Systemic Change: Specialised Services for Educational and Residential Settings
"It takes a village to raise a child." – African Proverb
What is Systemic Change?
At Summit Psychology Services, we are dedicated to supporting a wide range of professionals and organisations who are eager to explore and implement systemic change for the benefit of vulnerable children and young people. Our current focus on organisational and systemic change is designed to support educational and residential settings, where relational care is central to all interactions with children and young people, where children feel safe, and can thrive.
Our Mission
At Summit Psychology Services, we align our practices with the 4 Rs of trauma. We sensitively support organisations in their understanding of the widespread impact of child maltreatment, adversity, experience of exclusion, and the need for relational care of everyone. We help you to recognise the signs and symptoms of trauma and the survival strategies of children and young people. We also help you to support and nurture the staff within your setting. By weaving trauma awareness, understanding, and knowledge into policies, procedures, and practices, we guide you to understand that happy children and young people are better able to learn, grow, and thrive in supportive and nurturing environments. We seek to work with you to develop safe and supportive environments that actively resist re-traumatisation. Our commitment to embedding relational care is rooted in research from the fields of attachment, loss, stress, and trauma theory.
Why Systemic Change?
Systemic change is crucial for addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by vulnerable children, young people, supporting adults, and families. By working at the organisational level, we seek to help you create environments that support not just individual children and young people but your entire community. This holistic approach ensures that all children and young people, especially those with the highest needs, can experience safety and belonging, to achieve their full potential and thrive.
Who We Help
Our primary focus is on supporting severely vulnerable young people, particularly those who:
- Have a social worker, special guardian, or who are supported by children and family services
- Are care experienced
- Face obstacles and challenges due to trauma, loss, adversity, and impoverished relationships
We work closely with:
- Schools, virtual schools and Multi Academy Trusts (MATS), safeguarding leads, and pastoral teams.
- Alternative education providers
- Residential settings
CPD Events and Training
We offer a wide range of training and CPD opportunities, including our specialised NurturED series, designed to empower champions, advocates, and professionals working with children across schools, academy trusts, teacher training schools, virtual schools, foster care training, residential settings, and children’s services. Our training encourages active participation, reflection, and the generation of actionable knowledge.
Discovery Days
A Discovery Day is an engaging, interactive event to explore collective questions that need multiple minds to explore. The event is cafe styled, relaxed, and encourages deep conversations and collective learning among participants, and who come from a wide range of organisations and professions.
Supervision and Support
Confidentiality, compassion, trust, and equity underpin all of our supervisory relationships and which we offer to adults who walk and journey with children and young people. We offer respectful, open, and authentic support, individually and in small groups.
Whole School Programmes
Implementing relational, trauma and attachment aware practices to develop nurturing and supportive school experiences for all.
Reflective Conversations and Consultations
Providing opportunities for insightful support to deepen your understanding, enhance professional practice, and develop strategies for supporting vulnerable children and young people.
Trauma Infused and Attachment Aware Frameworks
We utilise Summit Psychology Service’s Self Evaluation Framework for schools, and support educational communities who may be members of, and prefer to use the Attachment Research Community (ARC) framework, to guide systemic change. The evidence based frameworks helps you:
Attachment
What it is, why it’s important, and the signs of struggling to build and maintain empathic, attuned, and rich relationships with others.
Trauma
What the 4 R’s of trauma are, the complexities and multi-layered effects of trauma, adversarial growth, and recovery through relationships.
Organisational Health and Wellbeing
Integrating and embedding policies, practices, adapting environments, and restoring relational approaches for the wellbeing of all.
Become A Trauma Informed Organisation
We support organisations in becoming trauma-informed to better serve children and young people.
Discovery Days: Conversations that Count
A Discovery Day answers big questions through conversations that count. These engaging, interactive events are designed to encourage deep discussions and collective learning among participants from a wide range of organisations and professions. Summit hosts Discovery Days in a relaxed, café-style environment, for open dialogue, sharing of experiences, and collaborative problem-solving. The atmosphere is intentionally casual, complete with refreshments to create a welcoming and comfortable space for participants to engage in meaningful conversations. Integral to the event is our collaboration with Jon Ralphs, an incredibly talented graphic artist who captures your conversations in real time.
The Value of a Discovery Day
A Discovery Day offers immense value as a form of professional development and community building across professional networks. It provides an opportunity for participants from diverse backgrounds and roles to come together and discuss an important issue of shared professional interest and importance. Through facilitated discussions, participants can explore complex issues, share insights, and develop a deeper understanding of various perspectives. This collaborative approach not only enhances individual knowledge but also builds a sense of community, collective purpose, and with actionable knowledge at the end of it.
Process and Experience
During Discovery Days, participants are seated at café tables and engage in multiple rounds of discussions, with each group focusing on a specific question or theme. At the end of each collective conversation, participants switch tables, bringing their insights to new groups, cross-pollinating ideas, and building on each other’s contributions. This process encourages active participation, reflective conversation, and the generation of actionable knowledge.
Summit loves Discovery Days and has successfully hosted events with groups from a range of sectors, bringing together education, social care, foster care, safeguarding leads, virtual school headteachers, and clinicians to share space with each other. We have collectively asked questions such as, “What Makes a Trauma-Informed School?”, “What Does a 21st century, Progressive Educational Psychology Service Look Like?”, and “How do we Support Staff Wellbeing and What are the Stressors Being Experienced?”. If you have a question or a problem you would like to solve collectively, please contact us. We are happy to travel and bring our unique café experience to you, or we can host the event at our venue in Newcastle-Under-Lyme.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the morning. I will share this with others. This was a hugely positive learning experience.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was out of my comfort zone, however I felt very quickly at ease and the organisation of the morning was fantastic. It gave us an opportunity to talk and listen.”
Join Us in Making a Difference
We invite educational and care professionals to collaborate with us in this vital work. Together, we can make a significant difference in the lives of severely vulnerable young people, helping them overcome their challenges and succeed in their educational and personal journeys.
For more information about our systemic change programs and how we can support your organisation, please contact us.