Page 41 - CARING and SAFE SCHOOLS in ONTARIO

✦ How organized is the student? Is he/she capable of developing and carrying out a plan?
✦ Has the student experienced a recent loss or loss of status leading to feelings of desperation and despair?
✦ Do the student’s statements contradict his/her actions?
✦ Is there concern among those who know the student that he/she might take action based on inappropriate ideas?
✦ What factors in the student’s life and/or environment might increase/decrease the likelihood that he/she would attempt violence?
✦ Does the student have a behaviour management plan and/or IEP addressing antecedents, behaviours, intervention strategies, and consequences? Is the IEP plan working?
(Adapted from Burns, Dean, & Jacob-Timm, et al., 2001, p. 243)
Intervention strategies to deal proactively with an identified risk and/or with special education needs should be planned by a team of individuals with relevant expertise who are partners in the student’s education. This team should include parents, the student, school personnel, and community and system resources, as appropriate. The resulting plans should be flexible and should include prevention and inter- vention strategies that reflect the student’s strengths and needs and the educational context. This plan may also need to identify necessary procedures for requesting and obtaining assistance from mental health professionals and, when required, police services.
Behaviour Support Plan (BSP)
▪ A behaviour support plan is a written plan that is designed to target the under- lying reason for behaviour, replace the inappropriate behaviour with an appropriate behaviour that serves the same function, and reduce or eliminate the challenging behaviour (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007a). In school boards, behaviour support plans are sometimes referred to as behaviour management plans.
Safety Plan
▪ A safety plan is a plan developed for a student whose behaviour is known to pose an ongoing risk to him or herself, other students, staff, or other people in general. It can serve as a crisis-response plan that outlines the roles and responsi- bilities of the staff in dealing with specific problem behaviours. The development of a safety plan involves all staff who work on an ongoing and daily basis with a student, as well as parents and the representatives from any community agencies working with the student/family.
Strategies, Tools, Resources
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