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Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs (SEMH)

6.32 Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people 
may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

6.33 Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. The Department for Education publishes guidance on managing pupils’ mental health and behaviour difficulties in schools – see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link.

6.32 Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people 
may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

6.33 Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. The Department for Education publishes guidance on managing pupils’ mental health and behaviour difficulties in schools – see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link.

Our Lead Advisory Teachers each specialise in one of the areas of need identified in the SEND Code of Practice and lead on that area for ATS. This ensures that ATS can offer specific advice and support for SENCOs and staff on setting suitable outcomes following a plan, do, review approach (Gloucestershire Graduated Pathway).

Our SEMH lead is Rosalyn Rees, who also leads our Gloucester ATS Team and our C&L specialism.


SEMH refers to children and young people who have needs related to:
•    persistent difficulties in acquiring literacy and numeracy skills
•    children and young people with needs relating to neurodiversity (both diagnosed and undiagnosed)
•    attention, focus, and concentration difficulties (including ADHD)
•    difficulties managing emotional regulation
•    a high level of difficulty accessing learning activities due to social and emotional needs

We are able to:

  • Provide support to assess the impact of cognition and learning differences on a pupil’s access to the curriculum
  • Provide advice and support to SENCOs and staff in terms of adaptations in the classroom, to ensure that children and young people have their individual needs met through High-Quality Teaching
  • Support transitions based on individual needs between classes, key stages and settings: taking account of existing good practice and successful strategies
  • Support children and young people who are returning to mainstream settings from Alternative Provision schools
  • Work together with staff and provide advice regarding how to plan reasonable adjustments and appropriately adapted teaching
  • Signpost resources, organisations and services which can be used to develop individualised approaches (Please visit our specialist resources pages, using the following link: Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs)
  • Support the school in preparation for team around the child/family meetings and contribute to EHCP Annual Reviews
  • Contribute to a multi-agency assessment of a child’s needs
  • Provide staff training (online or face to face) to cover a number of areas related to SEMH. Sessions can be tailored to the needs of the setting. Bookable via GCCPlus).