An SEMH Enhanced Provision
Head of Provision Welcome
Head of Provision Welcome
A welcome from the Head of Provision
Abigail Cansdale
Welcome to The Atrium at HEARTS Academy Trust. Our vision since we opened in September 2018 is one of hope and positivity. Typically, the pupils we work with will have had or may be living with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and this trauma will have effected their social and emotional development and consequently their mental well-being. We therefore use a trauma-perceptive approach to work in partnership with families and referring schools to create a network of support around the pupil and promote fully inclusive classrooms that will meet the needs of all.
We know that the toxic stress from ACEs can have a lifelong, negative impact on health and behaviour, but we also know that repeated positive experiences can begin to rebuild healthy neurological development and improve outcomes and life chances for young people.
At The Atrium, we achieve this through following our 5 guiding principles:
- Relationships are key – Staff work hard to ensure pupils feel safe, special and have their specific needs met in order to feel ready to engage in learning and experience success. In all our interactions with pupils we remain patient, compassionate, accepting, curious and empathic.
- Structure provides security – Our expectations for pupils are clear and staff are consistent, allowing bonding and attachment to develop in a predictable, contained and safe learning environment.
- All behaviour is communication – rather than seeing ‘challenging behaviour’ we see a child struggling to communicate a fear, an inner struggle to make sense of the world around them or an unmet need. We use emotion coaching to enable pupils to understand the underlying difficulties they are experiencing, to identify their own emotions and learn positive strategies to help them cope. Through consistent, repeated co-regulation with staff, we enable pupils to begin to develop an internal stress regulation system and consequently build greater resilience.
- Success is its own reward – We use specific praise and encouragement to help pupils to find joy in learning and exploring the world around them, providing an intrinsic reward and a sense of achievement. We work to support pupils’ behaviour through instilling a sense of self-discipline rather than instilling fear of punishment.
- Meet the individual at their level – we assess pupils’ social, emotional and mental health across 6 Key Strengths and use this to tailor a bespoke programme of learning experiences to help them develop the specific skills they require. We remain mindful of all our pupils unique emotional developmental stage, rather than focusing on age related expectations.
Our aims are:
- To develop pupils’ confidence and build self-esteem to promote emotional well-being
- To develop pupils’ emotional and social awareness and equip them with the skills and strategies the require to self-regulate
- To develop pupils’ curiosity and a love of learning through a wide range of engaging learning experiences within a broad and balanced curriculum
- To support schools and families to create a team around the child- promoting consistency and pro social behaviour across all settings
- To prepare and support pupils to reintegrate into a full-time mainstream setting (or long-term specialist provision if appropriate).