In Residence

Way back in 2014, the way children and young people in England with SEN were supported changed with the introduction of education health and care (EHC) plans. These documents,  were binding on local authorities, and detailed a child or young person’s SEN condition and the provision that they need. For example: a special school placement … Read more

Last week I celebrated the birthday of TCES Group ( Transitional Care Education Services) as it entered into its 20th year as a Social Enterprise. TCES Group delivers education, health and care through its schools and high needs services for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and co-morbid Autistic Spectrum Condition. In this … Read more

A warm welcome to all our readers. Our mission at the International Centre for Therapeutic Care and via the TCJ is: ‘To share models of therapeutic care, and to extend the influence and insights gained from our member networks, in order to improve services  and outcomes for traumatised children their families and communities’ In this … Read more

Last year we had the privilege of bringing the personal papers of Dorothy Stock Whitaker into the Planned Environment Therapy Archives. A leading social work academic, Whitaker made a considerable contribution to the field, influencing both practice and policy in a career that spanned over sixty years. Born in the US, Whitaker was active in … Read more

The theme for my action research will be on low-level self-harm that does not have the intention to take life, or Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI) and how to reduce it in a residential setting. Within the past year, a new student has arrived at the Mulberry Bush School with NSSI behaviour, and a few other … Read more

Introduction This assignment represents the final project of a Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Childcare for Children and Young People I undertook as part of my initial contract at The Mulberry Bush School (MBS). It is an action research project, consisting in identifying an area in my work I would like to investigate, putting an intervention … Read more

For this issue of TTCJ with its focus on research I intend to go back to the very origins of research.  To do this it is necessary to connect the educational philosophy of Frederich Fröbel, with studies of plants and marine biology. First Fröbel.  I came across his educational theory when researching in India.  Fröbel’s … Read more

Introduction Within the following paper I will explore the effect that nurturing environments can have on traumatised children’s academic learning. I have included extracts from my own reflective journal to offer an insight into my own day-to-day experience of working alongside traumatised children. The focus of the paper will be on nurturing environments. The word … Read more

Introduction My workplace is a small, inner-city mainstream primary school within a very diverse community. My role as a Learning Support Assistant in the Reception year group, aged 4-5 years, encompasses working alongside the teacher in providing a safe, stimulating, play-based learning environment. It also involves ensuring every child is given the opportunity to meet … Read more

Recently Ruth and I revisited a scenario that has been part of our lives at Mill Grove for the past 40 years.  A little boy was with us for a meal for the very first time, and so we had to plan how to welcome him, so that he, along with everybody else, felt secure … Read more

Welcome to our August edition of the IC/TCJ news. This is our second edition of the TCJ focusing on life in residential and foster care with children and young people across the COVID-19 pandemic. Jane Herd, CEO of mental health social enterprise Orb8 opens this edition with her paper ‘Anxiety in a Time of Pandemic, … Read more

As we continue to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe, society has had to find better, more open ways for us all to discuss mental ill health. So for this issue’s article from the PET Archives we look to Howard Jones and his 1950s article on the mental health of teenagers. … Read more