In this episode, Clare talks to David Bartlett MBE, founder and Managing Director of Pear Tree Projects, about workingholistically in children’s residential care.

David introduces his foundational framework of values, environment and experiences that underpins his organisation’s approach, and reflects on the interplay between these three elements. He also emphasisesthe importance of involving children and young people in designing their environment and supporting them to build skills for life. They discuss what is meant by ‘animal-assisted therapy’ and the benefits of this approach for individuals who have experienced trauma.

Guided by a values-based approach and strong connection to nature, David Bartlett founded Pear Tree Projects in 1990, toprovide an alternative environment in which children and young people in the care system could thrive. Pear Tree Projects currently has 6 residential homes and a special school based on the organisation’s farms, which cover over 500 acres of land. David received an MBE in 2016.

Find out more about Pear Tree Projects on their website, where you can also read David’s publication, ‘In Search of Utopia’.

He also shares three tips during the episode:

• Giving young people the skills they need to engage in economic society and preparing them well for employment is key.
• Acknowledge the importance and impact of a behaviourist approach.
• Implement a fair and effective justice system in your setting.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector andgeographic region, and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Dave Smallwood, Principal Team Teach trainer and Director at SENse Training and Consultancy, about ways to reduce internal truancy.

They discuss what is meant by internal truancy and why some students might find it difficult to attend classes and accesseducation. Dave also explores the impact on children and young people, and suggests practical ways for staff to build strong relationships and help students re-engage with learning.

Dave has worked in special schools, for both the local authority and the National Autistic Society and has extensiveexperience of supporting young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities.

When he worked as a staff development co-ordinator for the National Autistic Society, Dave developed and delivered training in autism, and equality, diversity, and rights.

You can find Dave on LinkedIn.

He also shares three tips during the episode:

• Communication and collaboration are key. If you have a strategy that you think is effective, share it with other practitioners.
• Try to spot patterns early and take preventative action to support individual students’ needs
• Consider the ‘why’ behind the behaviour and reflect on what some of the barriers to accessing learning might be.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region, and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Dave Smallwood, Principal Team Teach trainer and Director at SENse Training and Consultancy, about de-escalating with parents and carers.

They explore different reasons why parents and carers might feel dysregulated and how our own emotional state can affect our capacity to empathise and support them. They also talk about finding incidental opportunities for building connection with families when everyone is feeling calm and regulated. Dave highlights helpful tools for de-escalation, including verbal and non-verbal CALM communication strategies.

Dave has worked in special schools, for both the local authority and the National Autistic Society and has extensiveexperience of supporting young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities.

When he worked as a staff development co-ordinator for the National Autistic Society, Dave developed and delivered training in autism, and equality, diversity, and rights.

You can find Dave on LinkedIn.

He also shares three tips during the episode:

• Being empathetic and trying to understand others’ perspectives can help us devise the right support.
• We should prioritise safety, making sure we are in an environment where everyone feels safe.
• Authenticity is key, so that parents and carers know that we truly care.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector andgeographic region, and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Principal Team Teach trainer, Kat Booker, about positive touch.

They discuss what is meant by positive touch and consent, and the associated implications for safeguarding, behaviour support, and wellbeing. They also talk about the importance of creating robust policies, so that everyone clearly understands the parameters around positive touch, to ensure that we always recognise individuals’ preferences.

Kat is a former primary school teacher, predominantly working in SEMH settings. She also worked extensively inmainstream schools, where she spent time as a SENDCO and setting up nurture groups under Nurture UK.

Kat now works as a consultant and IQM assessor, is a Relax Kids coach, and delivers behaviour support training as a Principal Team Teach trainer.

Kat shares three top tips in the episode:

• Talk to families and children about positive touch and physical contact before talking to staff.
• Make sure you take account of different perspectives during the policy creation process.
• Prioritise ongoing staff training around positive touch and physical contact.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Amy Miskimmin-Logan and Abbie Gillies from Our Hearings, Our Voice about the language that education professionals use when communicating to and about children with care experience.

They discuss the origins and goals of the organisation and the work of Language Leaders in shaping the language principles adopted by Our Hearings, Our Voice. They talk about the importance of listening, and using non-stigmatising, factual and personalised language. Abbie shares her first-hand experiences in education, including the impact of staff members’ perceptions, language choice, and non-verbal communication.

Amy Miskimmin-Logan is the Participation Development Worker at the organisation, and she is joined on this episode by Abbie Gillies, one of the young board members of Our Hearings, Our Voice. This is an independent board of children and young people across Scotland who are care-experienced and who have been part of the Children’s Hearings System.

Amy shares three concepts in the episode:

• All behaviour is communication.
• Connection before correction.
• Nothing about us, without us.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Dr Anne Emerson, resident counsellor at the Lilya Lighthouse Educational Trust, about supporting neurodivergent individuals when they are dysregulated.

They discuss what is meant by ‘dysregulation’ and the impact the environment can have on all individuals’ behaviour. They also talk about how we can respond with curiosity and compassion to feelings of dysregulation, whether we are supporting a child, young person, adult, colleague, or ourselves.

Anne currently works both as a counsellor with neurodivergent children, and as a university lecturer, teaching an MSC in Autism and Neurodiversity. Previously, Anne has worked as a speech and language therapist, family support coordinator, researcher, and trainer of teachers and residential care staff.

She has also written and published a book, ‘How to Be, and Remain, a Compassionate Educator: Learning From Neurodivergent Students for the Benefit of All’.

Anne shares three tips during the episode:

• Understand as much as you can around brain development, especially around ACEs, trauma, and neurodivergence.
• Devise systems and processes that are rooted in equity, so that everyone has access to what they need to thrive.
• Treating individuals with kindness and compassion is key to helping them unlock their potential.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness ofany Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to expert guest, Dr Dean Burnett, about how brain development affects behaviour.

They discuss how emotions can influence responses and what dysregulation might look like in individuals. Dean explains the roles of different parts of the brain and how they interact to shape our behaviour.

They also explore what is meant by neuroplasticity and the implications for emotional regulation and behaviour support.

Find out about our digital course, Behaviour and the Brain: Supporting Children and Young People.

Dr Dean Burnett is a neuroscientist, author, and honorary research fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Psychology.

Formerly a lecturer in psychiatry and a Visiting Industry Fellow at Birmingham City University, Dean is best known for making complex brain science accessible, relevant, and engaging. His bestselling book, The Idiot Brain, and long-running Guardian column, Brain Flapping, have earned himinternational recognition as a leading voice in science communication.

A regular contributor to BBC Science Focus and other major media platforms, Dean brings both humour and clarity to topics like neurodevelopment, dysregulation, and behaviour—making neuroscience not only understandable, but essential for those supporting others.

You can follow Dean on X (formerly Twitter),  Instagram andTikTok, or take a look at his website to find out more.

Dean shares three tips in the episode:

• Generally speaking, individuals do not choose to become dysregulated. They are the ‘victim’ of their experiences.
• With adolescents in particular, it can be more effective to present yourself as a peer, rather than an authority figure, so that they connect more readily with you.
• It is important to acknowledge and accept someone’s emotional expression so they feel seen, heard, and validated.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness of any Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Helly Douglas, Head of Content at Team Teach, about the importance of continuing professional development around behaviour support.

They talk about the difference between behaviour management and behaviour support, and why we need to remain curious about behaviour to understand what is driving it. Helly shares the benefits of ongoing learning between and after training events, and how this approach can help embed a positive culture of behaviour support.

Helly is a behaviour specialist and Head of Content at Team Teach, overseeing the planning and production of all contentfor the organisation. Before this, she worked in both primary and secondary education for over 16 years, where she had a particular interest in supporting children with additional needs.

Helly shares three tips during the episode:

• Our understanding of behaviour is continually evolving so we need to regularly review and evaluate our approaches.
• Working in high-pressure environments can sometimes affect our confidence so ongoing CPD can empower us with the knowledge, skills, and understanding to support a rangeof behaviours.
• We are all busy professionals so ‘micro-learning’ and smaller moments of input can be incredibly valuable.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness ofany Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to independent SEND and behaviour consultant, Andrea Reid-Kelly, about Noonan Syndrome.

They talk about what Noonan Syndrome is and the different ways it may affect individuals, cognitively, physically, emotionally, and socially.

Andrea is SEND and behaviour consultant with a Master’s degree in Autism and Education. She has over 25 years’ teaching experience spanning mainstream, specialist provisions, early years, secondary schools, class teaching, and advisory services. Andrea has lived experience of NoonanSyndrome and is Deputy Chair of the Noonan Syndrome Association.

Andrea shares three tips during the episode:

• If you notice there are multi-systemic issues around a child or young person, it’s important to collect supportive evidence.
• If you are supporting a child or young person with Noonan Syndrome, it’s vital to seek further support and guidance.
• Help other people to connect to wider support networks around Noonan Syndrome.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness ofany Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.

In this episode, Clare talks to Cale Begley, Learning and Development Lead for Team Teach Australia and New Zealand, about how we can enhance safety, wellbeing, and productivity in complex support services.

They discuss the types of stressors staff might face and how these can impact safety and wellbeing. They also explore strategies to create calm, positive, and supportive environments for all, especially around behaviour.

Prior to his current position leading the L&D team for Australia and New Zealand, Cale worked in special needseducation for over 15 years, with roles encompassing teaching, chaplaincy, and school leadership.  Most of Cale's work was in a school for students with the most complex support needs, including physical, cognitive, and communication disabilities.

Cale led the school through a number of changes that supported the reduction of incidents, resulting in improvements in student and staff wellbeing and safety. His work with Team Teach now enables him to share his experience with other practitioners.

Cale shares three tips during the episode:

• When there is a high level of anxiety and escalation, reflect on whether contact and proximity are effective strategies for supporting behaviour and maximising safety, or whether this approach could lead to increased risk.
• Regularly review practice, asking: How can we prevent this situation from happening? How can we plan for situations ifthey do arise? And what do we have in place for post-incident support, repair, and learning?
• Teamwork is vital. Make sure there is always someone available to support colleagues, with clear processes in place for accessing that help and guidance.

The Team Teach podcast shares the latest thinking in behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Eachepisode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use in your setting.

Find out how Team Teach can help your organisation.

The Team Teach podcast is created in the UK, adhering to UK law and guidance. Practitioners should exercise their professional judgment to determine the appropriateness ofany Team Teach material for their specific sector and geographic region and be aware of the applicable laws and guidelines governing their organisation.