Description
Supporting social skills with send students
Why use Thumbs Up – development of social skills?
- Provides a readymade, yet flexible programme adaptable to need.
- Sessions have a light hearted, fun approach, using role play to support learning.
- Use with a group or tailored for an individual childs development of social skills.
Benefits of supporting social skills with send:
- Builds the skills needed for positive social experiences.
- Seeks to improve the child’s social interactions.
- Puts the child at the centre of planning a personalised social skill programme.
The pack outlines a range of fun activities. Delivered to small groups using a ‘Circle of Friends’ approach. Throughout the interactive sessions encourage young people to explore. How they can understand other people’s body language. Facial expressions and tone of voice during conversations. They learn to review how they present themselves in social situations.
The activities begin with a simple exercise in self-reflection. The young people think about different social situations they find easy. This should include which ones they feel they would like to find easier.
Deliver the next ten activities in a flexible way to suit the needs of the group. Practitioners can help children with SEND/VI to reflect on how they perceive their own social skills. And give them the practical strategies to improve them.
Testimonial:
Tabitha Stevens, QTVI, Cambridgeshire County Council
“As a service, we have incorporated this resource into our regular service delivery. For every pupil we visit who has an Educational Statement or EHCP, we use the Thumbs Up statements. It helps gauge their view of how things are going for them in school. Both from an educational point of view and from a social and emotional point of view. It enables us to gain a much deeper understanding of their experiences. The statements feel less threatening than an adult asking lots of questions. The range of statements really help to explore lots of areas of school life which may otherwise be over-looked. From this, we create targets and action plans. Which, as part of the review process, enable the child or young person to feel listened to and their views validated. We couldn’t offer such a pupil-friendly service without this resource.”
Want to add more? Utilise some of our free resources, all designed to support our development courses in the classroom.
Why not try our new course: Practical Approaches to social & emotional well being
