Herringthorpe Infant School is committed to ensuring that our school develops a Trauma and Mental Health Informed Approach and to ensure our students develop positive mental health and resilience, enabling them to fully engage in life and learning.

There is a growing body of research and understanding of the impact of Childhood Adversity on long term mental and physical health and the protective factors that lessen the potential impact. 

It is our aim to maximise the protective factors at our school by creating an environment of safety that has strong, positive and supportive relationships at its heart. Teaching and associated staff at Herringthorpe Infant School will provide an environment of both physical and psychological safety and have the skills to respond to those who have been impacted by traumatic stress.

The school fully understands and supports the impact that connection with a trusted, emotionally available adult has on a child and seek to maximise this for those in our care who are identified as requiring additional support.

We use the PACE approach which focuses on building trusting relationships, emotional connections, containment and a sense of security.  

The principals of P and the 3Rs will underpin all relational work completed to support our pupils:

Protect

Relate

Regulate

Reflect

We recognise the importance of the Government Green Paper December 2017, "Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision", and seek to ensure we aim to secure good mental health for all members of our school community.

 As such, we are delighted to have two qualified TIS UK practitioners working within our school. In addition to TISUK practitioners we have a staff member trained to be an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA).

All of our teaching and associated staff at school have undertaken training so that they have the skills and understanding to respond appropriately to the needs our pupils may display.

Our behaviour and relationship policies reflect a trauma informed approach and our rewards and sanctions are both developmentally and trauma- informed.

At Herringthorpe Infant School, we aim to support children with social, emotional and mental health problems at the earliest opportunity to prevent the development of serious mental health problems as children grow into young people and adults.

Our aim is to support our pupils to make sense of their experience, find ways to manage their emotions and feelings and ensure they maintain the capacity to learn, despite difficult events that may happen for them. 

You can find out more about our Trauma Informed Approaches below. 

                                                    Sand Play                                                       Lego Therapy

                               Big Empathy Drawings                                         Art Therapy

Emotion Cards