About Nicola

I have over 25 years' experience working with some of our most vulnerable children and young people while providing training, consultancy and coaching services to those adults who support them. 
I work with schools who are struggling to connect and engage with children who find learning environments stressful and relationships difficult.  By developing an understanding of the biology of behaviour and the many factors that impact on a child's ability to self-regulate, I support staff to adapt their classrooms and approaches to enable all children to feel safe, settled and ready to learn.  I also support parents and carers at home, helping them to understand the impact of insecure attachments and childhood trauma, how this manifests through behaviour and how to use attuned relationships and collaborative routines to move from co-regulation to self-regulation.
My background was originally in Education, qualifying as a primary teacher in 1994. My move from mainstream schools, into a specialist provision for children experiencing social, emotional and behavioural needs, led to a passion and belief that we can and must do better for our children and young people who have experienced multiple adversities in their lives.
In 2007 I co-founded Chrysalis Professional Development, providing training and consultancy services in self-regulatory approaches within school, home and community settings.  Using recent findings in neuroscience, I supported adults to see behaviour through a new lens, understanding the importance of relationships and working collaboratively with children to support them to develop the essential skills required to navigate daily routines and stressors. 
In 2012 I became an Education Advisor within the Foster Care sector. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team I continued to develop my knowledge around the impact of childhood trauma, using my skill base to support carers at home and staff in schools to embed attachment led, trauma informed approaches. 
In 2018 I returned to my educational roots, working with children experiencing multiple barriers to learning and supporting staff to implement relational, biology respecting interventions to sooth stress responses within classrooms and embed self-regulatory approaches.
My training and consultancy work pulls on many years of first-hand experience of working with children and young people, adapting the systems and environments in which they live and learn to meet their needs and bring about long-term change which impacts on future life opportunities.
The sectors I work within include Primary, Secondary and Further Education, Fostering and Adoption, Early Years, Additional Support Needs Settings, Community Groups, Skills Development.