Schools

More and more schools in Britain, at both primary and secondary levels, are working to build relational cultures. A core component of this shift tends to be providing staff with more knowledge about child development and developmental trauma. It also often means helping staff teams to reflect on ways in which how the physical environment of the school will be impacting on children’s stress systems. Schools frequently choose to replace their traditional behaviour policy with something like a ‘relationship agreement’.

Suzanne has been invited to provide training and support to a wide range of schools pursuing this path.  She is always pleased to champion their efforts, and she frequently shares their stories, ensuring that their efforts provide inspiration to other communities.  The impact of that ripple can be seen in these comments from one of the lead campaigners for the UNCRC in Scotland:  “As Suzanne Zeedyk regularly points out, behaviour is a symptom – and it can’t be fixed by a system that tells children ‘you’re wrong, so change or we’ll punish you’.  We need to do things differently.”