Ethos & Therapeutic | Silver Linings Ed

SCHOOL ETHOS

We recognise that many of our children will have experienced difficulties and challenges in the educational environments from which they have come, and so we have designed Silver linings School with wellbeing and safety at its core.

We have a welcoming, therapeutic environment with staff who are committed to building supportive, enabling relationships that encourage students to explore their own strengths and interests, engage with learning and develop and achieve their aspirations.

This will be delivered through small group sizes with high staff to children ratios which enables a more collaborative, project-based approach within the curriculum. Learning supports engagement and reflects the real world with skills for life and personal growth. Ultimately, Silver Linings School is committed to providing a curriculum, the resources and an environment that inspires children to realise their potential, supports them to develop their independence through their own creativity, connection with others with trust in adults as well as growing confidence in their own skills and abilities.

THERAPEUTIC INFORMATION

Our schools therapeutic ethos combines the principles of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and PACE. Our school is a welcoming therapeutic environment with staff who are well trained in PACE and DDP principles.

Principles of Dyadic developmental practice we aim to implement:

Accept that if a child could do better they would.
Understand that co-regulation of affect must occur before self-regulation can be learnt.
Recognise that behaviour will be changed by changing the felt sense of safety.
Know that the child must “feel safe” and not be told they are safe to be able to learn.
Understand that fight-fright and freeze behaviours associated with block trust are adaptive.
Recognise that controlling behaviours reflect underlying fear.
Adjust our expectations to meet the emotional age of our children and not the chronological age.
Know that in order to survive our children must suppress curiosity, therefore they have little knowledge of why they behave they way they do or what their intended outcome is.
Understand that in order to survive our children must suppress empathy. When they feel safe they will take risk to feel their own pain and by extension that of others.

We embed therapeutic practices throughout the curriculum and see relationships as core focus, using PACE to allow staff to create emotional meaning and to be affect-reflective. The result of this approach ensures both personal and collaborative progress and achievement.

These therapeutic practices are further supported by our specialist support service provided by Sun Connections.