Berry Street Web Docs Berry Street School Annual Report 2013 | Page 15

DOMAIN 5: RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships and strong relational interactions
are integral to classroom practice with vulnerable
and traumatised students. Often, students have
backgrounds of disrupted attachment and experience
difficulty in creating, sustaining or developing strong
and lasting relationships. Relationships are formed
through deliberate steps taken by carers, teachers,
and staff that establish trust, validation, and safety;
and these relationships allow students to take
learning risks in front of their peers. Our relationshipbased classrooms are based upon the belief that
struggling students learn from reciprocal relationships
with teachers they like and respect. When students
challenge these relational bonds with resistant
behaviours, teachers can employ attachment principles
to remain consistent and proactive in the teacherstudent relationship.

Examples from the Berry Street School:
• Understanding that every conversation is an
opportunity to model healthy attachment
principles, positive cultural expectations, and peer
support
• Teachers proactively plan transitions and changes
to student routines
• ‘What Went Well?’ strategy is used in both staff
and student meetings
• Using restorative practices to address conflict and
the consequences of behaviour
• Greeting eac