School Behaviour Secrets with Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton
Are you a teacher, a SENCo or a school leader?
Want research-backed strategies for supporting students who find it hard to manage their emotions or behaviour? Want practical ways of supporting pupils with special needs like autism, ADHD, FASD or attachment disorder? Want tried-and-tested classroom management strategies that will work with that ‘tricky class’?
Then you’re in the right place.
Welcome to the School Behaviour Secrets podcast where we’ll answer ALL these questions and so much more! Week after week, your hosts Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton share the secrets to behaviour success that every teacher and school leader should know, all based on their decades of experience supporting real teachers and real students in real classrooms.
But that’s not all...We also interview thought leaders from the world of education so you can hear NEW insights that could hold the key to unlocking your students’ potential. Whether it’s managing the whole class, helping kids with behavioural SEN, or whole school strategy - we’ve got you covered.
Are you in? Brilliant. Because this is YOUR CHANCE to get unstuck, hear from the experts, feel inspired and start seeing more positive behaviour in your classroom again. So hit that subscribe button... and let’s get started!
School Behaviour Secrets with Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton
Emotional regulation is not a curriculum – and treating it like one backfires
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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 schools can accidentally make things worse by confusing facts about regulation with emotional regulation skills.
Using a real-world pupil story, we break down:
- Why recalling strategies often fails when children are dysregulated
- How automatic behaviours always win under stress
- Why motivation doesn’t come first – and what should replace it
- And how regulation is built through repeated, practical, supported experiences, not curriculum content
You’ll also hear a simple, classroom-friendly model – Co-regulation, Practise, Fade - to help pupils develop regulation through co-regulation, without adding more programmes or workload.
If you’re supporting pupils who “know the strategies” but still struggle in the moment, this episode will help you reframe what’s really going on - and what actually helps.
Important links:
Get your FREE Beacon School Support guide to helping children manage their strong emotions
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.php