Implementation
What role can members of the wider community play?
Most schools have links with the local community that can provide many opportunities to develop and practise social and emotional skills. Examples might be community projects involving: older adults or young children; charity work; community arts projects (including those involved in Creative Partnerships); sports coaching; work experience and so on. It will greatly enhance the development of SEAL and these initiatives if those involved are aware of how the school is developing social and emotional skills and are clear about how they can contribute to social and emotional learning.
There are a wide range of agencies both statutory and voluntary that are becoming involved in developing and supporting work in this area. They include:
- Children’s Services, including educational psychology, behaviour support services, behaviour and attendance consultants, gifted and talented consultants, healthy schools coordinators, personal advisers;
- health services, including the school nursing service, speech and language therapy service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and drug action teams;
- voluntary and community services, including those working in creative arts, sex and relationships education and youth work, and with particular social, faith and ethnic groups;
- police services;
- local employers.
All secondary schools will be expected to be a member of a school partnership to improve behaviour and tackle persistent truancy by September 2007. These also provide an opportunity for schools to support each other with SEAL implentation. Special schools and pupil referral units can make a valuable contribution to these partnerships as they bring particular skills and expertise.
3.7.1 Reading
Guidance for school partnerships to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence