Attachment Aware
Hill Park is a Gold + level Attachment aware school. This means that we have staff trained as Attachment Leads, qualified in Theraplay (level 2) and DDP (level 1). We also have staff trained in Just Right State, as well as various staff with years of experience working with children that struggle with relationships and emotional regulation. This is a constantly developing area for us as we extend our practice to support all children in their attachment and regulation needs regardless of learning or physical abilities.
Brighton and Hove are an Attachment aware city which means they have put a focus on children’s wellbeing and recognising the need to support children that have suffered Adverse Childhood experiences (ACEs). This is important at Hill Park as many of our pupils have had early life medical needs, family stresses, difficulties at previous schools due to learning/ behaviour needs, multiple school/ home moves etc. We have therefore ensured that AATIR (Attachment aware and trauma informed responses) are part of the way we work at Hill Park. Until recently Clare Langhorne (Head of Secondary School) was a lecturer in the Neuroscience of childhood trauma so this is an area of particular passion, she is still a strategic attachment lead, and we now have a trained Attachment lead, Joanna Prior, who will carry out specific input for children as needed via the WB team. We use PACE (see PACE document below) throughout the school, which is an attachment aware way of working, as well as using Just Right strategies that support emotional regulation and we lots of individualise strategies to support those children struggling with emotional health needs. We will also be including Theraplay strategies in some sensory break work and adding this into staff training as required. Our school has a relationship-based ethos, so we are naturally inclined to use relationship to support adaption as well as individualised responses to all our input.
We work closely with our educational psychologists, CAMHS, Disability team, Occupational therapists and other agencies to support children, families and staff.
It should be noted that attachment aware practice is good for all children and every school should aim to use an attachment aware framework in all they do.
