At the start of my second year at an inner city primary school I was still finding my feet about organising the classroom as well as myself. I had been in several times during the summer holidays to rearrange the layout of the classroom and was still not completely confident I had succeeded. It had taken me nearly a year to sort out the best place for children’s finished and unfinished work. These are things you are never taught in college, which would help, especially with the lack of space in the classroom.

But such problems soon faded into insignificance when I thought about what lay ahead with my next class. I had heard so much about one or two children from the reception teacher, but every class has its difficult ones. However, there had been several behavioural incidents in the reception class which had involved Paul, who suffered from a growth disorder which meant that he was already over five feet tall.

This in itself was not a problem but as a result he suffered from behavioural difficulties, as he appeared to be alienated from his peers. His medical condition also meant that he suffered from particular growing spurts which left him in pain and increased his irritability. Continuous medical tests were being carried out to identify the disorder and to ameliorate his condition.

My first worry was how I would accommodate Paul in the classroom. My four years at college and one year in teaching had taught me that group work lends itself to younger children and with their wide range of abilities whole class lessons were often inappropriate. So the children were placed in mixed ability groups which would move from one activity to another after each natural break in the school day. Therefore, the children did not have a set place.

The problem was that Paul was too big for the infant furniture, which was going to be physically uncomfortable for him and could increase his aggressiveness. Having his own table and chair might have been a solution but the dilemma was that this could serve to increase his isolation, both socially and physically, from his classmates.

On reflection I thought social interaction for Paul was paramount to his needs at that time and modifying inappropriate behaviour would have to take a different strategy.

Within the first week of working with Paul I knew I needed advice and support. He continuously punched, kicked and disrupted other children in his group as well as continuously interrupting storytime by making silly noises.

My first call was to the special needs teacher, who offered sound advice. She said I should not look at this as my own personal problem. I needed to work in partnership with Paul, his parents and herself. So by the end of the second week I asked to meet with Paul’s parents to talk about his inappropriate behaviour. It was starting to affect other children, with some of them copying Paul’s antics. This could not continue or the situation would have degenerated further.

As it was difficult to recollect all the incidents that had happened that week which involved Paul I agreed with his parents to keep a diary to record his behaviour. I asked Paul’s parents to discuss this with me each week. This meant that Paul’s parents were kept in the picture and I could see a pattern building up that showed when Paul was particularly aggressive relating to his growth spurts.

Paul’s parents were very supportive and were very keen, like me, to see their son settle down into his new class. Each Friday we would meet for about five to ten minutes to talk about whether Paul had had a “good” week, from which he would decide on a special treat for the weekend, or a “bad” week when the consequences of his actions would be agreed upon, such as missing his favourite television programme.

I also gave stars to Paul at the back of his diary for good behaviour. This proved a great incentive. He was very proud to show his mum and dad a full line of stars at the end of the week. Within a very short time we all began to see a big change in his behaviour and attitudes towards school and his classmates.

After several months I felt Paul’s diary was no longer appropriate in modifying his behaviour but that he needed to concentrate on more specific areas which needed to change, for instance the continuous silly noises.

In discussion with the school psychologist, we formulated a contract on which Paul would decide on two changes in his behaviour. It took the shape of a teddy bear holding balloons. Each focus was written down by Paul in a balloon and more could be added later.

This was a very serious matter with a systematic route for reward for keeping to the contract and agreed consequences for failure. It was witnessed by Paul’s parents and the head teacher and was signed by everyone involved.

This strategy worked particularly well as Paul concentrated on two specific things which needed to change and once modified he was able to gradually build up to three or four changes.

Although this is an unusual case, it highlights the fact that all children can have their own special needs.

It is the teacher’s job to identify them and if need be formulate a strategy to help them address their problem and, as in Paul’s case, successfully modify their behaviour. This must be carried out in discussion with the child, the parents, the special needs co-ordinator and any other interested parties.