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Huili School is a bilingual international school based in Shanghai, China. 99% of students at the school are Chinese nationals. They follow both the Chinese National Curriculum and an international curriculum, including the IB programme. Parental expectations are high as most students go on to study at overseas universities.
Staff at Huili School come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including Chinese nationals and expat teachers. Leaders were looking for a framework to complement their existing positive behaviour policy and create a shared understanding of behaviour support in line with Huili values.
As Lana explains, “The Team Teach approach reassured us that the values based behaviour policy we had was along the right lines and they fitted seamlessly together.”
Since the pandemic, leaders have also seen an increase in self-regulation difficulties and anxiety in students. The Team Teach approach of behaviour as communication has been embedded to support students at every age and stage. This philosophy has also been shared with parents and carers, to further develop a shared understanding beyond the school gates.
Huili School is home to staff from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. Parental expectations are high as most students go on to study at university abroad. There can sometimes be a tension between academic achievement and student / staff wellbeing.
The diverse international staffing body made the development of a shared understanding challenging. Culturally, parents in China are heavily involved in their children’s education, and academic achievement is highly valued. It can be hard for staff to balance high expectations with student wellbeing.
The aim was to develop a consistent approach to behaviour that aligned with the school’s ethos and values based behaviour policy. Leaders wanted to involve parents and carers, too, to ensure a coherent, joined-up perspective.
Initially, leaders at Huili School explored solely physical intervention training. However, they soon decided that the Team Teach approach, with its focus on positive relationships and de-escalation strategies, aligned best with the school’s values, and complemented their existing positive behaviour policy.
To embed a coherent approach, they trained members of staff to become in-house Team Teach trainers. As behaviour champions, these trainers would be well placed to disseminate training to all staff.
A key part of this role included exploring opportunities to develop parental engagement further, and work with students to better understand behaviour as communication.
Lana highlights the positive impact that Team Teach training has had on staff, students and their families, giving them the tools and resources to further embed their positive behaviour policy:
Huili School is on a journey towards whole-organisation consistency, using an iterative approach which began with in-house Team Teach trainers delivering training to 35 staff members. These staff now make up the ‘Looking for Values’ team, raising the profile of positive behaviour support strategies with students and staff.
Huili School is excited to explore opportunities to further enhance relationships with parents and carers. They are also leading a culture shift around perceptions of additional needs, to ensure that every student gets the support they need.
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