Dorchester Learning Centre accredited as 'Trauma and Mental Health Informed School'
It's the first and only school in the county to receive the prestigious accreditation
Dorchester Learning Centre (DLC) which caters for children who find themselves outside the mainstream school system, has become Dorset’s first accredited Trauma and Mental Health Informed School (TIS).
A Trauma and Mental Health Informed School is able to support children and teenagers who suffer with trauma or mental health problems, and whose troubled behaviour can act as a barrier to learning.
As part of the three-year assessment process, DLC staff were trained in the use of proven tools and knowledge needed to support the increasing mental health needs of students.
The school can now offer improved support to children and teenagers, providing them with an emotionally available adult to help them navigate their life challenges - to catch them as they are falling not after they have fallen.
Headteacher, David Dinsmore told us how they achieve this: “It’s all about how staff and students interact with each other, considering the trauma they may have had in the past. The adults review interactions they’ve had in the day and review ones they’ve got coming up.”
“We are delighted to be the first and only school in Dorset to be awarded the Trauma and Mental Health Informed mark. Relational practice underpins everything we do at DLC and so this seemed a natural and beneficial progression for us.
“Working towards the accreditation involved significant and extensive training for all our staff. This has included Governor training, specialised Senior Leadership Team training and the completion of a Trauma Informed Diploma by two staff members, and our Senior Mental Health Lead also completed an intensive Mental Health Lead course.
“TIS will now be a central part of our practice, adding to our overall relational practice model which supports children at every stage of their development.”
The report from Trauma Informed Schools UK states that “As soon as you arrive at Dorchester Learning Centre you are aware that this is a special environment where compassion, kindness and care are at the heart of its ethos”.
There are daily briefings to highlight some struggles students may be facing and how staff can best support them.
The school has worked hard to reduce suspensions as leaders know they fracture the relationship and trust between the pupil and the school.
If suspensions are handed-out, they are described as ‘time off’. One student said: “When you come back, the adults are pleased to see you and you can move on.”
Jane Lewis, Dorchester Learning Centre’s Mental Health Lead, said: “Many of our students have come here having painful experiences of school or even other adults, so our role is to take away any stress they may have associated with school and we give them an emotionally available adult who they can just tell their story to.”
Mr Dinsmore added said: “We believe that there is a pathway for every child, it's just finding it and having the resources to offer them what we can.
"We think vocational courses are the way forward for a lot of disaffected children who feel school isn’t for them, so we are trying to offer them that alternative pathway.”