Our commitment to Trauma Informed Practice

Our Strategy:

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We are committed to: 

• Responding with curiosity, not judgement 

• Ensuring children leave feeling supported, not shamed 

• Avoiding punitive or exclusionary practices 

• Providing predictable, safe and caring adult responses 

• Teaching pupils the skills needed to understand and manage their emotions 

• Keeping relationships at the centre of all behaviour support 

Every child deserves to feel safe, cared for and capable of success. Our trauma-informed approach ensures that we meet children where they are, support them through difficulties, and help them grow emotionally, socially and academically.

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We know that children learn best when they feel safe, understood, and connected. Many pupils face challenges - big emotions, friendship worries, sensory overload or difficult life experiences. Our role is to respond in ways that protect wellbeing, strengthen relationships and build long term emotional resilience. 

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To support this, we follow a whole school trauma informed approach grounded in the principles of: 
PRRRs (Protect, Relate, Regulate, Reflect & Repair) 
PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) 
WINE (We Wonder, We Imagine, We Notice, We Empathise) 

These approaches help us respond compassionately and consistently so that every child feels valued, supported and able to return to learning. 

 

Supporting Children Through PRRRs 

We use the PRRR framework to guide how we respond when children are struggling:

Protect 

• We ensure children and those around them are safe - emotionally and physically. Adults use calm, reassuring language and help children step away from overwhelming situations without shame, blame or punishment. 

Relate 

• Connection comes before correction. Adults stay emotionally available, attuned and warm, helping children feel understood. Approaches such as PACE and WINE support this relational connection. 

Regulate 

• Children are supported to calm their body and mind before any thinking or problem solving happens. This may involve coregulation with an adult, access to sensory tools, movement or a quiet, low stimulus space. 

Reflect & Repair 

• Once calm, children can explore what happened with support if needed - thinking about feelings, actions, what was difficult, and what might help next time. Repair focuses on rebuilding relationships, restoring trust and planning positive next steps, not on punishment. This work is underpinned by our Reflection Toolkits.  

 

The PACE Approach 

All staff use PACE to help pupils feel emotionally safe: ​

PACE helps reduce shame, calm the nervous system and keep relationships at the heart of behaviour support. 

 

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​Using WINE to Build Emotional Availability 

WINE helps adults communicate safety and understanding: 
I wonder… I imagine… I notice… Empathise. 

These gentle phrases show children that adults are curious about how they feel, not critical of them. 

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​​​​Our Supportive Break and Lunchtime Environment 

At break and lunch, we provide a dedicated nurturing space that children can access when they need extra support. This environment is not a punishment space and is not solely for reflection—it is a place where children can experience all of the PRRRs. 

Children may use this space for: 

• Coregulation with a trusted adult 

• Quiet self-regulation 

• Restorative conversations or resolving peer difficulties 

• Reflecting and repairing after a challenging moment 

• A calm, low stimulus environment during busy social times 

This provision is designed to reduce stress, support emotional needs, and ensure all children can return to class or play feeling regulated and ready to reengage. 

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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​​​