A​ttachment and Trauma Sensitive Schools Award

​Following a verification visit by Dr Jennifer Nock, CPsychol, AFBPsS, PhD, BSc (Hons) in June, there were many significant points that were worthy of a special mention in her report, including:

• An authentic, solution-focused approach is taken to offering the best possible support to families, and children’s wellbeing, which is central to practice.
• Relationships, safeguarding, mental health and wellbeing are prioritised, with an understanding of the necessity of putting the child and his or her overall well-being and secure development at the centre of education, in order for them to achieve academically. There is a shared belief that relationship-based practice provides the foundation for academic progress, and this is not limited to relationships with pupils, but relationships between staff and with parents are also given high status.
• You have a range of strategies in place for supporting parents in understanding child development and attachment relationships.
• Evidence about the support you offer to children and families was compelling and moving. You demonstrate deep empathy in relation to the daily struggles that families face. Connection with and care for families is a particular strength of the school.
• Quality staff care and emotional support to protect mental health and well-being is multi-levelled and provided through the leadership team. The staff group itself provides a strong and effective circle of support around individual members. Leaders are aware of the multiple risk factors to staff mental health and well-being and are proactive in providing support to cope with the psychological and emotional demands of the job.
• Staff are skilled in monitoring excitement and anxiety, and make appropriate interventions to provide co-regulation.
• The school provides a safe space for those particularly vulnerable pupils, and supporting the development of a healthier self-esteem and secure relationships with adults is a priority. This is a particular strength of the school.
• You show sensitivity and understanding that entry to school is the most important part of the day in terms of being able to settle to learn, and should communicate safety, trust, security, predictability and stability on both physiological and psychological levels .
• Staff ensure that the curriculum is sensitive to pupils whose histories contain chaos, uncertainty and even threat. The PSHE Curriculum is responsive to national, local and individual issues, and the cycle of delivery is flexible so that difficult matters can be addressed in a timely manner. Examples shared include bereavement, knife crime, incarceration of a parent, and this robust curriculum was described by one member of staff as the ‘Golden Thread, running through what we do.’
• Some examples were shared of how consulting with parents/carers, pre-teaching, one-to-one support and scaffolding can help children to hold conversations about difficult issues, knowing that they are with a safe person in a safe place. This again is a particular strength of the school.
• Methods for eliciting, hearing and responding children’s voices are broad and extensive. Eliciting pupil voice at Yew Tree Primary Academy is not limited to formal methods, such as Pupil Council, although formal methods are used well.
• Every opportunity is taken to have meaningful encounters, which can take place at any time: in the playground; having lunch; in the classroom; as well as in formal sessions. ‘Listening’ also takes place through observation, and lots of examples were given of the body being a ‘loudspeaker’ for what is going on inside.
• Staff have numerous methods and skills for helping children to communicate uncomfortable, even painful emotions, and provide them with a broad range of strategies and resources to elicit their voices.
• At Yew Tree Primary Academy, there is an authentic and passionate desire to truly ‘hear’ and ‘see’ children and staff are genuinely curious about what matters to the pupils. This is a particular strength of the school.
• I was moved by the passion and commitment of everyone involved-there is a commitment to increase opportunities for mastery, agency, voice and choice across the whole school population, and co-production is your ultimate goal.
• The school is committed to its children, successfully removing barriers to learning and enabling full participation in the life of the school.