Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) – how can schools support children and young people who live in difficult circumstances?

Recent studies by Public Health Wales found that almost a half of the adults in Wales experienced adversity at least once in childhood with 14% suffering four or more times while growing up. These types of experiences have a highly negative impact on child health, including mental health, social engagement, behaviour and school attendance.

Supporting children and young people who live in difficult situations is an important aspect of a school’s work. Our January 2020 report, ‘Knowing your children – supporting pupils with adverse childhood experiences’, explored the impact schools have on the wellbeing of pupils with adverse childhood experiences (ACES). The Public Health Wales research tells us that influences such as friends, trusted adults, the community and school all help children to build resilience and deal better with severe hardships.

Why schools?

School staff are the professionals who spend most time with children and young people. Social workers and health workers may work with them but do not see them every day, unlike teachers and support staff. This means that schools are best placed to identify difficulties and support and influence children and young people.

We find that the best schools know their pupils and families well and work productively to support them in a non-judgmental way. They use their experience and findings from research and training to support children and young people and help them get the most out of school.

What do the best schools do to support their children and build up their resilience?

These are some of the beneficial activities going on in primary and secondary schools:

• Nurturing sessions to allow time for pupils to eat, socialise and play games together before and after school and during breaks.
• Purposeful and beneficial activities which use creative subjects like music and art to promote positive mental health.
• After-school clubs which engage children and young people, enable them to work productively with trusted adults and peers and build up their resilience. These include cookery clubs, gardening clubs, ICT clubs and sport clubs.
• A positive behaviour policy where staff use language that engages pupils and supports their emotions, and favours restorative approaches rather than punishment to change poor behaviour.
• Safe and quiet areas or rooms where pupils, particularly older ones, can relax or have some personal reflection time when they feel overwhelmed or anxious.
• Programmes of support for targeted groups of children run by trained staff such as anger management, emotion coaching, play therapy and mindfulness.
• Parental engagement classes and groups to support vulnerable adults. Activities include cookery and literacy lessons, parenting classes and running clothing sales and food banks.
• Regular meetings with partners from social services and health to ensure that everyone works together for the benefit of families who need support.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult for schools to provide their usual levels of support for vulnerable pupils.  Now pupils are returning to school, we need to make sure that they are protected, and that schools provide an environment where pupils feel safe and supported. The NSPCC has lots of useful advice and resources for children and young people, as well as their parents and carers.

How can schools and public services provide better support?

Our ‘Knowing your children’ report features many interesting case studies of good practice in primary and secondary schools across Wales as well as examples of beneficial multi-agency work. Schools should first ensure that they place a strong focus on building and maintaining trusting, positive and open relationships with families. Finally, schools should provide calm, nurturing and supportive spaces for children and young people to relax and feel safe when they feel stressed, worried or sad.