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What is Team-Teach?
Team-Teach provides training to staff groups in children and adult services as well as Health Care Trusts in behaviour support and intervention. The training combines both theory and practice, emphasising the need for staff to show restraint rather than apply it! Providing a risk assessment structure to the selection of physical interventions that best allow employers to provide a risk reduced workplace for service users and staff. Providing examples of best practice paperwork that underpins practice in this area.
Over 5,000 employer tutors deliver training to employees of their employer. They are able to deliver 6 and 12 hour courses, accounting between them for approximately one million people in the UK receiving training since 1997.
How do I book a course?
The courses are all designed specifically to address the risks that are present in particular service settings. There is no "one shoe size", fits all approach" to training. The courses are based on minimum costs and it is therefore possible for small groups to be trained together. Courses are booked via our qualified 'in-house' Team-Teach trainers. Email info@axcis.co.uk for further information.
What is the background and development of Team-Teach?
Following The Children's Act (1989), growing staff anxiety caused by allegations against and suspensions of staff, plus an increase in more challenging behaviours, threatened the security and effectiveness of service settings managing children and young people displaying challenging behaviours.
As the Deputy Headteacher (1992-1996) in a special school, it was the responsibility of George Matthews (Director of Team-Teach, 1997-2006) to establish a consistent behaviours handling policy and procedures by which staff could be judged. This local situation was also being experienced throughout the UK by services educating and caring for individuals who displayed challenging behaviours.
Before the training staff admitted that they:
- Did not know how they would like to respond to challenging behaviour;
- Wished they could respond to challenging behaviour more calmly;
- Felt, after being faced with extremely challenging behaviour, that if they had behaved differently the outcome might have been better;
- Physically intervened on a daily or weekly basis despite having been trained in the use of positive handling strategies.
Before 2000, there was no UK accredited training framework designed specifically for staff groups responding to young people's challenging behaviours. Staff required an accredited training framework that took into account UK child protection issues and provided a whole setting, holistic response to behaviour support and interventions, with a focus on protecting and promoting positive relationships and proactively reducing risk and restraint reduction.
Following research (Churchill Fellowship, 1996) into best practice across the UK and USA, by George Matthews' advice and support from Aidan Healey OBE (Hon President of GSA), the staff, in particular, Mike Donovan (Headteacher) and the young people of Warnham Court Special School, this led to the establishment of a training system which involved teams of people working together to safeguard their service and to teach individuals more socially acceptable ways of expressing their behaviours, whilst protecting and promoting positive relationships.
What are the Learning Objectives?
Following training improved performance would be demonstrated by course participants in:
- Recognising the importance of and using de-escalation techniques and working as a team when managing challenging behaviours.
- Applying an understanding of the legal implications of positively handling.
- Using a gradual and graded response to managing challenging behaviours and the use of positive handling as a last resort option by Applying an increased awareness of the need for documentation for the recording and reporting of incidents.
- Using active listening skills and participating in a process of debriefing, repair and reflection.
How will course participant performance be affected and measured?
Course participants receive a set workbook and text book. Certificates are issued to all participants who pass the quizz, achieve full attendance and demonstrate appropriate attitudes, knowledge and understanding. Course members are supported by Team-Teach only in relation to the physical skills in which they demonstrate competence during training. Competence with regard to the physical techniques is defined as the 'ability, within the training context, to perform a skill without being prompted.' Follow-up on support for individual participants as required, are discussed and agreed with the commissioning manager. Timings regarding refresher training are discussed and agreed with the commissioning manager. Team work is assessed through the application of communication help scripts provided and physical activities throughout the course.
Individually numbered certificates are issued to those successfully completing the course. All elements of trainees participation are individually recorded by the tutors and records made available to staff and management.
A trainee individual evaluation and a trainer summary evaluation are completed following training and sent to the service manager. Team-Teach receives a copy of the summary form. A post course questionnaire can be distributed to staff groups 1-3 months following the training. Feedback from the questionnaire informs future training needs.
What do you expect trainees to learn during the training?
The aim is to achieve knowledge, skill and understanding related to the following areas:
- To understand and work within the key principles and values that underpin practice.
- To develop a range of responses: non verbal, para-verbal and verbal de-escalating and calming strategies, including a Help Script & Help Protocol when faced with challenging behaviour.
- To develop an understanding of causes and signs of aggression and conflict.
- To improve staff self awareness and self control whilst managing difficult behaviour.
- To understand the typical stages of crisis behaviours and appropriate staff responses.
- To appreciate the importance of recording and reporting including risk assessment and behaviour management plans and the value of a process for monitoring and evaluating.
- To develop a gradual and graded range of personal safety and positive handling techniques, including standing and seated responses.
- To understand their involvement and entitlement to a post Incident support and de-briefing framework for all involved in serious incidents.
To take a Team Teach course please see Team Teach Training
Feedback from the Axcis Team-Teach Training
Hi Susanna,
I just wanted to write to say thanks to you and Jon for the 'Team Teach' course last Thursday and Friday. The prospect of working with special needs children made me feel like I may just be out of my depth, but after the course I feel confident that I'll be able to handle any situation where a child is in, or approaching, a state of crisis.
I also have to say I enjoyed the ethos behind the content. I found it very positive and constructive, and that it rang true with the early childhood teaching techniques that I studied at university. The optimism of your and Jon's mentality toward teaching is often lacking in mainstream education, which is a shame. I also feel that the issues you dealt with such as the '6 stages of crisis' are applicable to all students, not just special needs kids. Sure, this would be on a much smaller level, but I feel they are stages all kids go through. It has given me some food for thought with regards to my instrumental teaching, so thank you.
Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding school placement in September.
Best regards,
Tom
Dear Susanna and John
Please can I thank you both for such a wonderful two days. I have learned so much from you both and also from the people that I met at the course. I feel much more confident in my approach to difficult situations. Your ability to share your knowledge in such an honest, succinct and humorous way acknowledged and underlined the care, dedication and love that you have for the children you work with and made me feel more and more assured that this is the work that I, also, love and want to continue. I look forward to future work and I thank you both for the inspiration you give to others to go further, to learn more and to improve the quality of care we are able to give to those who ask it of us.
Very best wishes.
Jo
