Berry Street Education Model

At Charthouse Primary School we are committed to a trauma informed, neurodiverse affirming approach to teaching and learning.  We follow the Berry Street Education Model We use strategies from the Berry Street Education Model to create conditions for learning.  

The Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) is a practical approach that enables teachers to increase engagement with students with complex, unmet learning needs and successfully improve all their self-regulation, growth, and academic achievement.   BSEM has five domains: Body: Relationships: Engagement: Stamina and Character.

A trauma lens allows us to see the young person differently.  “They are not giving you a hard time; they are having a hard time”.

Shanker 2020

CALM AND PREDICTABLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: 

WHOLE SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS

Unpredictability = Risk

One of the Berry Street strategies is to ensure the school has a calm learning environment with consistent predictable routines (CPR) 

A Calm and Predictable learning environment comes from supporting students through Consistent predictable routines (CPR).

When students know and understand the routines of the school and classroom this reduces stress behaviours triggered by unfamiliarity and increases feelings of safety; both of which are critical for effective learning and social engagement to take place. 

As CPR removes some of the stress from the student’s emotional cycle it allows students to focus on the learning tasks, be ready to learn and remain focused for longer periods of time throughout the day.