e-mail: spalding@liverpool.ac.uk
The Quiet Place was initiated by the Cheiron Project, a trust
established originally under the auspices of the Merseyside Development
Foundation with the aim of promoting psychotherapeutic support, including a
range of complementary therapies, for children and young people on Merseyside.
The concept arose out of a concern to promote early intervention in the
prevention of exclusion with children experiencing emotional and behavioural
difficulties in mainstream settings. In this respect it shares common aims with
such recent initiatives as 'Nurture Groups' and is a response to concerns
expressed by the Mental Health Foundation about the poor levels of support
available for children who experience mental health problems. A further
consideration in the development of the provision has been the desire to focus
multidisciplinary work in a 'joined up' way round the school as the location
most frequented by families, and often their first 'port of call' when under
stress
The pilot was established in Millwood School in the Speke area of Liverpool in the spring term of 1998 with support from the Speke Garston Partnership (a partnership funded by the Single Regeneration Budget). Further rooms have been established in the neighbouring Stockton Wood Infants School and in Hope Valley School in the north of the City. The latter initiative has been funded by the North Liverpool Partnership and the school itself. Liverpool LEA has provided some further funding and support a part time secondment of the head of the Early Years Behaviour Team to the project. Every one of the schools lies in an area where the indices of social deprivation lie well above the national norm.
The Quiet Place works from a positive model of health and well being which is founded upon a holistic approach to personal development and growth. It involves the application of a variety of therapeutic approaches, both mainstream and complementary, and focuses on the development of the most powerful methods that can be applied in a concentrated way to further personal growth and development. The approach relies upon the provision of an appropriate and nurturing environment to complement the range of therapeutic approaches which are on offer.
One important feature is early crisis intervention which will facilitate longer term involvement with other appropriate agencies if required. The Quiet Place provision has been particularly designed to work with high-risk families who have been identified as having children who are already exhibiting lack of control and pre-criminal tendencies. The approach focuses in the first instance on working with the child, but endeavours in the majority of cases to include the family wherever possible. It is essential in this approach that the provision is readily accessible and non-stigmatised. Hence for high-risk families living in areas of social deprivation, the ability to access therapeutic intervention and what it has to offer within the school setting is of vital importance.
In every case the room has been provided by the school and the support of the staff and headteacher has been invaluable in its establishment. Prior to the initiation of the room, staff have undertaken training to raise their awareness of the purpose of the room and the techniques applied there. They have also been encouraged to make use of it themselves.
The room itself has been designed to promote a sense of peace and relaxation and comprises a range of soft furnishings, bean bags and 'mini-environments' including tent like areas, cosy corners, water cascades, soft toys, plants and musical instruments. Each room has its own 'theme', for example, the stair well approaching the room in one school has been transformed into a fairy-tale mural focused on the theme of story-telling.
The Quiet Place is serviced by therapists who provide a range of
therapies appropriate to the needs of the child and family including
counselling, neuro-linguisitic programming techniques, sand play, deep
relaxation, visualisation, story telling & metaphor work, massage, computer
software to promote relaxation , etc. The children are timetabled to attend the
Quiet Place for a certain number of sessions per week, and the period of
attendance usually covers a six week period. Parents are also invited into the
room, and many take advantage of the therapies on offer themselves - as do
members of staff working in the school.
The children are selected by
teachers in the first instance, often in consultation with the Quiet Place
staff, and always in partnership with the parents.
An evaluation has been carried out by the University of Liverpool Department of Education on the first 22 children to complete the six week intensive course in the first room opened in Millwood School. The sample covers all children who have attended the Quiet Place since its instigation, and a control group has been established in two neighbouring schools who have no Quiet Place facility to provide some comparative data as to the relative effectiveness of this way of working.
Parents of the children in this first cohort reported that their children seemed a 'lot calmer in themselves' and valued the assistance they themselves had received at the Quiet Place:
'It helped me to relieve my stress and develop more positive thoughts - I found it really helped me. I would like it for all children, to help them change old patterns.' (parent)
Self-esteem featured as a major cause of the difficulties experienced prior to visiting the Quiet Place. Both teachers and parents also noted marked changes in the levels of confidence in these children as well as an enhanced ability to discuss problems:
'His progress through the intervention was akin to 'watching a flower blossom'. He began to make appropriate eye contact (something he never did previously), especially with me, and he began to relate more strongly to me. He grew in confidence in class, no longer afraid to ask or answer questions. The intervention made him 'feel special' and he particularly benefited from 1:1 sessions with the therapist. The computer software also proved to be beneficial, providing him with a non-intrusive relaxing activity.' (teacher)
For some children where self-esteem was cited, acute attention seeking behaviour had also been reported prior to the programme. The increased personal attention offered by the programme seemed to make a considerable difference to the childrens ability to reflect on their own behaviour and in the explicit identification and appropriate expression of feelings.
'After attending the Quiet Place she appears more settled, and is aware of how much she herself has improved. She has a much more positive attitude. The Quiet Place seems to fulfil her need for attention and provides an opportunity for her to get away from the stresses and strains of the classroom. She can now reflect much better on her difficulties.' (teacher)
In some cases anger management and making sense of their feelings was mentioned by both teachers and parents as a major issue which had been addressed.
'He was approaching adults with the expectation of negative, confrontational responses. He is now seeking help from others rather than closing down into himself. He is now able to take the needs of others more into consideration. He has calmed down considerably and is able to keep his temper for longer and is able to rationalise rather than just fly off the handle as he used to do. It has helped him to settle in. His outbursts are more moderate and he is not running off anymore.' (teacher)
Several of the parents interviewed referred to the direct effect the intervention had had on their own stress levels, and in consequence also on the atmosphere at home:
'The Quiet Place was a 'God send' - he can be taken out to calm down - it is helping me as well as I have individual sessions and feel I am gaining more insight - I couldn't see any solutions earlier, I was too caught up in it all. It is good to have someone to talk it through with.' (parent)
One of the major advantages of provision such as this is that parents
have a direct line to help. The headteacher noted what a relief it was to be
able to direct parents to assistance when they were under stress, rather than
having to rely on referrals to outside agencies. There would appear to be
within the Quiet Place model great potential for the on-site development of
multi-disciplinary work with families in need.
In some of the cases there
are references to the need for longer term intervention and the feeling was
expressed that the six-week programme merely started to move a process into
gear:
'She has always needed reassurance from teachers and adults - will negate much of her work and cross it out - still very defensive - very poor self-image - takes things very much to heart - could do with longer in the Quiet Place.' (teacher)
There is little doubt that the Quiet Place intervention has a positive effect overall on the emotional development of the children who attended. Amongst the most telling remarks were those of the headteacher involved who noted not only the relief of having somewhere immediate to refer children and families who were in distress (without having to wait for appointments and subsequent attendance problems), but also the overall calming effect the provision had on the school as a whole. The other most telling response was that of the parents, many of whom are living in some of the most socially deprived circumstances in Britain, who saw the Quiet Place as a haven and point of growth not only for their children, but also, in many cases for themselves.
There has been a considerable amount of interest generated in the provision and it's potential for addressing emotional and behavioural difficulties in a school based way early on in the process. It's potential as a focus for multi-disciplinary work, particularly in socially deprived areas, also has major implications for development. A variety of other schools, both primary and secondary as well as special, have expressed an interest in developing their own "Quiet Places", and in some cases schools have gone ahead and developed their own "Quiet Rooms" which provide some of the facilities available in the "Quiet Place", but without the full specialised therapeutic input. It is envisaged that further monitoring and evaluation over the longer term will provide evidence sufficient for the model to be taken on by the joint services commissioning bodies, hence facilitating a truly preventative and multidisciplinary focus for children and families where the current needs, and future consequences of these needs not being appropriately met, are all to obvious to those who work with them.
Bob Spalding is senior lecturer at the Department of Education,
University of Liverpool, 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7ZG
Tel: 0151
794 2503
Fax: 0151 795 2512
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