Page 48 - Unit 2 Brain Control TO SEND_Neat

What does this all mean to practice?

What this means to the way we should support children and young people

WE NEED TO PRACTICE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS

5. We need to give children lots of opportunity for rehearsal so they can make good decisions

automatically.

This will mean they do not have to rely on their Executive Function skills at times when they are
experiencing stressors and these skills are likely to be compromised.

In practice, this means that adults will spend time rehearing scenarios that children find harder. E.g.

if a child finds it hard to manage when they think they cannot do a piece of work, the adult will
rehearse by recreating the experience and guiding them through it. Adults will always Prep4Best

before tasks. Prep4Best and rehearsal gives children and young people a better chance to do well,

even when emotions are high.

6. We should use the language of ease difficulty:

You are finding it so much easier to walk calmly around the school. You must feel really proud of

yourself. It is great for everyone else too as it makes it calmer around here.

7. We need to teach children Executive Function Skills – both explicitly and noting the ones that

needed in different lessons e.g. ‘We will be working in groups for this task. It will need lots of

Flexible Thinking to listen to the ideas of others and find the best ways to solve the task.”