We are an attachment aware and trauma informed residential school and care for young people who have suffered adverse childhood experiences. We take pride in offering a thorough therapeutic support package which can be tailored to each individual to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Many of the young people who come to High Peak School are living with social emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism (ASC), communication and sensory difficulties, attachment difficulties, childhood trauma and moderate learning difficulties (MLD).

We are committed to do the best to help those children who have had a challenging start life or may be experiencing a difficult time in their lives; we aim to give them a second chance to create hope for a better future.

Our goal is to promote the social and emotional wellbeing of our children and young people in the following three main areas.  

• Emotional well-being – this includes being happy and confident and not anxious or depressed.
• Psychological well-being – this includes the ability to manage emotions, experience empathy, be autonomous, problem-solve, be resilient and attentive.
• Social well-being – positive relationships with others, with no behavioural problems that are disruptive, violent or bullying to others, and to be resilient to the risks of exploitation from others

In order to provide the above support we have developed a multi-disciplinary team with professionals from a range of clinical backgrounds and with experiences that help to provide a bespoke care package and meet the complex needs of our young people. The team is psychology led and also includes Occupational Therapy, Psychotherapy, and Speech and Language Therapy all supported by a consultant psychiatrist. The school nurse, Head of Education and SENCO are also invaluable members of the team.

We have developed a clinical model using principles from the complex trauma literature for young people in looked after services. Complex trauma is a term used to describe children’s exposure to multiple traumatic events often of an invasive interpersonal nature. Such adverse experiences early in life can disrupt many aspects of a child’s development and sense of identity.

The model and theoretical framework delivered is built upon the principles of the Attachment, Regulation and Competencies (ARC) framework (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2010). The ARC framework helps to identify key targets of intervention for young people who have been exposed to trauma and their caregiving systems. The ARC framework can be integrated into individual treatment for a young person, parent-child interventions and whole team intervention.

We are driven by a genuine interest in understanding the world of the young person, we work as a close team in order to provide a high quality level of support and strive towards the best possible outcomes for each young person.