My Journey
Nurture. Understanding. Wellbeing.
I didn’t come into this work through a straight line or a fixed plan. My journey into social, emotional and mental health support has been shaped by people, relationships and a growing curiosity about what sits beneath behaviour.
From the very beginning of my teaching career, I was drawn to the children who seemed to be carrying more than could easily be seen. Those early experiences laid the foundations for the work I do today.
Early Foundations
My passion for working with children with complex needs began at the very start of my teaching journey. As a newly qualified teacher, I was fortunate to work in a school community that reflected a rich and varied social and cultural landscape. This experience exposed me early on to the realities of difference, adversity and resilience in children’s lives.
During this time, I began to notice how strongly relationships, consistency and adult responses shaped children’s ability to feel safe and learn. I was trusted to support and mentor new teachers, which sparked my first experiences of coaching and reflective practice. I was also given the opportunity to take on a leadership role linked to social and emotional learning, which felt like a natural fit.
Even then, it was becoming clear that this would be the direction my work would take.
Growing Curiosity: Behaviour as Communication
In the next phase of my career, I worked across a range of primary school settings, supporting children whose behaviour was often described as challenging and framed through deficit-based language.
Those early weeks were a steep learning curve. What stayed with me was not the behaviour itself, but the patterns behind it. I became increasingly curious about what children were communicating through their actions, and about how adult responses could either escalate or soothe.
Over time, one idea began to shape both my practice and my leadership: every opportunity is a learning opportunity. It became a reminder to remain curious, reflective and open, particularly in moments that felt challenging or uncertain. This mindset helped me move away from quick conclusions and towards deeper understanding, for both children and adults.
This growing curiosity led me to deepen my understanding of attachment, trauma and neurodevelopment, and to shift away from managing behaviour towards understanding it. I began to see how easily behaviour could be misunderstood when children were overwhelmed, dysregulated or carrying experiences that had not yet been named.
Building Provision & Practice
As my experience grew, I was given the opportunity to help establish and lead specialist provision within mainstream education. This chapter of my journey allowed me to put theory into practice, creating environments that prioritised safety, relationships and emotional development alongside learning.
Working within nurture-based frameworks, I saw first-hand the difference that attuned adult support, predictable routines and emotionally informed practice could make. Children who had struggled to cope in mainstream classrooms began to settle, trust and re-engage with learning.
Leading provision also deepened my understanding of the pressures faced by schools and staff. It reinforced the importance of whole-school approaches, reflective supervision and meaningful support for the adults working alongside children with complex needs.
From Systems to Relationships
Across all of these roles, one theme remained constant: children thrive when the adults around them feel confident, supported and curious rather than overwhelmed or reactive.
Over time, my work naturally expanded to include training, consultation, coaching and mentoring for staff, alongside direct work with children and families. I found that supporting adults to reflect on their responses, language and expectations often had the greatest impact on outcomes for children.
This reinforced my belief that meaningful change happens through relationships, not quick fixes.
Why I Work the Way I Do
The lotus flower has long held meaning for me because of what it represents. Growing from murky water, it reminds us that strength, growth and resilience can emerge from the most difficult conditions.
Like the lotus, I believe that all children, including those who have experienced adversity or relational trauma, have the capacity to flourish when they are supported, nurtured and understood by the adults around them.
This belief sits at the heart of my work.
Where I Am Now
Today, I work independently with schools, parents and carers, offering relational, trauma-informed SEMH support tailored to each context. My work is grounded in experience, reflection and a deep respect for the complexity of children’s lives.
What has remained consistent throughout my journey is a commitment to noticing what lies beneath behaviour, valuing relationships and advocating for approaches that prioritise connection, understanding and wellbeing.