SEAMAB

At Seamab we provide care and education for children aged five and older who have experienced significant trauma, abuse and loss. Our children have a wide range of needs and present many challenging behaviours, from aggression and violence to self-harm and poor emotional health. We think it’s our job to gift all the children with relationships and experiences that support them to heal – and to grow into competent and confident adults. To develop our model of practice in education, we started with what we know about children who have experienced significant trauma, both in the literature and in our shared practical experience. We thought we knew what didn’t work and what would work – and we decided we were willing to try some new ways of working to achieve more. This involved being willing to experiment, take risks and enlist the support of others, including our health and safety advisors and experts from outside the organisation. All of our children have difficulties with their emotional and mental health. Each of them struggles with low self-worth, profound shame and regulating their emotions. A child usually arrives with us at Seamab feeling confusion, bewilderment and fear. Every child needs support in learning to identify, talk about and regulate their emotions. All need help to start to feel better about themselves. Some need specific support for particular emotional health issues. In our model, we think about children’s individual needs first, and then we think about their needs in the context of the wider group. We believe it’s our responsibility to work out what each child needs and to respond flexibly.