Managing an incident
Suggestion for implementing the strategy ‘Respond safely to challenging situations’
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Assess first
Assess first
- Stay calm, give direction, and give the child the chance to move out of the situation or away from other children, with dignity.
- Support the child to calm themselves.
- Seek assistance from another staff member, if you think it will help rather than aggravate the child more.
Note: If the student has a safety or behaviour plan already in place, follow that process.
Source: Positive Behaviour for Learning (opens in a new tab/window)
Respond/ defuse
Respond/ defuse
![11697 [Screen-Shot-2019-10-25-at-10.44.25-AM.png]](https://inclusive-live-storagestack-assetstorages3bucket-3uty0hejzw6u.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/public/inclusive-education/example-images/Screen-Shot-2019-10-25-at-10__ScaleMaxWidthWzEwODZd.44.25-AM.png)
Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga
Debrief with compassion
Debrief with compassion
Once a child is calm:
- give them an opportunity to say what happened and why
- listen in a non-threatening and non-judgemental way
- avoid lecturing.
Plan and prevent
Plan and prevent
Problem-solve with other staff, the child, and their parents and whānau, if appropriate.
Work as a team.
- What is the purpose of the behaviour, for example, to avoid or obtain something?
- What triggers it?
- What is the child getting from the behaviour? Can you replace the need?
- What do you want the child to be doing instead?
- Do you need to teach them new skills or positively reinforce what they already know?
- What changes can you make in the whole school or whole centre and at home to support this change?
- Put in place a safety/behaviour plan to prevent the behaviour from recurring and to ensure a consistent response if it does.
Reflective questions
Reflective questions
- Where in your learning environment could a student move to, to calm themselves?
- Who will you contact when an incident happens?
- What environments in your school are safe, conducive spaces to have debriefing conversations?
Useful resources
Useful resources
Positive Behaviour for Learning information sheet: Process for responding to an incident
Information on how to assess and defuse an incident of challenging behaviour.
Publisher: Positive Behaviour for Learning
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Respond safely to challenging situations”:
Return to the guide “Behaviour and learning”
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How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Behaviour and learning
Understand:
- Understanding behaviour
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Understanding how to respond to problem behaviourShow suggestions for Understanding how to respond to problem behaviour
Strategies for action:
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Foster positive relationships and partnershipsShow suggestions for Foster positive relationships and partnerships
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Collaboratively develop a safe and caring culture and climateShow suggestions for Collaboratively develop a safe and caring culture and climate
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Supporting language and communication skillsShow suggestions for Supporting language and communication skills
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Support emotional wellbeing and positive mental healthShow suggestions for Support emotional wellbeing and positive mental health
- Anticipate, monitor, and plan for responding to child stress
- Strengthen student identity
- Teach stress management, anxiety and coping skills
- Offer relaxation options and downtime activities
- Teach how to recognise emotions and options for expressing feelings
- Providing support following traumatic experiences
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Enable access and participation in learningShow suggestions for Enable access and participation in learning
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Respond safely to challenging situationsShow suggestions for Respond safely to challenging situations
