Engagement Support Services

Engagement Support Officers are trained to work with children and youth, utilising harm prevention approaches, to address challenging and violent behaviours.  

Challenging or violent behaviour (Tier Three), encompasses behaviour that:

  • Interferes with a student’s own and/or other students’ learning and safety

  • Jeopardises a safe and orderly classroom and school environment

  • Has a duration, frequency, intensity or persistence that is beyond the normal range that schools can manage. Also, is less likely to be responsive to the usual range of school interventions (Tier One).

  • Disrupts the daily functioning of the school.

Examples of challenging behaviour displayed by children and young people include:

  • Aggressive behaviour, such as pushing, punching, kicking, biting, scratching

  • Threatening behaviour, including use of furniture or equipment and verbal abuse

  • Disruptive behaviour, such as screaming, tantrums, non-cooperation, running away

  • Defiant behaviour, such as anger, arguing, disobedience re rules and norms

  • Interfering behaviour to other students, such as talking when not appropriate, saying irrelevant comments, fidgeting, taking others’ belongings, leaning on others

  • Withdrawn behaviour such as refusal to respond, or elective mutism

  • Children with learning disabilities and those on the autistic spectrum can display rocking, repetitive vocalisation, ritualistic hand movements

  • Self-injurious/self-harming behaviour, such as head banging, scratching and poking.

Main causes of behavioural challenges are complex and can be social, medical or biological or combination of these reflecting:

  • Family circumstances such as child experience of physical, mental, sexual, coercive, neglect abuse. Witnessing domestic violence or highly conflictual family breakdown

  • Sensory processing difficulties

  • Communication and language difficulties

  • Learning difficulties, such as reading ability

  • Trauma

  • Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)

  • Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder or Aspergers Syndrome

  • Conduct Disorder

  • Depression, anxiety (often linked to substance abuse or suicidal ideation in adolescents).

Escalating Behaviour from challenging to violent

Escalation Phases: Calm → Trigger (cause) → Agitation → Acceleration →Peak-meltdown

→ De-escalation → Recovery → De-brief.

Key strategies to address phases:

  • Intervention based upon prevention, to intervene early in an escalation such as

    • identify environmental factors that can be manipulated

    • identify redirection and replacement behaviours.

  • Intervention based upon prevention and safety

    • remove all triggering and maintaining influences/factors

    • follow crisis management procedures and protective practices

  • Intervention focussed upon re-establishing routines and behavioural norms

    • rebuilding connection with child /youth

    • reinforce positive displays of behaviours

  • Intervention to enable child/youth to reflect via problem solving, as future prevention

    • assist child /youth to create solutions with positive consequences

    • rehearse new/alternative behaviours.

Engagement Support Officer (ESO)

The Engagement Support Officer (ESO) program is designed to support children and young people who are struggling with moderate to severe behaviour challenges and who may be, or are currently at risk to themselves or others.

ESOs are trained in working with this cohort of students to engage and support individual children within the classroom and school yard settings.

The role of ESOs is to support the schools’ behavioural intervention plan and to ensure the safety of the targeted child, other children and staff, in that sense, the ESOs can be considered as a part of a broader support plan for the child.

ESOs receive training is divided in to practical theory and physical training covering the following areas:

  • Introduction to ESO Program and DET policies on working with children with challenging behaviours

  • Working with the child and framework on children’s development

  • Causes and understanding of children’s behavioural difficulties

  • The escalation and de-escalation cycle

  • Legal parameters and responsibilities

  • Protective Practice

  • Physical Training including but not limited to:

    • Body Language and Positioning

    • Breathing techniques

    • Control of situations 

Engagement Support Officer - Placement Program (ESOP)

 

Overview of program:

TESSA Inc has been operating school support programs for over 10 years.  These programs are designed to support school staff by offering ‘on the ground’ support to schools that are experiencing challenging behaviour from students.  With its student placement support program, the aim is to support schools in their work with young people, while at the same time help train and develop the next generation of capable support staff in schools.

Collaboration with Tertiary Learning Providers

Using long standing relationships with several institutions, TESSA Inc facilitates training & experience for appropriate students who are currently studying courses such as Youth Work, Community Services, Social Work and Mental Health.  Whilst managing individual placements and their requirements, TESSA Inc works with schools to implement physical placement to positive effect for both schools and the students.

TESSA Inc Training

As part of the program, TESSA Inc placement students will participate in TESSA Inc’s 3 day Managing Challenging Behaviour course, as well as engaging in further coaching and learning during their placement journey.

With our high level of experience running specialised training for schools across Victoria through its professional learning program, TESSA Inc is recognised in its expertise and ability to effectively train individuals in this area.

Program Outcomes

  • Development and facilitation of passionate and engaged staff supporting young people in schools

  • Assisting schools to increase skills and understandings of their own staff

  • Effective support in collaboration with schools, leading to improved behaviour outcomes

  • Employment opportunities for both schools and placement students

“Support the school support the child”

“The benefits of having an ESO in place for us have been:-

A greater sense of security for staff and students arising from much better containment of students with challenging behaviours.
Reduced incidents of physical attacks against other students from the students the aides work with as a result of close monitoring.
More positive social interactions between the student and his peers facilitated by the aides.
We are now starting to see signs of increased participation in classroom activities that will lead to improved learning outcomes for the student.
Reduced need for principal involvement in managing extreme behaviours.
Reduced stress levels for staff and principals with a greater sense of security.
While the use of an ESO cannot be expected to result in the total elimination of challenging behaviours from the more extreme students, the benefits have certainly been worthwhile in relation to the point listed above. The program has enabled the student involved to remain at school rather than having to cope with expulsion which was a very likely outcome had the ESO not been involved.

For us to date the Engagement Support Officer has been a very beneficial and worthwhile approach to managing what had become a very stressful and untenable situation.”
— Neil Jorgensen Co-Principal Warburton Primary School

For more information about our Engagement Support Services, please contact Natalie Deacon by emailing deacon.n@tessainc.org.au