Transitions

At Educate U we recognise that any child who has experienced trauma, or who has high anxiety, or who is neurodivergent may be particularly sensitive to change. For adopted or looked after children they may have been faced with multiple changes in their environments; some at very short notice. When a child’s stress-response system is compromised by these persistent experiences of fear and uncertainty this can lead to a child or young person withdrawing and exhibiting avoidant behaviours as their anxieties around transitions increase.

Transitioning into Educate U

In school we place huge importance on helping the child or young person settle upon arrival to school in the morning based on the needs of the individual child or young person. For example:

Gentle transition into school with increased time to full time depending on the needs of the child.
Social story provided for some children about their new school, class and key adults.
On a needs basis we can provide a home visit with a key adult if the child requires.
A familiar and consistent key adult meets the child or young person and acts as a “secure base”.
Supporting parents and carer use of transitional objects (e.g. a photograph, a keyring, a scented tissue) as a concrete representation of their relationship until their child feels secure.
To support with managing the various transitions within the school day a daily timetable will be communicated to the child or young person to help instil structure and predictability.
Some children and young people may need dedicated time to play or perform a calming activity; such as drawing, building with Lego or performing rhythmic exercise. This helps to mitigate the emotional dysregulation caused by the bustle of children entering into school at 09:30am.

Transitions between activities in the school day

Where some children may have been prevented from finishing something they enjoyed or lacked control over the beginning and ending of activities these changes leave children and young people hypervigilant to transitions in school. All staff provide adaptive teaching and learning methods to support this.

School holidays

We are aware that school holiday periods can be stressful due to the change from the normal daily routine. As children who have experienced trauma may lack a reliable sense of time, we need to help them anticipate these larger breaks from their normal daily rhythms. To support our children during holidays longer than a week we go the extra mile to maintain contact during separations. For example:

Postcards home from the team to each child or young person
Transitional objects if appropriate for a child or young person
Stay and Play sessions at school for the child or young person and their whole family.