The Challenge for Staff Working in Schools
Professionals working in schools are regularly the first people that families turn to when they experience adversity or trauma. School staff are often the first professionals to identify signs of abuse, neglect or emotional distress.
Staff in schools are often facing complex safeguarding dilemmas and distressing behaviour from pupils that they feel ill equipped to deal with.
Staff can feel frustrated when services cannot be accessed and helpless when they can’t support children and families in the way they would like to.
This can leave individuals vulnerable to burn out, fatigue, vicarious trauma and stress. It can be challenging to respond in these situations under such pressure and staff may respond in unhelpful ways, by being reactive, impulsive or colluding with unhelpful behaviours.
What is Supervision and How Can it Help?
Child Psychotherapists can offer supervision to school staff to support them in developing their capacity to work effectively to support vulnerable children and their families.
Supervision is a structured and supportive space in which professionals have the opportunity to reflect on pastoral and safeguarding concerns and their practice in relation to the pupils with whom they work.
Supervision aims to develop the capacity to:
- Discuss pastoral and safeguarding concerns, dilemmas and uncertainties with a mental health professional in order to gain a greater understanding of states of mind and psychological complexity
- Reflect on decision making and professional judgement
- UInderstand safeguarding thresholds, policies and referral pathways
- Consider the emotional impact of pastoral and safeguarding work
- Strengthen confidence and best practice
Formal supervision has been around for many years in Social Work, therapy and counselling. Government guidance has now identified that effective supervision is important for any practitioner involved in day to day work with children and their families. (DfE, 2013)
Similarly, lessons from serious case reviews have found supervision is essential for any staff working in this sector “Supervision is … essential to help practitioners to cope with the emotional demands of work with children and their families which has an impact at all levels of intervention” (DCSF, 2008).
Who is Supervision For?
Supervision is essential for school staff responsible for pupil mental health (mental health leads). Staff members who have pastoral responsibility within a school (teachers, SENCOs, pastoral leads) can be supported to work with vulnerable pupils through supervision.
How Does Supervision Work?
Staff are allocated protected time for a supervision session, usually one hour. Professionals are invited to bring to supervision a pupil or scenario about which they have pastoral or safeguarding concerns. During the session the case will be discussed with the supervisor. The process aims to develop the ability to think reflectively, deepen psychological understanding and develop confidence, it is not critical or evaluative.
Surrey Child Psychotherapy 