Special needs · Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH)

Calm, steady lessons for students who find school hard

Pencil Spaces helps schools and alternative provision teach students with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs online, with structure, privacy and safeguarding.

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Area

Social, emotional and mental health

Who it helps

Students with SEMH needs, SEMH schools, alternative provision, pupil referral units, SENCOs, tutors and families

Also called

Social, emotional and mental health needs (England) · emotional and behavioral disorders, EBD (US) · emotional disturbance (US special education) · social, emotional and behavioural needs, SEBN (Scotland)

What lessons need

A trusted adult, clear structure, low pressure, private ways to ask, quick ways to reset

In Pencil Spaces

7 features available today

Part of

Special needs, need by need

What do students with SEMH needs need from an online lesson?

SEMH needs often show up as behavior: refusing, leaving, shouting or shutting down. Underneath there’s usually anxiety, trauma or a need nobody has met yet.

The same adult, the same placePersistent Spaces · AvailableThe same Space and the same boards each week give the student something steady to return to.
A quiet wordChat · AvailablePrivate messages let a teacher redirect or check in without an audience.
Their own boardPrivate Boards · AvailableGive a student their own board in a group lesson, a place to work without an audience.
A board that stays safeEdit Lock · AvailableLock the board in a click if it’s being misused, and open it again without comment.
Success gets noticedCelebrations · AvailableReactions and stickers mark effort, so a good moment is noticed straight away.
Concerns reach your teamSafeguarding Alerts · AvailableAfter every lesson, AI checks speech, chat and direct messages for harassment and safety concerns, then alerts your team.
Leaders can look in quietlyIncognito Observation · AvailableA leader can watch a lesson without joining visibly, so support arrives without raising the temperature.

The features behind it

Why can online lessons be hard for students with SEMH needs?

On a video call, a teacher can’t take a student aside. Correcting them in front of the group tends to make things worse.

A student who is struggling can also scribble over the board, switch off or leave with one click.

What does a lesson look like in Pencil Spaces?

A student joins late and angry. The teacher sends a private message, gives him his own board and starts him on a task he can do.

Ten minutes later he’s working beside the group again. Nobody else saw the conversation.

Tips for teaching students with SEMH needs online

Greet every student by name, and start with something they can do.
Keep rules few, clear and on the board.
Redirect privately, and praise publicly.
Agree a way to take a break and come back.
Share what worked with the team after each lesson.

Good to know

Pencil Spaces supports teaching and safeguarding but doesn’t assess or treat mental health needs. Follow your safeguarding policy for every concern.

Questions people ask

What does SEMH mean?

SEMH stands for social, emotional and mental health. It’s one of the four areas of need in England’s SEND Code of Practice. It covers students whose anxiety, trauma, attachment or mental health needs affect their learning and behavior.

Can students with SEMH needs learn online?

Many can, especially one-to-one or in small groups with a trusted adult. Learning from home removes some of the triggers of a busy school. Pencil Spaces adds a steady routine, private messages and each student’s own board.

How does Pencil Spaces help with safeguarding?

Pencil Spaces runs on-device safeguarding in every lesson and uses AI after each lesson to flag harassment and safety concerns to your team. Recording Policies, Incognito Observation for leaders and an audit log give programs oversight.

Can leaders see what happens in lessons?

Yes. Incognito Observation lets leaders check a lesson quietly, without a new face appearing on the student’s screen. Automatic Attendance records who joined and when.