Hearing the Voices of Pupils with SEMH Needs: Experiences of Staff Relationships in Primary Mainstream Schools

Mullinger, Aliysa Helen Kate (2025) Hearing the Voices of Pupils with SEMH Needs: Experiences of Staff Relationships in Primary Mainstream Schools. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Relational practice is widely recognised as key to supporting pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, and the role of the teacher-student relationship in pupils' outcomes is well established. However, the voices of primary-aged pupils with SEMH needs are underrepresented within the literature around their relational experiences. The current study adopts a qualitative methodology to explore pupils with SEMH needs' experiences of their relationships with staff in mainstream primary schools. The current study acknowledges the increasing role of support staff in the education of children with SEMH needs. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is employed using the participatory method of the Relational-Mapping-Interview approach, which combines drawing and talking through a semi-structured interview dialogue. Four superordinate themes were generated, including eleven subordinate themes. The four central themes consisted of: ‘Emotional safety through trusted, attuned and compassionate relationships’; ‘A desire for person-centred adaptive support’; ‘Finding common ground: Authentic and genuine relationships’; and ‘Seeking stability: The need for consistent relationships that endure’. The study makes a distinctive contribution by foregrounding the perspectives of a marginalised population, and implications for practice are discussed for school staff, school leadership, educational psychology practice, and wider policy, with particular emphasis on trauma-informed and attachment-aware approaches.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2026 10:50
Last Modified:	23 Jun 2026 10:50
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103475
DOI:

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