<< PREVIOUS PAGE

Evidence of learning

years and it is no exaggeration to say that every child has made huge strides in their development, self-understanding and ability to relate to others. Not a single child is any longer on drugs — which had included antidepressants, Ritalin, melatonin and antiepileptics (one young person learned how to reduce his emotional arousal so successfully that he no longer needed medication to control seizures) — and Miles has had all his psychiatric labels removed. Even one lad, Dave, who made what he now realises was a poor decision (to leave our school, after which he fell back into crime and is now in a young offenders institution) has responded to a second chance.

As part of our commitment to all our young people, we maintain contact after they leave. (They usually phone when they have good news or for advice and support — just like most children who leave home.) Intimidated by life on the main wing, Dave had chosen deliberately to use or threaten self-harming behaviour and behave in a 'mad' way, so that he would be moved to the comparative 'safety' of the hospital wing. Fred visited him there and the difference in his behaviour was so marked afterwards that, when Mike visited a few weeks later, he was invited to explain the human givens approach to the lead psychologist and all hospital and therapeutic staff.

We too have learned new things, since the start, about what works best in terms of equipping our young people for independent life. When Fred set up TheSPACE, the dream always was to provide education, residential care and healing to young children who badly need a new chance and a fresh start. But he found it took so long to get the healing process going. When he came across the human givens, he realised just how quickly healing could get started — and finished.

The human givens approach has freed us up to move even beyond healing and do all the things as a community that we wanted to do. When you are part of a community, you need to contribute to that community. At the Centre in Kendal, there is the capacity to offer therapy to local people, which has had a phenomenal knock-on effect on staff recruitment at the schools.

We are now known as the people who do things differently and who have a big effect, and local people want to work with us. We, in turn, feel we have been very much embraced by our own local community in this part of Kendal, known as Fellside. (Just the other day, a few of our younger children were invited to have tea with a neighbour, behaved themselves impeccably, had a great time and stayed there for two and a half hours!)

So, when, last year, we opened our second school for younger children next door to the first, we decided to change our name from Woodlands to Fellside School, to deepen our links. We are all proud to be part of this community and the children truly feel now that they belong to it too.

<< BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE   

© Human Givens Publishing Limited, Mike Beard and Fred Grist (2006)

This article first appeared in Volume 13, No, 1 (2006) of the Human Givens journal

FRED GRIST is principal of TheSPACE, which he founded in 2000 along with senior administrator, (and partner) Jane Leeson. He has nearly 30 years' teaching experience,the latter half spent teaching, or, as a head, in residential special schools in the North West. For a number of years, he was Chair of the Cumbria Registration and Inspection Unit. He holds the Human Givens Diploma.

MIKE BEARD became director of therapeutic services for TheSPACE in September 2004. He previouslly worked within Devon Local Education Authority, where his work focused on the development and delivery of training for health and education professionals working with vulnerable young children. He has also worked for the Criminal Justice Service and at a strategic level within ther Connexions service. He holds the Human Givens Diploma.

> More information on the human givens approach can be found in the following book, by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell

Human Givens: A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking

> You can find out more on the issues raised in this article at the following MindFields College workshops:

How to deal with bullying and its effects

'Every child does matter' - How to transforms the lives of challenging children and adolescents

Return to top