Page 47 - Unit 5: Brain Shaping

What does this all mean to our practice?

HELPING EVERYONE UNDERSTAND WHY SOME CHILDREN STRUGGLE MOVES

COMMUNITIES FROM BLAME AND SHAME TO NURTURE AND SUPPORT

1 ▪ We need to make sure all adults, children and young people understand why some

children struggle more than others and how our ‘Balance of Life’ or simply the way our brain

was wired through birth makes a difference to how we manage in school and at home each day.
When everyone understands, it is easier for them to be empathic and help others to feel better

and do better. When people do not understand, it leaves people uncertain, fearful and

disempowered. It also causes children to become labelled negatively and leads to the
emergence of negative self-concepts in children who struggle.

2 ▪ We need to make sure children who are struggling do not feel blamed, bad or stupid.
We should explain that there are genuine reasons why they are struggling – they are not bad –

but it is really important they work with us to develop the skills to do better (high expectations,

high support).

3 ▪ We should use the language of helpful and unhelpful and finding it easy / difficult –
not choices or ‘bad’ behaviour.

▪ When children are struggling, we need to redress their Balance of Life by working
with them to plan ways to fill their 5C Needs in helpful ways and set out a Pathway to
Independence. By making the purpose of filling needs explicit, we give children the tools to
make positive changes in the future when things are not going so well for them.