"School leaders are pragmatic. They don’t want wishy-washy. Motional fits with that - it gives you steps to take, data, and progress."
Thomas Oates, Virtual School Head, Barnsley MBC
Resources
Information for Parents
It’s likely that you’ve been given this because your school or another service that helps look after your child is using Motional. Here’s what it is, and how it supports your child’s mental health and wellbeing.
What is Motional?
Motional is designed to be used for all children in a setting, not just those who have been identified as needing a little extra support. We’d like you to know what it is and does, so you can better understand how this supports your child’s mental health and wellbeing.
You can always ask us directly if you have any questions — look for the pink circle in the bottom right-hand corner. We can’t answer questions specifically about results or data stored on Motional — you’d need to ask your school or setting for that.
We believe that learning shouldn’t just be about academic results — that’s only one part of growing into well-rounded human beings. We also need to learn about how and why we feel, think, react and behave in certain ways. Motional is a tool that helps the development of this area of life in the same way that other online tools might help develop maths or English.
If your child needed support with maths, a teacher would try to work out what knowledge they already have, how they got to an answer, and why — then help them develop. Motional is exactly the same: it helps adults and children understand the why (what emotional learning your child already has), and work on the how (in certain situations what makes your child behave the way they do), so that the what (the behaviour and emotional skills you see) can change and develop if necessary.
What does Motional measure?
Motional measures different emotional systems in the brain (CARE, SEEKING, PLAY, FEAR, RAGE, PANIC/GRIEF based on Professor Jaak Panksepp’s work) and several key executive function skills (emotional regulation, thinking & concentration, sense of self, relationship with others, and emotional literacy) to give a whole-brain picture of a child’s emotional and mental health.
Step 1: Snapshot
Staff complete a Snapshot — questions about your child’s emotional and mental wellbeing at school, scored by how often something happens (never, rarely, sometimes, often, or always). Examples include:
- “Is Mo able to make friends and be warm, open and friendly?”
- “Does Charlie enjoy finding solutions to problems?”
- “Does Sally have explosive outbursts or temper-tantrums?”
Motional uses research to rank those answers and suggest how the brain is processing emotional information.
Step 2: Programme
From the Snapshot, Motional suggests activities adults can use to support your child’s emotional development. Schools can share these with you at home.
Step 3: Report
We recommend Snapshots at least once a term so staff can see progress for individuals and groups — emotional growth tracked in a similar way to academic progress.
In short: Motional is a tool that helps support the emotional development of young people.
"How lucky to have had the opportunity to work alongside a company which is open to, in fact embraces, the lived professional experiences of teachers to explore and modify a wellbeing assessment tool to meet the needs of neurodiverse young people." "How lucky to have had the opportunity to work alongside a company which is open to, in fact embraces, the lived professional experiences of teachers to explore and modify a wellbeing assessment tool to meet the needs of neurodiverse young people. 'Equity' is a word much quoted but not always acted on. Having spent time with the Motional Team and array of teachers from special schools engaging in professional discussions regarding our diverse learners I truly feel we have created a system where we can truly identify our pupils to meet their unique needs to build strategies that nurture and support their emotional and social development and wellbeing."
Lisa James-Smith, Deputy Headteacher – Heronsbridge School
""We have been delighted to be able to fund a Motional licence for schools across Pembrokeshire for the past four years, and feel that it has been a very worthwhile investment. School feedback on Motional has been very positive." ""We have been delighted to be able to fund a Motional licence for schools across Pembrokeshire for the past four years, and feel that it has been a very worthwhile investment. School feedback on Motional has been very positive. It has been a pleasure working with Rich, who is always available to offer advice and guidance to schools. We look forward to our continued work with Motional.""
Dr Emma Emanuel, Pembrokeshire County Council
Supporting schools, trusts and local authorities
to improve emotional wellbeing, inclusion, attendance, behaviour and engagement.
