Carew Academy achieve the Therapeutic School Award

Congratulations to Carew Academy who after a two yearlong implementation process have successfully attained the Therapeutic School Award from Teaching Positive Connections (TPC). It is only awarded to schools who can demonstrate that Trauma Informed and Attachment Aware Practices are completely embedded into their schools’ culture.

TPC Therapy is a mental health and wellbeing service for children, committed to integrating trauma-informed and attachment-aware approaches in schools to improve outcomes for children and young people.

“Carew has always been nurturing and caring at its core”, said Principal, James Kearns, “but it is important for us to continually evolve and learn. We had a clear vision for this process: to ensure that all staff were trained in trauma-informed and attachment-aware practices, further enhancing our therapeutic offer for students.”

James and Carew’s Dramatherapist, Emily Walker set out their expectations for outcomes and impact:

• To place mental health and wellbeing at the core of the school’s approach
• Support student development, learning and wellbeing through prioritising relational and restorative approaches
• To further develop staff with therapeutic teaching skills
• To focus on creating a cohesive whole school approach to bring together Carew’s existing offering and tackle the After Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic

All Carew staff completed the six TPC therapeutic teaching course modules, in conjunction with workshops led by TPC’s director, Shahana Knight. The training ensures that staff are confident at recognising the signs that children are struggling and know how to respond, ensuring the needs of every student are met.

Alongside the therapeutic teaching course, the school was required to implement TPC’s Wellbeing curriculum and daily wellbeing practices, in addition to modifying existing policies and procedures to reflect the changes.

Expressing his pride in the school community, Mr Kearns added: “Our entire school has fully embraced this approach and remained committed throughout. If we look at the data, it’s evident that staff feel significantly more confident in their skills and training. As a result, students feel more supported, safer, happier, and calmer in school.”

At the end of the process, students were asked to provide their opinions on how staff support them in school:

“I speak to my teacher when I am struggling, or I take a movement break to calm myself down.”

“Sometimes I can get in to trouble so I have a reflective conversation, or I spend some time with Student Support.”

“My teachers are kind to me and make me feel normal.”

A TPC assessor highlighted the positive transformation on the school community, ‘It is clear from the student’s responses in the assessment undertaken at the end of the process that they now feel more able to manage their feelings. Alongside staff supporting and guiding them, and working through trickier situations with reflective conversations, they are able to decide for themselves when they need to regulate their feelings and how they each prefer to do this.”

Emily Walker, Dramatherapist concluded: “By adopting a holistic approach to student learning and development, we have cultivated an environment where students feel safe, valued, and understood. We acknowledge the significance of meeting students’ emotional, social, and academic needs, providing personalised support that fosters their growth and well-being both inside and outside the classroom”.