Our Trauma Informed Strategy

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Good relationships are important to us and the basis of everything we want to achieve in school.

 

Our approach is holistic; we deal with the whole child and our Trauma Informed approaches are threaded through everything we do in school. We strive to support all children to navigate life’s challenges by providing a secure base, connections, a sense of belonging so children can thrive. This is particularly important for those who have experienced trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health problems which can act as barriers to learning. Relationships are key, underpinned by many policies, systems, structures and routines in school which all enable us to provide the support needed.

 

We want every child to feel welcome in school and that they belong here.  We work hard to facilitate every child to form connections with pupils and staff as we feel this is the foundation of success.

 

Unconditional Positive Regard

We advocate an unconditional positive regard, a concept developed by the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers, which is the basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does.

 

We believe that each day is a new day with a fresh start and new adventures.

 

Clear and consistent expectations.

Children need predictability and consistent expectations. We revisit key aspects such as our living values on a weekly basis to ensure children reflect on their behaviour and attitudes in school.  They are also the focus of monitoring by senior leaders.  We have high standards for every child in school.  We strive to communicate clearly and consistently are clear so that everyone understands what is expected of them.

 

Neurodivergent Friendly Environment

Our environment sets a deliberately neutral backdrop in support of our aspiration for a calm and supportive school.  This draws on research from Reggio Emilia in the way we aim to use natural resources, awe and wonder of the natural world and light. We have also drawn from research about Therapeutic classroom environments and how they positively impact learning and support sensory loading and processing,  and in turn co regulation.

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We believe that all behaviour is communication of an emotional need (conscious or unconscious):

We use PACE and attachment friendly restorative approaches in their interactions with pupils taking a non-judgmental, curious and empathic attitude towards behaviour, exploring what drives certain behaviour, rather than the behaviour itself. Children who struggle to regulate are regarded as vulnerable, and we all have a duty to explore this vulnerability. 

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In order to help our pupils feel safe,  we aim to create a sensitive balance of nurture and structure.  Staff establish and strive to  maintain boundaries to ensure consistency, predictability and security. 

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We teach what good behaviour looks like by:

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• Getting to know each child individually and holistically, without judgement. We show them they belong and they are cared for unconditionally. 

• Model positive relationships and treat all pupils with equal respect and dignity, keeping our word and modelling how to apologise if we make a mistake.

• Ensure children know who their trusted adults are and parents/carers know who they can talk to.

• Provide a welcoming environment, including meeting and greeting all children (and families) as they enter school.

• Be calm and allow take up time when moving through intervention steps to prevent escalation and sanctions.  Model expectations through their own behaviour, regulation of emotions, moral standards, demeanour, organisation and appearance.

• Pay first attention to positives, good examples of behaviour and effort for that child.

• Consider what might be behind the behaviour; why the child or young person is behaving in this way. There will always be a reason: the behaviour is a symptom of something that we need to identify

• Take shared responsibility for inappropriate behaviour seen through school and follow up every time, retain ownership and engage in reflective dialogue with learners.  They will never ignore or walk past learners who are failing to meet expectations.

• Ensure expectations and structures around behaviour are clear and consistent. Staff quietly, calmly and firmly hold appropriate boundaries for all children

• Promote progress toward independence

• Explicitly teach behaviour expectations of our living values in day to day routines, through weekly value assemblies and embedded through the curriculum and the behaviour code.  

• Ensure that the PSHE curriculum – Jigsaw - is taught rigorously. 

• Hold feel Good Friday assemblies to celebrate expectations and an assembly after holidays to reset expectations.

• Ensure appropriate levels of supervision and staff presence, particularly in unstructured tim

• Work together, in partnership with families, community and by forging strong links between Safeguarding, SEND, Pupil Pastoral Support, Health and Safety and Teaching and Learning teams.

• Work in effective partnerships with external professionals (JMAT SEND, Fusion, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Health, Police, Fire Service, Early Help, Social Worker, WithMeInMind) and with National and Local SEND partnerships (Evidence 4 Learning, Whole School SEND etc​​