Nestled in peaceful woodland, the cottage allows children to immerse themselves in nature
Tearmann Cottage is a purpose-built, modern home designed to provide a safe, nurturing, and well-equipped environment for the children in our care. Thoughtfully designed with their needs in mind, it offers a warm, homely atmosphere where they can feel secure and supported.
Nestled in peaceful woodland, the cottage allows children to immerse themselves in nature. We believe that a strong connection to the natural world enhances the therapeutic environment, fostering a sense of well-being and promoting healing.
The vision for our team has three underlying principles:
- Transparency & Integrity – Foster a culture of honesty, trust, and openness in all interactions, creating a positive and supportive environment
- Safety & Accountability – Maintain high standards of care through reflection, learning, and accountability, ensuring continuous improvement informed by data.
- Curiosity & Growth – Cultivate a learning culture by prioritising staff development, ongoing training, and integrating insights from research
Our approach recognises that trusting relationships and caring for others are the cornerstone of all human interactions and that the young people in our care shall often have a deficit in these areas. We hope that through structured environmental activities and having consistently attuned staff we can promote reciprocity and develop progressively complex relationships with the children.
Social work services
Tearmann Cottage will provide a secure and supportive environment for up to two children aged 6 to 13, who have complex developmental challenges and who need intensive therapeutic care.
At the time of referral, a keyworker is allocated and contributes to the decision-making process in terms of the suitability of a child for a placement in Tearmann Cottage.
The keyworkers main function is to oversee the implementation of the child’s Therapeutic Intervention plan
Crucially they have a central role in supporting the child to feel safe enough to begin the process of building relationships with the team and in doing so, support the child to have their voice heard and responded to accordingly during their time in Tearmann Cottage.
They help a child to understand and plan their journey through narrative work and through the use of health and wellbeing plans.
Detailed records shall be kept for the child’s benefit during their time in Tearmann Cottage, and a monthly collage of photographs along with a time line shall be constructed so that they can have some evidence and memories documented of their time with us.
At an agreed point we would hope that the placing trust could identify a move on plan and at that point the team at Tearmann cottage can begin the process of supporting the young person and the carer
Theraputic care
We are a trauma informed organisation and have aligned with the Northern Ireland Framework for integrated therapeutic care recognising the importance of building safety; getting the help that’s needed; developing agency and taking part; and addressing inequalities for the children in our care.
The Tearmann approach to residential care has been developed and informed experientially and shall draw upon various theoretical models such as sensory integration, attachment and NMT models from a wide range of leading academics in this field such as Karen Treissman, Eadaoin Bhreathnach, Dan Hughes and Dr Bruce Perry. Cornells Therapeutic crisis intervention model will also be used in our home.
At Tearmann care we aim to create a safe, predictable, nurturing environment that will support the children in our care to have the ability to emotionally regulate. This important process begins with the layout of the home and the surrounding land being designed to ensure that the environment is conducive to a relaxing, nurturing home with the ability to have a safe play area outside and inside of the home that will assist the children regulate. This is done by using rhythmic activities, creating a calming bedtime routine and use of sensory tools.
On admission and once settled each child will undertake various
assessments alongside our multidisciplinary team. This assessment will inform our intervention plan, and this will be reviewed regularly to ensure that each child’s specific needs are being met and allowing the child to develop and thrive. There will be constant communication between all involved with the child, to ensure that nothing is missed whether it be in our home or with other members of the multidisciplinary team, ensuring the highest standard of care for our children.
Care staff will be all highly trained and aware of the models in which we are using in the home to underpin our daily practice. Care staff will be focused on building strong relationships based on the warmth and attunement even in the most difficult of moments. Our acre staff will be able to offer co-regulation and engage in playful, verbal & non-verbal activities that will allow development of relationships and attachment. Having developed these relationships, the children and care givers can help reason and practice higher level thinking and problem solving.
Tearmann care will not accept any emergency admissions due to the importance placed on the planning and tuning in process of a child’s admission. We recognise that emergency admissions can have a negative impact on the child already living there and also on the child being admitted in this way.