Our ultimate aim is for our children and young people to feel motivated by intrinsic feelings. This takes time, and we will need to support them to become aware of positive feelings every time something has happened which increases levels of oxytocin. We remind ourselves that humans are evidence-seeking, and we back up our praise with real life events (I can see you’re smiling. I wonder if you’re feeling happy because you earned some money for the Woodland Shop! It’s a nice feeling when you’re successful).

Before we get to this, we provide positive reinforcement through rewards. At Fern House School, rewards are linked to feelings, to constantly reinforce the connection between behaviours and feelings. One of our rewards is The Woodland Shop. 

Pupils can earn virtual money weekly for following our school values. This is reviewed every Friday by their class team. Pupils can earn up to £1 per value, depending on their progress.  Pupils can spend their virtual money at our on-site Woodland Shop at the end of each half-term. All virtual money returns to £0.00 at the beginning of the new half-term.