possible routes they could take to recover the situation are all common elements of initial dialogue.
Young people need to have a feeling of some control over what happens to them on and in my opinion, within certain parameters, it is an excellent tactic to involve students in discussion of, and ultimately the resolution of their own conflict.
It is very important within this programme not to apportion blame even if it may be clear that the student is at fault. It is essential for recovery to take place before any discussions around the intent need to be made. Often, students are happy to accept some or all of the blame when the situation has been handled evenly.
It is recommended that within the timeout room there is a secluded area where students can recover especially if they are very upset. This is important as there may be other students in the room and this could negatively affect their recovery. In addition, the upset student may choose to verbally or physically affront other students in the room. It is also useful to have a number of deflection activities available which can assist a student to recover.
One large hurdle to overcome is the staff's perception that students are choosing to exit their classrooms rather than facing up to the consequences of issues that have occurred in the classroom. This is an issue of compliance by the teacher and over a period of time the trust will build up that the member of staff in the timeout room will actually undertake the resolution of any issue on teacher's behalf, but away from the classroom and other possible agitators. The latter issue is probably one of the biggest issues within classroom disruption and separation has proven to be a very good tactic.
Students entering the timeout room are checked for emotional stress by the receiving staff and if they appear to be very stressed, they may be left in a quiet area for a while to calm down. As soon as they reach an appropriate level, the member staff will engage them in the discussion around the issues that caused them to exit the class. The member of staff may take other students from classroom in order to complete the picture of what has occurred.
As this all takes place away from the classroom, teaching can still continue and disruption is minimised. When the situation is cleared up, the student may continue to undertake his class work within the timeout room for a short period of time to ensure he understands the work and that it is of an appropriate level.
When fully recovered, he is accompanied back to the classroom. At this point it is essential that the receiving teacher at accepts the situation as being resolved and that no further discussions are required.
The timeout staff will brief teacher at a later time and will perhaps drop into the classroom over the next hour to check progress is still okay and that the other students possibly involved in the situation are not looking to stir things up any further.
Initially, as the crisis management room, students can exit themselves or they can be exited by staff into the timeout room. As the programme develops, some of the 10% targeted students can earn positive rewards by managing their behaviour independently and remaining within the classroom without outside intervention. As a consequence of this, a golden time program can operate every day to give the students positive experiences away from the classroom. This begins to remove the perception that the timeout room is purely for the naughty children. In addition to these, other groups of non-challenging children can also qualify for golden time during the week.
Ultimately the programme works for all the students in the school whether they need short-term help, recognition of progress or reward for never presenting challenging behaviours and, over time, truly becomes a whole school support programme.