BOUNCE Approach®Executive FunctionCPD CertifiedOn-DemandND-Affirming
Executive Functions and Behaviour
Explore the link between underdeveloped executive function skills and behavioural challenges — and learn how early identification and targeted support can change outcomes for children long term.
Much of what looks like poor behaviour in children and young people is rooted in underdeveloped executive function skills — the cognitive toolkit that supports planning, impulse control, working memory, and emotional regulation. When these skills are missing or fragile, dysregulation and behavioural difficulties are the predictable result. This training draws on current research around school exclusion and youth crime to highlight why early identification matters, and what’s at stake when executive needs go unmet.
You’ll learn how to assess executive functioning using practical, accessible tools, how to help children identify their own strengths and challenges, and how to use adaptable resources to build independence, structure, and regulation over time. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs, pastoral leads, and anyone supporting children whose behaviour is being misread as defiance when it’s actually a skills gap.
Also included
Three bonus resources to deepen your practice.
📊 Regulation Snapshot Access
A structured snapshot to look beneath behaviour and identify where the regulatory barrier sits — so you can respond to what is actually happening in the nervous system.
📈 Progress Overview Access
Track entry to exit progress and evidence what has changed across the review period — giving you a clear picture of impact over time.
🧠 Introduction to the BOUNCE Approach® Webinar
Understand the nervous system foundations behind regulation, emotional expression, and connection — so you can apply them with confidence in your sessions.
Objectives
Learning Objectives
By the end of this training, you will be able to:
1
Explain what executive function skills are and why they matter
Describe the core executive function skills — including planning, working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility — and understand why their development is foundational to a child’s emotional regulation, learning, and life outcomes.
2
Understand what the research into exclusion and crime rates tells us
Review the evidence linking poor executive function to school exclusion and involvement in the criminal justice system — and understand what this means for early identification and intervention.
3
Explore how to help children and young people with executive function difficulties
Understand the approaches, environments, and relational conditions that support the development of executive function — and how to build these into everyday practice without overhauling everything you already do.
4
Assess whether an emotionally dysregulated child has poor executive function skills
Use assessment tools to identify specific executive function skill gaps in children who are emotionally dysregulated — distinguishing what is a regulation difficulty from what is an underlying executive function need.
5
Use assessment information to empower children in recognising their strengths
Translate assessment findings into a strengths-based conversation with the child — helping them understand their own profile with curiosity and compassion rather than deficit or shame.
6
Help children use this information to overcome their barriers
Explore how to work with children to translate self-knowledge into practical strategies — building the skills and scaffolding they need to navigate the specific executive function challenges that get in their way.
7
Support children in using these tools independently throughout life
Understand how to build independence — so the tools and strategies children develop become self-directed habits they can carry with them beyond school and into adulthood.
Resources
What’s Included
Two resource packs to support executive function assessment, skill-building, and day-to-day organisation.
1
Executive Functioning Toolkit
Executive Function Skills Activity Pack and Executive Skills Checklist — a structured activity pack for building skills directly with children, alongside a clear assessment checklist for identifying which areas need the most targeted support.
2
Organisation Tools
The Pomodoro Planner, Weekly Planner, and Visual Planners for Children — practical, print-ready tools to help children externalise time, structure their day, and build the planning and organisation habits that support independent functioning.
