School Behaviour Secrets with Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton

School leaders are facing increasingly complex SEMH needs, rising pressure around behaviour and inclusion, and more uncertainty about what effective support should look like in practice. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, you’ll hear what schools are telling us right now about SEMH leadership, why it can feel so difficult, and what leaders need in order to move forward confidently with S...

Some behaviour problems don’t start with defiance, disruption or poor emotional control. They actually start when pupils use relationships to humiliate or exclude another child in their friendship group. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, you’ll discover how Relational Aggression affects pupils in both primary and secondary schools, why it’s so easy for adults to miss and how it can driv...

Have you noticed some pupils seem more anxious, avoidant or dysregulated at this time of year - even when nothing obvious has changed in the classroom? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, you’ll learn why exams, transition days, new classes, secondary transfer and end-of-year changes can increase anxiety for pupils. You’ll discover why some children aren’t just reacting to what’s happenin...

Got a tricky class that feels harder to teach than it should? Sometimes the problem isn’t one big behaviour issue - it’s the smaller repeated issues that drain everyone’s attention, patience and energy. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we look at why some classes feel so difficult to manage, how problematic routines can create hidden workload for teachers and pupils, and why simply tel...

Have you ever had a pupil come back from lunch looking fine - only to refuse work, argue, shout or completely fall apart minutes later? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we explore why lunchtime isn’t always a break for every pupil. You’ll learn how social stress, sensory overload, unresolved conflict and tricky transitions can build up during lunch - then spill over into the afternoon...

Have you ever used a behaviour strategy that worked brilliantly in the moment - only to find the same behaviour came back again the next day? And the next? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we explore why some short-term behaviour strategies appear to work because they reduce the immediate tension but can accidentally teach pupils or whole classes habits that make behaviour harder in th...

Are the quiet, compliant pupils in your classroom genuinely regulated - or just holding everything together? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we explore the important tension between compliance and regulation. Because while schools absolutely need routines, boundaries and clear expectations, “doing what we asked” doesn’t always mean a pupil is calm, settled or coping underneath. You’ll...

What should you do when a pupil looks you in the eye, shrugs and says, “I don’t care”? It’s one of those classroom moments that can easily pull adults into a power battle. But while they sound disrespectful or deliberately provocative - what if those three words are not the whole story? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we explore what pupils might really be communicating when they say,...

When a pupil explodes over something small, it can look like their behaviour came out of nowhere. But what if that “tiny trigger” wasn’t really the cause - just the final bit of pressure they could no longer cope with? In this episode, you’ll learn how stress stacking affects dysregulated behaviour, why looking for one simple trigger can lead schools down the wrong path, and how to ask better ques...

Why do so many sensible school strategies fail, even when staff are trying their best? In this episode, you’ll learn why attention-seeking behaviour is often a misleading label - and why two pupils can show very similar behaviour for completely different reasons. Using the PAIN framework, you’ll discover how to look beneath the surface, identify the hidden drivers behind a child’s behaviour, and c...

Why do so many sensible school strategies fail, even when staff are trying their best? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, we explore one of the biggest challenges facing school leaders: consistency. Because having the right strategy is only half the battle - the real challenge is getting staff to understand it, apply it in practice and embed it over time. Using the example of restorative...

What if a pupil’s dysregulation isn’t just about behaviour - but about hidden executive function demands they can’t yet manage? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets, you’ll learn how difficulties with executive function can fuel frustration, overload and emotional dysregulation in the classroom. Using a concrete case study and the PAIN framework, we unpack how challenges with holding inform...

The government’s new SEND reform paper proposes major changes to how schools support pupils with additional needs. But what does it actually mean for mainstream schools, teachers and SENCOs? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , we break down the key changes in the proposed SEND reforms and explains what they could mean for SEMH support in schools. You’ll learn: • Why mainstream schools wi...

Some of the pupils who need the most support are the ones who refuse it. They say they’re fine. They push adults away. They avoid check-ins, mentoring and pastoral support - then struggle or explode under pressure. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , we explore why this happens, through the lens of avoidant attachment. Not as a label, but as a way of understanding why help itself can fee...

Why do children sometimes say things online they would never say face to face? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn why social media can make behaviour escalate so quickly - and why it’s not simply about children being unkind.  Drawing on psychology and real-world school experience, we explain how social media and messaging apps remove the natural feedback that helps children...

Emotional regulation is not a curriculum - and treating it like one backfires. Many pupils can explain their emotions, name calming strategies, and talk confidently about what they “should” do… yet still struggle to cope when things get hard in the classroom. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn why teaching emotional regulation as a set of lessons often doesn’t work, and how...

More children are struggling to cope with small setbacks in school. Mistakes feel overwhelming. Frustration escalates quickly. And learning grinds to a halt. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , we explore why this isn’t about children being “less resilient” - and why common advice like “push through” or “try harder” often makes things worse. You’ll learn how modern home and school enviro...

Teachers are often told they need to be “more assertive” in the classroom. But what does that actually mean when behaviour starts to wobble, pressure rises, and everyone’s watching? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn what assertiveness really looks like in practice - and why it isn’t about being louder, stricter, or more dominant. Instead, it’s about clarity, calm and makin...

In many schools, the SENCO role has become the pressure point where everything ends up - SEND, SEMH, behaviour, parent concerns, paperwork and managing crises and pupil outbursts. And when that happens, how SEND and SEMH is supported across the school starts to break down. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn why the SENCO job has become increasingly difficult even in caring,...

On paper, your behaviour policy makes sense… so why doesn’t it work in every classroom - and for every pupil? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn the 7 reasons why good behaviour policies often fail in good schools - even when leaders care, staff are committed and the intentions are right. Drawing on nearly two decades of work with real schools, we unpack the hidden reasons...

Restorative conversations are everywhere in schools right now. They’re written into behaviour policies, referenced in Ofsted language, and promoted as the gold standard for repairing harm and building accountability. But what happens when those conversations don’t work - especially for pupils with SEND? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn why: ·         standard restorative...

In 2026 the government is going to make big changes in how schools handle behaviour, SEMH and inclusion. The question is: are we ready for what that actually means? In this episode, we makes a series of predictions about where the system is heading next year - not based on politics or policy promises, but on how schools really work when money, policy and classroom reality collide. Some of these pr...

Some of the most damaging ideas about behaviour in schools don’t sound wrong. They sound kind. They sound scientific. They sound progressive. And that’s exactly why they stick. In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , Simon Currigan unpacks four popular SEMH myths that are quietly making behaviour worse - not because people mean badly, but because good ideas have been overstretched, oversimpl...

The first week of January isn’t just “back to school” - it’s one of the most effective behaviour intervention points of the entire year. In this episode, we explore how to harness the psychology of the Fresh Start Effect to reset classroom routines, rebuild relationships and help pupils begin the new term with confidence rather than shame. You’ll discover: • Why January works better than September...

When a pupil goes from “fine” to “furious” because you asked them to correct one sentence, it’s easy to think they’re overreacting. But for many children with ADHD, even small corrections can feel like rejection - triggering intense emotional pain known as Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn what RSD actually is, why it’s so strongly link...