Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) covers a wide range of dimensions - too many to cover in a single chapter of the book. The resources here take a specific approach to understanding three key areas which are affecting a growing number of children and young people in schools today:

1. how children feel about learning and themselves as a learner;

2. trauma and the impact of their lived experiences on externalising behaviours and choices;

3. ways to better understand emotional based school avoidance.

It goes without saying that if you have immediate concerns about a child's wellbeing and safety, it is important to follow your school's safeguarding procedures.

This section relates to Chapter 8

NCIM Action Point 8.1:

Self-Efficacy, Pupil Wellbeing, Maths Anxiety

Research Collection:

Self-Efficacy Questionnaire

Steve Chinn's Maths Anxiety:

Identification of Need Tools

The Children's Society:

Good Childhood Index

NCIM Action Point 8.2:

Trauma & Challenging Behaviours

World Health Organisation:

Adverse Childhood Experiences - International Questionnaire *

Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory:

For ages 8-18 years

Perceived Stress Scale - Children

Click here for information about scoring

*Liaise with your DSL or senior colleagues before carrying this out with a pupil.

NCIM Action Point 8.3:

Anxiety, Avoidance & Not Fitting In

Laura Hull et al.,University College London:

Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (ages 16+)

Understanding School Avoidance:

School Refusal Assessment Scale

Scoring the SRAS-R is based on a 0–6 scale, with each question being scored as follows based on participant response:

• 0 points: 0, meaning "never"

• 1 point: 1, meaning "seldom"

• 2 points: 2, meaning "sometimes"

• 3 points: 3, meaning "half the time"

• 4 points: 4, meaning "usually"

• 5 points: 5, meaning "almost always"

• 6 points: 6, meaning "always"

Each item in the question set contributes to a different function which may be contributing to the child's school refusal behavior. Total scores may be computed by adding the scores of each of four functions on both the parent and child versions. These function scores are each divided by 6 (the number of scores in each set). Parent and child function scores are then summed and divided by 2 to determine the mean function score. The function with the highest mean score is considered the primary cause of the child's school avoidance. The function divisions are as follows:

• Function one ("avoidance of stimuli provoking negative affectivity"): items 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, and 21

• Function two ("escape from aversive social and/or evaluative situations"): items 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, and 22

• Function three ("attention seeking"): items 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, and 23

• Function four ("tangible rewards"): items 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24

Understanding Stress in the School Day:

Humans Not Robots School Stress Survey

Children's Outcomes Research Consortium:

Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)

Age 8-18 & Parent Versions

Jump to:

Phonological Processing

Visual Processing

Handwriting & Sensory Integration

Executive Function

Social Emotional Mental Health

Physical Health