A Relational Approach

We are a Trauma Informed School and have achieved an Award that recognises this. Here is a quote from our report; you can also read the full report here –

“Libra school is a calm, friendly school that benefits from its idyllic setting in rural Devon. It has been developed to provide an environment that supports the most vulnerable children and young people to achieve their best and to develop the knowledge and skills and wellbeing to live life well. 

All adults are highly trained and consistently demonstrate key relational skills that protect, regulate and support reflection and repair for children. All therapeutic provision is based on the most up to date neuroscientific research and supports the development of top down as well as bottom-up regulatory pathways. Psycho education and PSHE is carefully planned to ensure that children have the skills to keep safe and healthy but also importantly so that they understand what happens when they find things tricky or dysregulate. In this way they are not shamed or left with inaccurate narratives or guilt about what has happened. 

The farm offers a rich opportunity for children to benefit from being outdoors with animals and to engage within the natural environment on a regular basis. Here they can take part in risky play in a managed environment, socialise together and develop new practical skills that will last a lifetime. 

The ethos and culture of the school is trauma informed, PACE is at the heart of all interactions and through attunement, validation, curiosity and empathy adults transform the educational, social and emotional experiences of children and young people. As a result, they develop skills and qualities that enable them to manage their feelings better, develop a sense of self-worth and look forward to the future with greater resilience and purpose”.

Our ethos, our environments and our staff relationships with children not only protect children from harm, but also actively promote positive emotional and mental health and social development. 

The Libra team work using understanding of the theories of child development, attachment, adverse childhood experiences and neuroscience together with hands on behavioural support skills. School adults can recognise the presenting behaviours of vulnerable children, understand the psychological needs that underpin these behaviours and work together using the interventions that best address those needs.

All our children have daily access to emotionally available and trusted adults through positive and respected relationships. We put relationship building and therapeutic interaction first, mediating the impact of trauma. As an organisation we are committed to reducing stress in our children and school adults. We recognise the importance of positive interactions between all members of our community as key for calming and emotional regulation. This underpins our values and ethos. Our valued school adults are all trained in the art of good listening and ‘the words to say it’ for reflective and empathic responses to our children, parents and colleagues. We have a number of school adults trained as mental health advocates and children are advised of the help and support that is available to them daily through their tutor sessions and assemblies. 

Considerable investment has been made in our physical environments to ensure that they are of a high quality and designed with sensory needs at the fore front. We plan for our environments to provide a safe, homely and calming spaces for our children and school adults. If the senior leadership team respect our environment ourselves then this will encourage the children to also respect this environment.