School Behaviour Secrets with Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton

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 making better decisions before you even open your mouth.
You’ll explore why many behaviour confrontations escalate because adults are focused on “winning” the moment, and how redefining what success looks like can lead to calmer classrooms and fewer repeat issues over time.
The episode breaks assertiveness down into clear, practical strategies you can use straight away, including how to steady your body language, adjust your voice, give instructions that don’t invite debate, and choose the right moment to follow things up.
If you work in a classroom and want behaviour to improve without damaging relationships, escalating situations, or feeling emotionally drained, this episode will give you a simple, usable framework to take into your next lesson.
Important links:
Get your copy of the Classroom Management Scoresheet: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/classroom-management-scoresheet
Download other FREE behaviour resources for use in school: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/resources
Headteachers and deputies: Join our in-person event in Bradford
Where you'll learn practical ways to equip your team to handle SEMH challenges with confidence - so you can move from firefighting to a calm, consistent whole-school approach. Register now.

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, well-intentioned schools - and why this isn’t about individual failure.
You’ll see how a range of factors have unintentionally made the role of SENCO the single point of SEND failure in schools. And how this affects classroom practice, consistency of support and long-term sustainability for pupils with complex needs in school.
Most importantly, you’ll come away with a clearer way of thinking about the role - and how we need to redefine it - so it’s fit for purpose moving forwards. All without adding additional stress to hard-working SENCOs or burning them out.
If you care about inclusion and want SENCO support that’s sustainable, this episode is for you.
Important links:
Get our FREE SEND Behaviour Handbook: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/send-handbook
Download other FREE behaviour resources for use in school: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/resources
Headteachers and deputies: Join our in-person event in Bradford
Where you'll learn practical ways to equip your team to handle SEMH challenges with confidence - so you can move from firefighting to a calm, consistent whole-school approach. Register now.

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 behaviour policies stumble: why copying “best practice” from other settings can backfire, why consistency breaks down under pressure and what happens when policies are launched but never truly embedded into everyday practice.
If you’re a school leader or teacher trying to build a behaviour policy that staff actually use, trust, and stick to when things get difficult, this episode will help you stress-test your thinking and understand how to embed an effective policy in your school.
Important links:
Get our FREE Reducing Exclusions Checklist: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/exclusions-checklist.php
Download other FREE behaviour resources for use in school: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/resources

Headteachers and deputies: Join our in-person event in Bradford
Where you'll learn practical ways to equip your team to handle SEMH challenges with confidence - so you can move from firefighting to a calm, consistent whole-school approach. Register now.

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 conversations can break down for pupils with communication difficulties, empathy differences, trauma histories or rejection sensitive dysphoria
·         what restorative practice assumes about children’s skills, why some pupils struggle to access those conversations
·         how to adapt your approach so it remains inclusive, fair, and effective - without lowering expectations or abandoning accountability
If you’ve ever walked away from a “restorative” conversation thinking, ”that didn’t change anything”, this episode will give you the practical strategies you’ve been missing.
Important links:
Download our FREE behaviour resources for use in school: https://beaconschoolsupport.co.uk/resources
Headteachers and deputies: Join our in-person event in Bradford
Where you'll learn practical ways to equip your team to handle SEMH challenges with confidence - so you can move from firefighting to a calm, consistent whole-school approach. Register now.

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 predictions may make you uncomfortable. Others may feel uncomfortably familiar.
But if you want a grounded, experience-led perspective on what’s coming - and how to lead through it without burning out - this episode will help you see 2026 more clearly before it arrives.
Share your thoughts on these predictions (or share your own!) through Linked In or Facebook:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-currigan/
 https://www.facebook.com/beaconschoolsupport
Headteachers and deputies: Join our in-person event in Bradford
Where you'll learn practical ways to equip your team to handle SEMH challenges with confidence - so you can move from firefighting to a calm, consistent whole-school approach. Register now.