Social, Emotional and Mental Health

The SEN Code of Practice (2015) no longer includes ‘behaviour’ as part of this category of need. The reasoning is that a child’s behaviour is perceived as a communication about the child’s state of mind and may be caused by a variety of factors such as:

• Anxiety
• Sensory overload
• Anger, including anger about pervasive life situations or undisclosed difficulties
• Response to trauma or attachment difficulties
• Frustration due to speech and communication difficulties
• Response to the wrong level of challenge in lessons
• grief
• overwhelm
• Physical pain or discomfort, such as hunger
• Underlying mental health problems

This list is illustrative, not exhaustive.