Schools in Northumberland are backing a campaign to transform support for children’s social and emotional needs in schools and make sure all pupils feel safe, secure and cared for. 
 

Northumberland County Council has teamed up with leading behaviour expert Paul Dix, to launch the Northumberland Schools C.A.R.E campaign, which stands for Caring about Adversity Resilience and Empowerment. 
 

The first participating schools are receiving additional training and support as part of a pilot project that will then help to shape the future roll out of the project and transform practice across the county. 
 

Being trauma-informed encourages empathy for the issues young people may face or have faced in their lives outside of the classroom and embeds emotional wellbeing and mental health support in schools. 
 

Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Inspiring Young People, said: “We are starting from a high point as we know that our schools are working very hard to provide the best education possible for all our young people and a record number are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.  
 

“But we also know that emotional wellbeing and mental health continues to be impacted by the pandemic.  
 

“By working together across education, health and social care – we can combine our skills to support all our young people and show them that we care so that they can thrive and reach their full potential.”  
 

The campaign was launched at Northumberland’s Relationships Matter conference that saw over 200 professionals from education, health and social care come together to learn more about the importance of putting relationships at the heart of managing children’s behaviour. 
 

Organised by the council’s Virtual School and the Be You mental health team, the conference heard from a range of guest speakers including Paul Dix. 
 

Paul, author of the bestselling book ‘When the Adults Change, Everything Changes,’ said: “Whilst working with the teams in Northumberland, we have already been completely inspired by passionate, skilled and compassionate school leaders and staff. 
 

“As we work together to build firm foundations we are looking forward to showcasing best practice and developing a collaborative approach to development across Northumberland.” 
 

Virtual Schools were set up in 2011 and champion the education of care-experienced young people and now also children who have or have had a social worker. In Northumberland, it also has responsibility for monitoring the attendance of all pupils and safeguarding standards in schools. 
 

Northumberland’s Be You mental health team is a joint initiative between Northumberland County Council and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which sees specialist teams work closely with a group of trailblazer schools to support students and train staff. 
 

Jane Walker, Northumberland Virtual School Headteacher, said: “There is lots of brilliant partnership working taking place in our schools to support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of our young people. 
 

“This conference brought together different professionals to share ideas and best practice about the importance of relationships and how we can best support all our children and young people and meet their needs.  
 

“The next step is to extend this knowledge so we can embed a culture of being attachment-aware and trauma-informed in the work of all our colleagues across education, health and social care so that all children feel safe, secure and that they belong. 
 

“We’re looking forward to working with our first group of schools on this initial pilot phase of the project.”