Relationships, Connectedness and Belonging Training Pathway

Relationships, Connectedness and Belonging PATHWAY OF SUPPORT

This pathway is aimed at providing staff with skills to develop compassionate relationships as well as cultivate an ethos and environment of connectedness and belonging. The pathway is a comprehensive offer to educational settings. The pathway consists of evidence-based training sessions delivered face-to-face or on Microsoft Teams, peer support network meetings and one-to-one specialist consultations.

Mapping onto the Ofsted Inspection Framework and Relevant Guidance

The Relationship, Connectedness and Belonging Pathway of Support maps onto key elements of the following guidance:

Ofsted Inspection Framework: One of the four key Ofsted judgements is promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. When judging behaviour and safety Ofsted looks for evidence of a positive ethos that fosters improvements in the school as well as the promotion of safe practices and a culture of safety.   

Department for Education (2021) Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing guidance: The physical, social and emotional environment in which staff and students spend a high proportion of every weekday has been shown to affect their physical, emotional health and mental wellbeing, as well as impact on student attainment. Relationships between staff and students, and between students, are critical in promoting student wellbeing and in helping to engender a sense of belonging to and liking of school or college.

NICE (2022) Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education guidance: The guidance recommends that settings have a culture, ethos and practice that strengthens relational approaches and inclusion, that recognises the importance of psychological safety and that promotes targeted support that includes peer-to-peer support.  (1.1.2; 1.1.17, 1.4.6). 

 

TrainING SESSIONS IN THIS PATHWAY

Communicating with Children in Distress

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Microsoft Teams

What is this training about?

This training aims to help improve knowledge and skills around working with young people who are stressed, in distress or who find communication around how they feel difficult.

What will you learn and gain from this training:

  • Principles around good communication, such as listening, empathy and communicating about emotions.
  • Learning a range of skills that can be useful when communicating is difficult.
  • Learning some evidence-based techniques for supporting young people whose mood, feelings of stress or behaviour may make communication challenging.

What people have said about this training:

“We covered practical, hands-on exercises which could be used in school and theoretical information of how to approach people’s anger, anxiety, or upset.”

“Very thought-provoking and helpful. It made me analyse the way I listen and reflect on how I would improve timing and settings of conversations, and the power of relationships and personal resources.”

 

Understanding and Promoting Resilience in Children and Young People

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Microsoft Teams

What is this training about?

This online training course will help you better understand what resilience is, how these skills develop, and how we can help children learn more effective resiliency skills. We will also talk about ways in which schools and colleges can be resilience-promoting environments in order to support students’ wellbeing.

What will you learn and gain from this training:

  • Models of resilience, and how resilience develops.
  • Knowledge about risk and vulnerability factors, including the impact of life events, Adverse Childhood Experiences, as well as strengths and skills.
  • Understanding of key resiliency skills and how we can help children learn to improve these.
  • Ways in which schools and colleges can provide targeted or whole school support to build resilience and wellbeing for all.

What people have said about this training:

“The 6 domains of resilience were very helpful in assisting us with a more holistic approach. Also talking about resilience and anxiety etc. head on, to de-mystify. Great advice which I will follow, thank you.”

“It will make me more aware of the importance of stopping and thinking about what could be causing difficult behaviour and supporting the child in different ways.”

 

Using Attachment Theory to Build Better Relationships

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Microsoft Teams

What is this training about?

This online training course will introduce you to attachment theory and help you learn how attachment can help us understand relationships and behaviours we see in schools. We will discuss how using attachment-informed strategies can help us build better relationships with students and improve their emotional wellbeing and behaviour.

What will you learn and gain from this training:

  • Better understand pupils’ behaviour, relationships and emotions by using attachment theory.
  • Use attachment-informed approach as way of helping you to understand a pupil’s needs.
  • Find ways to help a young person to develop better relationships and engage better with school life.

What people have said about this training:

“It helped me get a better awareness of how a pupil might respond in some situations, and why. It will definitely change our approach to some issues as a result.”

“I learnt a lot about influences of attachment on behaviour. Coming to the training helped me think about strategies to support pupils and how to inform parents and colleagues.”

 

Developing Emotional Health Peer Support in Schools and Colleges

Duration: Full-day

Location: Face-to-face

What is this training about?

This training day will introduce ideas and models for developing peer support for emotional health and wellbeing in your school. We will talk about ways in which schools can embed peer support principles and systems to help them be resilience-promoting environments, in order to support students’ wellbeing.

What will you learn and gain from this training:

  • Information and discussion time around the importance and effectiveness of peer support for emotional health and resilience.
  • Effective evidence-based strategies and practical resources you can use.
  • Dedicated workshop time to consider how to implement peer support ideas at your school or college.

What people have said about this training:

“It helped me get a better awareness of how a pupil might respond in some situations, and why. It will definitely change our approach to some issues as a result.”

“I learnt a lot about influences of attachment on behaviour and understanding different attachment styles. Coming to the training helped me think about strategies to support pupils and how to inform parents & colleagues.”

 

Trauma-Informed Work in Schools and Colleges

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Microsoft Teams

What is this training about?

This training course will introduce you to theory and ideas to aid a better understanding of trauma in children and young people. Adopting a trauma-informed approach will be beneficial in understanding the needs of vulnerable children and this training will help you develop support plans based on this understanding

What will you learn and gain from this training:

  • Understanding of psychological trauma, including the different ways this presents and how this relates to life experiences.
  • Models that help to understand the impact of trauma on children.
  • Evidence-based principles and strategies that can be applied in school and college settings to support children who have had traumatic experiences.

What people have said about this training:

“For me, it was beneficial to hear what trauma is exactly, why the body responds the way it does, how it manifests itself in terms of behaviours, how to best support someone who experiences/has experienced trauma and the implications for schools in supporting the children and adults it serves.”

“The training was extremely accessible and stimulating from not only a professional point of view but also a personal point of view.”

“Now that I have more of an understanding about children who have experienced trauma it has given me an insight into why these children present with certain behaviours and it will also inform how I react in the future.”