The Award
Abbey Hill Academy and Sixth Form College are proud to have won the 2023 Alex Timpson ARC Attachment Award in the Specialist and PRU category, which recognises and celebrates best practice in attachment and trauma aware schools and settings nationally. The award provides further recognition of the work that goes on throughout our school community on a daily basis ensuring all of our students feel a sense of safety, belonging and encouraged to aspire to be the best version of themselves they can possibly be.
The Alex Timpson Arc Conference is an annual event where all Virtual School Head Teachers are invited to nominate a school or setting from their region for one of 5 categories and the finalists are asked to submit a video presentation for judging. The award is given to the school or setting who, in the opinion of the ARC Judging Panel, has made a profound and lasting contribution to attachment and trauma aware practices. Winners are invited to host and present their work at the national conference and a regional event, in the following calendar year, where other schools can be inspired and learn from their work. Judges were impressed by Abbey Hill Academy’s commitment to and their continued focus on promoting and developing relational practice and resilience at the heart of all that happens in school. They especially appreciated the way in which this was clearly observable and embedded across policy and practice, and reflected in an atmosphere of trust, safety and wellbeing, fun and achievement reported by students, families and staff, and also by the wider community
Background Information about ARC
The Attachment Research Community (ARC) is a national charitable organisation set up in 2017 by virtual school heads, school leaders, psychologists, training organisations and academics, with a mission for ‘every school to be attachment and trauma aware by 2025’.
Sir John Timpson, who himself was a former foster carer, is the ARC’s Patron and the Annual Awards are named the Timpson Awards in memory of his wife Alex.
ARC’s purpose is to support all schools and education settings to be attachment and trauma aware in their practice for the benefit of all members of the learning community and particularly the most vulnerable, by bringing together, sharing and celebrating best practice – find out more about ARC here; https://the-arc.org.uk/
The Nomination
Having worked closely with Abbey Hill Academy since 2017, Stockton Virtual School are proud to nominate this remarkable Special school for this award.
This collaboration started with two Vice Principals completing the first Virtual School facilitated TouchBase Attachment Lead course which at that time was accredited by Brighton University and subsequent Group Theraplay training. The colleagues worked closely together with their Trust Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist and alongside the Virtual School’s Senior Specialist EP with the aim of developing a whole school approach, ethos and practice, which involved the use of theory of change models, strong leadership and further high quality CPD.
In September 2021 Abbey Hill Academy was awarded the Stockton Virtual School Pupil Premium Plus Award. Completion of the NAVSH Framework audit evidenced that throughout the Pandemic, work had focused heavily on relationships and getting it right for each pupil and family. The evidence presented clearly showed the impact of the AATI work on ethos, policies and practice of staff, induction of new staff, school environment and most of all on the impact on pupil well-being, pupil voice and the quality of relationships.
Abbey Hill Academy is a strong partner in the Virtual School’s borough wide AATI work through their continued involvement in the Stockton Trauma Informed School Practice (TIPS) network.
As well as winning the 2023 Timpson Award, Abbey Hill Academy have also been accredited the Silver Pathway certificate from ARC and will now begin working towards achieving the Gold accreditation.
Award was collected by– Bill Dingwall, Vice Principal & Attachment Lead, Abbey Hill Academy, Melissa Fisher Vice Principal & Attachment Lead, Abbey Hill Academy, Denise McCartan, Horizons Specialist Trust Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist, Andrew Wright, Trustee and Chair of ARC
