Education Consultancy & Training from Clare Williams
I truly believe that education has to be holistic and creative and that children’s emotional and social development is at the absolute core of what they need for learning and life.
I am passionate about children and young people’s well-being and the importance that emotional development and early relational experiences have on children’s capacity to learn and to thrive. Enabling children and young people to feel emotionally safe and contained, to be within educational settings that actively and effectively build relationships as a key element of their practice, is at the core of successful education.
Understanding emotional and mental health, the impact of relational trauma and how adverse life factors affect children’s capacity to learn, is critical in enabling young people to access learning. What we tend to see and respond to is behaviour, but increasingly in our schools, behaviour is the result of unmet mental health needs and relational trauma.
I am committed to working alongside teachers, multi-agency professionals and parents to develop awareness of mental health and the impact it has on learning and outcomes for young people. By developing policy and practice, our actual approach to emotional and behavioural need and by creating bespoke provision in schools, we can provide more holistic education.
Read about my newly authored Rainbow Pathway Trauma Informed PSHE Resource to support schools following the COVID-19 lockdown
Creator of the Thrive Education Zone (TEZ)
As the Emotional Health and Behaviour Service Manager for the Chesil Education Partnership my role involved the creation, establishment and management of the Thrive Education Zones, a nurture based provision for primary children with SEMH needs and at risk of exclusion. This incorporated the implementation of the Thrive Approach® and Thrive® online assessment tool to create a model that enables children to begin to trust adults and to feel safe enough to engage in learning. The focus was on the strength of relationship that enabled children’s emotional needs to be regulated and responded to. Working directly with the parents through an outreach and workshop approach was another key element to enable the child/parent and family relationships to strengthen.
Services include…
Emotional Health and Behaviour
As professionals working with young people it is increasingly important that we understand the impact of emotional development and the implications this has on emotional health, behaviour and learning as well as develop confidence and the range of skills and approach we use.
Bespoke Consultancy and Training
Specifically tailored consultancy, training or mentoring can be designed to meet whole school policy development, staff capacity building and classroom practice enhancement. Consultancy work can be in line with schools strategic vision and can create bespoke pathways.
Parent Partnership
Consultancy, home visits and outreach work, as well as training for parents and school staff can develop greater parental engagement and enable families and schools to work in real partnership. Facilitation of the Incredible Years Parenting Programme can be delivered for groups of parents and carers as well as training and consultancy work that focuses on emotional and mental health awareness.
Supervision and Mentoring
Working with children’s emotional needs and challenging behavior can be rewarding but can be overwhelming at times. Professional supervision is essential for staff especially those with a pastoral or key worker responsibility. Teachers, ELSA’s and Teaching Assistants who work with children who have SEMH needs require a chance to share, reflect and professionally develop their practice.
Jigsaw PSHE
Clare is co-author and creator of Jigsaw PSHE, the comprehensive resource for primary aged children. It brings together PSHE education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning.
“My philosophy centres on enabling children to develop a belief in themselves through the quality of relationships they experience that build the fundamental necessity of trust at the core. It is through this quality of relational engagement that children can feel safe enough to learn about the world, themselves and to engage in the learning environment.”
Clare Williams
