Interactive Collective Recovery Workshops for Schools

Orange Psychology is offering bespoke, interactive and real-time (virtual) workshops for staff teams between August 2020-March 2021 to support the transition back to school, as part of it’s Collective Recovery Series, focusing on developing emotionally healthy schools, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These workshops are open to whole staff teams or specific groups, depending on their relevance to your setting, and can be delivered via a range of video platforms live into schools. Orange Psychology has targeted 3 key areas which we feel are crucial to help reconstruct the emotional health of the school as a whole, within the context of a pandemic. The aim, is to help schools feel safe, ready and able to meet the challenges they face post ‘Lockdown’, as they enter a new phase of learning to be together again.

  • Staff Well-being

    We will look at the journey so far for you as a school. We will acknowledge the highs, the lows, and name the challenges you have faced, as well as the strengths you have shown in overcoming them. We will do this whilst reflecting on the psychology of organisational change, bereavement and loss, anxiety and stress management, but with a focus on strengths based practice moving forwards. We aim to reconstruct a resilient, contained and collaborative staff team, ready and able to receive and respond to challenges they face with renewed optimism, purpose and vision.

    Trauma Aware Training

    Using the theoretical underpinnings of ‘trauma’, we look at how it affects body and mind, whilst reflecting on the impact of COVID-19 on adults and children. In light of the pandemic, we review attachment theory research and the conditions for trauma, including post traumatic stress and developmental trauma. We want staff to be able to notice key indicators for the most vulnerable, and to understand how to respond. We share research and strategies around trauma recovery, focusing on regulating, relating and reconnecting with children who may be distressed.

    Emotion Coaching

    We recognise that there may be heightened emotional responses over the next phase, as schools return and children try to adapt to their school environments again. For some this may be easy, but for the most vulnerable they are likely to communicate their distress through their behaviour. Schools can only offer a ‘safe space’ for children returning, if children ‘feel safe’ in terms of the relationships and interactions available to them. Building on the work of John Gottman (1997), we aim to share The Emotion Coaching framework for staff to use when working with emotional difficulties/challenging behaviour,  It focuses on accepting, acknowledging and working through emotions to find solutions together. The aim, to help staff feel confident to meet the expression of children’s emotional needs, as they evolve over the next phase.

     Virtual workshop information

    • These workshops are interactive in content and delivery style, and offered in real time to schools at allocated times.
    • The workshops will be offered via Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams depending on school requirements.
    • Sessions can be delivered for 1.5 hours or 3 hours depending on times available in schools (e.g. INSET or twilight).
    • Schools will need to book sessions in advance to secure places, and ensure full internet access/interactive white boards/audio in classrooms for groups of staff etc.
    • Dr Joanna Mitchell (see bio) is the key facilitator of the workshops, an experienced Educational Psychologist with developing expertise in the area of trauma recovery.
    • For costs and further information, please use the contact form below, or email us directly on enquiries@orangepsychology.co.uk