A PRIMARY school has become the first in Darlington to be recognised as an 'adoption friendly' school.

Northwood Primary School on Pendleton Road South in Darlington is the only school in the borough to achieve the status and will act as a hub for children who are adopted, looked after or have suffered early attachment disorders or trauma.

The status was granted by PAC UK, the UK’s largest independent adoption support agency which focuses on supporting adopted children who have experienced trauma in their early lives which may impact on their school journey.

Zoe Beach, headteacher at Northwood, said: “Northwood Primary School understands the uniqueness of every child and we support children, their parents and carers to prepare them for life beyond our school.

"We have undertaken robust training with PAC UK to become Darlington’s leading school in this area and will now help to deliver training on this across the local authority.

“We use a classroom as a safe base and a calm-down area where there is a chance for a time out and help children to understand and manage any life changes.

"Northwood fully understands the importance of nurture principles for the development of self-esteem and we also do a lot of work on language and behaviour being a vital part of communication.”

Nick Blackburn, chief executive of Lingfield Education Trust, said: “This is a fantastic example of one of our Trust schools leading the way as an example of best practice in order to support our children."