One of the indicators of poor school engagement is exposure to traumatic stressors including abuse, neglect and violence directed at young people. Unfortunately the frequency of this type abuse is on the rise in Australia. Up to 40% of students have been exposed or witness to traumatic stressors (ABS, 2008; NTCS, 2011). One in three girls and one in six boys are abused before the age of 18 (ABS, 2005). One of the potential impacts of this abuse is disengagement from school: currently more than 10% of young people disengage (DET, 2011).

Trauma affects child development and a child’s ability to successfully navigate and succeed in education. In 2011, 82% of Victorian students aged 19 completed year 12 or its vocational equivalent; and Government schools retained 80% of their students who started in year 7 (DET, 2014).

This means there are many young people who struggle in their primary years and do not complete their secondary education – a legacy which will last a life-time and have profound social consequences for the community.

The Berry Street Education Model builds upon Berry Street’s foundations of therapeutic practice based on trauma-informed teaching and learning. This holistic program is the first of its kind to show significant academic growth in struggling students by combining Berry Street’s approaches to welfare, wellbeing, and proven approaches to academic learning for individuals whose trauma or experiences of chronic stress has impacted their neurodevelopment.

Berry Street has a strong track record and key role to play in assisting the development of services for vulnerable children and young people. The Berry Street Education Model informs the three campuses of the Berry Street School, and has made possible significant academic growth in Victoria’s most vulnerable students, many who live in out-of-home care with histories of school refusal and disrupted education. The success of our model is measured by our Berry Street School students averaging 1.8 years learning in one academic year.

We are proud to stand on the shoulders of giants in the fields of traumatology, education, wellbeing, and positive psychology. We have ongoing research and evaluation projects with the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education through their Youth Research Centre and Centre of Positive Psychology. Our program has benefited from the ground-breaking work of researchers around the world including Bessel van der Kolk, Martin Seligman, Lea Waters, Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth and Helen Stokes. We are honoured to have significant collaboration for the Berry Street Education Model Curriculum and Strategies from authors Jacci Norrish, Maddie Witter, Sarah Ralston, Therese Joyce, Leonie Abbott, and Janelle Larkin.

In 2015, Berry Street partnered with two Victorian Government schools to pilot the model in mainstream classes. This pilot was evaluated by The University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education Youth Research Centre. The evaluation identified significant links to academic improvement, increased student engagement and better teacher-student relationships, including more than two years academic growth in one year following implementation of the model.

Participants will learn classroom and whole-school strategies to promote an understanding of the five domains of the Berry Street Education Model:

• Body: Building school-wide rhythms and body-regulation through a focus on physical and emotional regulation of the stress response, de-escalation in school and classroom contexts, and mindfulness opportunities throughout the school day
• Relationship: Increasing relational capacities in staff and students through attachment and attunement principles with specific relationship strategies with difficult to engage young people
• Stamina: Creating a strong culture of independence for academic tasks by nurturing resilience, emotional intelligence and a growth mindset
• Engagement: Employing engagement strategies that build willingness in struggling students
• Character: Harnessing a values and a character strengths approach to enable successful student self-knowledge which leads to empowered future pathways

Please contact us for more information regarding the following learning opportunities:

Institute Programs
(offered through the Berry Street Childhood Institute and partnering educational institutes)

• A comprehensive training program
• Four days of intensive training
• For school leaders, teachers, and allied education professionals
• Provision of resources and tools to facilitate the implementation of the model

School Programs

• A comprehensive training program for a participating school
• Tailored to the needs of the specific school community
• Delivered on site at school to faculty
• All school personnel receive an intensive training session once per term
• Provision of resources and tools to facilitate implementation of the model
• Additional mentoring and consultation to embed the interventions 

Modules

• One-day program delivered at participants’ site
• Lectures, seminars and workshops on individual modules
• Provision of resources for that module

Lectures/Workshops/Information sessions

• One hour sessions designed to provide an overview of the Berry Street Education Model

Potential short-term outcomes for participating schools:

• Improved academic (literacy/numeracy) growth
• Improved emotional/social wellbeing 
• Stronger ability to maintain durable relationships
• Increased teacher knowledge and capacity in working with struggling students
• Increased school attendance
• Decreased incident reports and suspensions

Potential long-term outcomes for participating schools:

• Improved student esteem and capacity for healthy relationships
• Less anti-social behaviours for future success
• Improved Year 12 completion and participation in post-school training, education and employment

Tom Brunzell is the leader of the Berry Street Education Model implementation. Tom is Senior Advisor Teaching & Learning with the Berry Street Childhood Institute.

Tom is supported by senior trainers from the Berry Street Education Model.