The 4 R’s
Ajuga School Student Support is underpinned by the 4 R’s: Regulate, Relate, Reason and Repair. These key areas allow staff to intervene through an effective sequential support model that assists our students to learn, think and reflect.
The Ajuga School Support Framework has been developed to support students to regulate their thoughts and feelings. An understanding of the flight, fight, freeze and collapse response is essential in assisting our learners to learn strategies for self-regulation.
Brain Aligned Preventative Discipline - Proactive not Reactive
Tier 1 - Preventative Brain-Aligned Discipline happens through our procedures, routines, transitions, morning and afternoon rituals, and through sensory regulation and touch points with our students.
Tier 2 - Some of our students will need regulation and touch point interventions a little more often and with more intensity. Here is where we teach our students how to use the routines of regulation before there is a conflict or irritation.
Tier 3 - ‘Accommodations through ACEs Lens” happens in this top tied as we are intentional about co-regulation with our students using sensory strategies, validation, noticing, movement, rhythm, breath, and making sure there are adults and a space in our buildings where students can go if they need to co-regulate away from the classroom.
The Ajuga Student Support Framework
1. Reminder is the first step staff are to use when supporting students in changing their behaviour.
2. Think and Choose. At Ajuga we talk about 'the plan'. This is documented for students through their Ready to Learn Plan.
Regulate the Nervous System. Typically the plan is the use of a regulation strategy that the student may need to utilise to move back to baseline. At this stage, the staff member is offering the student to choose between an item in their plan or the learning activity.
Create Safety. If the student is overwhelmed, prompt them to a quiet area and give them the space they need to calm themselves. Each student has identified their safe person/people through their Ready to Learn Plan and BSP. It may be an appropriate time to have this person arrive and provide coregulation strategies.
At this point students may choose to make use of a ‘cool down’ area. Students can take themselves to a designated area to ‘Cool Down’ when they feel unable to self regulate at any time throughout the Ajuga student support flow chart.
Teachers may prompt a student to utilise Cool Down if required. The student will return to the class activity when ready to participate in the lesson. Teachers may encourage this as a self regulation strategy for their students
At other times staff may need to strategically ignore the secondary behaviour, allowing the student take-up time and waiting
3. Work it Out would occur following behaviours that are seen as the “yellow” or “orange” level on a student’s BSP.
Connect. Connection is the most effective way to calm the nervous system. When students are around people they trust, their bodies produce oxytocin, the hormone responsible for calming the nervous system after stress.
Reason. A Work it Out requires 1:1 time to work through the strategies to make a plan. If staff can manage this in their classroom without additional support, a radio call is not needed. If staff need support, please contact the executive. The executive can either:
- Support the rest of the class so the staff member can facilitate the work it out
- Facilitate the work it out while the staff members continue with the whole class activity.
The teacher needs to identify the preference when the executive arrives
If a Work It Out is not successful due to the student not being ready to engage or connect they will be provided with space and time. If unsafe, an executive can be radioed or notified for support. The classroom staff will utilise their BSP strategies until the executive arrive.
4. Executive Involvement depends on the student and their support needs. An example that would be used would be the “Let’s Make A Plan” triage conversation. Another option would be in the form of a formal Circuit Breaker.
Let's Make a Plan
This triage conversation formula supports Ajuga staff to create a plan with the student they are working with. It provides an opportunity to restore relationships, identify emotions and create a plan to rengage with learning.
Staff are encourage to use in conjunction with the student's Ready to Learn Plan.
Adapted from Berry Street Education Model Triage Formula
Ajuga Ready to Learn Plan
The Ajuga Ready to Learn Plan is developed by the student and teacher to identify de-escalation and self-regulation strategies that the student can utiilse when moving outside their thinking brain.
Every student completes their individual plan that expresses how they feel during times of stress and possible coping tools they will use to get them back to baseline or the Green Zone. Students draw and colour the first body outline “When I feel stressed I feel it here in my body”.
The Ready to Learn plan supports the student to identify:
- I feel angry, frustrated or anxious when this happens...
- When I feel angry, frustrated or anxious my body looks like ...
- Some things I can do to help myself de-escalate are ...
- Some things that an adult can do to help me de-escalate are ...
- I know that I am calm when I look and feel like this ...
- We will review this plan on ...
Plans are displayed in the classroom and referred to throughout the year.
Morning Circle is a key teaching strategy integral to SEL (social and emotional learning) development that each class at Ajuga engages in each morning. Morning circle provides a structured mechanism for solving problems, in which all participants are equal, provides opportunity for check-in and allows teachers to explore issues of concern in a safe and inclusive environment. Furthermore, it is a whole school strategy to support student behavior and ties in with the Berry Street Education Model and associated TIE (Trauma Informed Education) philosophies.
Morning circle aims to support students to develop their skills and attitudes, recognise and learn to manage their feelings and develop appropriate social skills and skills required for regulation.
Morning circle is adapted for each classes needs, however follows a similar formula within each classroom. This format has four key elements:
1. Greeting: Students and teachers greet and welcome each other. This part of morning circle may involve appropriate touch points such as a hand shake, wave, elbow tap etc.
2. Sharing: sharing allows students to practice communication skills, develop empathy, active listening and allows students to share information important to them.
3. Activity: the daily activity helps foster group cohesion, teamwork and helps practice social and emotional skills.
4. Morning Message: this is crafted to help students focus on the daily schedule for the day, reinforce classroom expectations and talk about goal setting