All staff are trained in working with children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. As a school we adopt a trauma informed / attachment aware approach to supporting students in our setting.

We ensure that all pupils are assigned emotionally aware adults who support them to work with them to manage stressful situations and cope better with stressors in their lives. We work with young people in small nurture groups of no more than 5-6 and with a high ratio of adults.

We incorporate a number of physical activity sessions and life skills, as well as mentoring and activities such as mindfulness to help children and young people learn social and emotional skills, removing barriers that prevent them from learning as well as helping them to focus and ignore distractions. We also support young people to interact with peers and building relationships with adults.

Within our school we provide quiet space for students who need a space to reflect, calm down and regulate their emotions. Our school environment is carefully thought out from the choice of paint to the lighting and furniture to ensure it is safe, accessible and user friendly.

The team works with our young people in a number of ways: 

• They work closely along the care and education team in providing guidance and support as well as training. They attend and give input in various review and planning meetings such as TAC.

• Group sessions.

• Session classes such as art therapy, mindfulness emotion regulation.

• Clinical Assessments.

• Behaviour observations.