At Selworthy, we use What’s the Message? as our approach to Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and we have three qualified WtM trainers on the Selworthy staff team. Central to the WtM ethos is the belief that behaviours of concern are a way for a person to communicate their unmet need. The aim of What’s the Message is to work out what the behaviour is telling us.

Once the message is established, the focus is on person-centred positive behaviour support based on proactive prevention strategies rather than just de-escalation strategies. The WtM model is:

• 70% proactive – putting measures in place so learners do not need to use behaviour as a way of communicating;

• 20% active – strategies used when we see that something isn’t quite right;

• 10% reactive – strategies used when we see challenging behaviours.

A small proportion of the reactive strategies used may involve a physical interaction such as a removal or a restraint. These techniques are taught by one of our trainers to specific class teams only and are not included in the whole school training that takes place every year.

WtM are certified by the BILD Association of Certified training (ACT) and their training programmes fully comply with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards (RRN).