Waite, James;
(2025)
Trauma-informed education for pupils with ACEs in SEMH special schools in England: headteachers’ lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. An interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Doctoral thesis (Ed.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This qualitative study explores headteachers’ lived experiences of leading and managing trauma-informed education in their special schools for pupils with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs throughout and since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Five headteachers of SEMH special day schools in England participated in a 90-minute semi-structured interview. The interviews focused on participants’ experiences of leadership and management during and since the pandemic. This included their views on the usefulness of government policy and guidance, and their perceived impacts of it on their leadership and management of their schools, pupils and themselves. Transcripts were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and the double hermeneutic approach. The analysis identifies some group experiential themes derived as shared experiences from the headteachers’ personal experiential themes. During the pandemic, participants led and managed their respective schools flexibly, collaboratively, and resiliently in a climate of unprecedented fear and anxiety. All participants conveyed that this was a challenging time for them and that they did the best they possibly could in light of unclear, constantly changing guidance that they came to understand did not take sufficient account of SEMH special schools. The evolution of online education presented opportunities as well as various challenges. Since the pandemic, participants’ schools are operating to a ‘new normal’, and there are enduring negative impacts on some pupils’ anxiety levels and socialisation. The study enabled participants to reflect deeply on their selfless, pupil-centred leadership. The study’s findings consider how policymakers and stakeholders might learn from participants’ experiences in order to inform responses to similar emergencies in the future. The key lessons shared by participants include recommending that policymakers seek to understand the sector better by consulting those with lived experience of leading, working at, and attending SEMH special schools. In doing so, this understanding should inform ‘smarter’ policy that better meets the needs of pupils with ACEs and SEMH needs in future emergencies. The research also identifies the need to provide more effective and accessible support for headteachers during times of crisis.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ed.D |
| Title: | Trauma-informed education for pupils with ACEs in SEMH special schools in England: headteachers’ lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. An interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204671 |
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