A case study: developing a safe space for vulnerable young people at school

Abstract

At Rushton Manor School, a small independent school in the South West of England, the proportion of young people with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC), a form of Social, Communication and Language Need (SCLN), was substantially higher than regional averages: 15% at the school versus 5.4% in primary schools and 8.7% in secondary schools regionally (DfE, 2017). This study explores the school’s response to those students’ needs in the form of the Oasis Room, part of provision of a ‘safe space’ and supportive structures for those students during unstructured parts of the school day. It was found that the Oasis Room improved students’ experiences of social interactions, reduced behavioural incidents and allowed for proactive, supportive intervention by pastoral staff, in place of reactive ‘after‐the‐fact’ interventions. Suggestions are made relating to provision, structures and staff development at Rushton Manor and how these may be useful in other settings.

Using a mosaic-based approach to construct children’s understanding of safe space in school

“…These restrictions impacted on children's sense of belonging, in terms of connections with people and inclusion in the school more generally and may have led to a destabilising of children's safe spaces. These findings are in line with existing literature on safe space in terms of the documented confusion over the term (Barratt, 2010;Boostrom, 1998;Callan, 2016;Clark-Parson, 2019;Grimes, 2020), and serve to challenge existing literature which assume it to be a universally benign, nurturing strategy promoting safety in school (Frey et al, 2020;Kelly et al, 2020;Ross, 2019).…”

“…Both studies were based in England and action research based, undertaken by teachers or education professionals working in the schools. Ross (2019) reported on the setting up, evaluation and review of an adult designed safe space room involving five secondary school teachers. The room was described as a short-term crisis intervention for autistic children who were becoming overwhelmed during the school day.…”

“…Safe space was not the focus of this study as the aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of attachment awareness programmes on whole school development. Similar to Ross (2019), safe space was perceived by school staff as beneficial for developing a safer and more nurturing environment. The review reports that staff became aware of the need for a 'safe, quiet space…where young people can go to calm down' (p.345).…”

“…The only detail provided around what children had contributed towards safe space, was the décor, which is similar to the teacher-led study in the US (Frey et al, 2020). As with the other teacher led studies (Frey et al, 2020;Ross, 2019), the article does not describe pupil views in detail and it is noted that the lead author, Kelly, is a founder and proponent of AAS which may have impacted on the reported effectiveness of the programme.…”

“…It is concerning that none of the research with children took place in the UK, even though the dominant discourse (Moss, 2017) here recommends safe space for marginalised children (Johnson et al, 2017, Kelly et al, 2020Perry, 2000;Treisman, 2017). The dearth of evidence as to how children experience and understand safe space in schools, conflicts with its promotion as a universally benign and beneficial intervention (Frey et al, 2020;Kelly et al, 2020;Ross, 2019). Arao and Clemen's (2013) query asking if safe space is an 'inclusive exclusive' is not answered by the research literature reviewed.…”