Students who are offered support may present with a variety of challenging behaviours, including social skills deficits; low self-esteem; difficult relationships with adults/peers and poor concentration and attention difficulties in most subjects. Many of the students are also persistently at risk of suspension and/or expulsion. The severity of their behaviour in classrooms not only hinders their own educational progress but may also impede that of their peers.

The Behaviour for Learning Programme aims to explore ways in which Mr Barry Lawlor can develop a school ‘Behaviour for Learning Programme’ specifically targeted at students in need of intensive individualised intervention.

Additionally, the Behaviour for Learning Programme teacher facilitates the planning, implementation and evaluation of effective responses to challenging behaviour at small group/class and/or year group level i.e. Level 2: targeted support for some students.

Mr Lawlor works with identified students, individually or in groups on Behaviour for Learning programmes that are designed to meet their social, emotional, wellbeing and behavioural and academic needs, so they can achieve and succeed in school.

An individual Student Behaviour Plan is developed for each student.

Rather than responding after young people present with chronic behaviours (‘a wait to fail’ intervention model), a school’s  ‘Behaviour for Learning Programme’ includes preventive strategies and early intervention approaches for all students.