NVR for Schools

How to position NVR in schools brings to mind the house-with-pillars metaphor used by Haim Omer in his explanation of NVR: A pillar can stand firm, even without a roof. We can support real change for children, families, and teachers in schools by using smaller acts of NVR in creative ways, even if we don’t manage to build the whole new roof.

These smaller acts are of great value in themselves, and also help build an evidence base of using NVR in schools. There are many NVR practitioners doing really interesting work in schools, though perhaps their voices have not been heard as much as those doing work in mental health and adoption services.

Using NVR to raise the presence of teachers and front-line support workers

“You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t realise how bad he gets!”

With tears in her eyes, Gina was describing the incident of the previous night to me. Gina was about 36 hours into her 96-hour shift at a semi-independent accommodation (SIA) where she works 1:1 (4 days on; 3 days off) supporting Oscar, a 16-year-old boy who left the family home after years of physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence and being heavily exploited by local drug dealers. Gina had caught Oscar smoking cannabis in his bedroom with a friend. She reminded him that he was not allowed to smoke in the placement, and said that the friend would have to leave anyway, as it was after 10pm. What followed was 2 and a half hours of increasing aggression and intimidation.

Teachers in loco-parentis isn’t as easy as it sounds. Taking on a new approach to the traditional NVR (Non-Violent Resistance) concepts and adapting the tools to be used in the ever-changing dynamics of the education system.

Have you ever had a teacher who made a positive impact on you that you remember to this day?

Our family was referred to PartnershipProjects because we were at a loss to know what to do with our teen son. Because of a severely stressful family problem, he turned from being a generally happy teen to becoming increasingly depressed, anxious and finally violent. He was shutting himself off, stopping going to school, addicted to screens, swearing at us, and wall punching. We were treading on eggshells.

This article originates from real-world insights gained working in a specialist Early Help team in London, dedicated to supporting families and schools in preventing the exclusion of a child. It summarises how innovative Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) approaches, viewed through a trauma-informed lens, can powerfully transform the narrative from exclusion to inclusion for the children and families we work with.