The ARC is a creative, whole-school approach designed to help every child feel safe, understood, and ready to learn.
Sam works alongside staff, families, and allied health professionals to support a connected, sustainable, and inclusive whole-school approach, combining holistic, child-centred support for children’s learning, mental health, neurodevelopmental, relational, and contextual needs. The ARC Initiative supports teachers and staff with practical, trauma-responsive and inclusive strategies, while giving children opportunities to explore emotions, build confidence, and develop the skills that support wellbeing, learning, and connection. By integrating creative approaches, relational practice, and social, emotional, and behavioural support, ARC supports children’s holistic development, strengthening learning, self-awareness, relationships, regulation, and resilience across the classroom and the wider contexts of their lives.
WHAT IS THE ARC INITIATIVE?
The ARC Initiative is a multi-tiered support framework that combines:
creative arts and expressive 1:1 and group therapies
trauma-responsive and holistic, needs-responsive practice
educational assessments and learning supports
teacher support
Pupil informed PDs, staff, and whole school training.
It is designed to sit gently around the existing school day, so that staff, families, and children are all working from the same baseline:
Attune to what the child is showing us.
Respond with the right level of support.
Connect learning, relationships, and regulation.
ARC is currently being piloted in a primary school setting and is designed to be adaptable to different schools, communities, and student needs.
Evidence-Informed & Creative
ARC draws from:
creative arts therapy and art psychotherapy
trauma-informed, attachment-aware practice
neurodiversity-affirming principles
educational assessment and learning profiles
EMDR-informed work where appropriate
This mix allows ARC to stay both gentle and rigorously grounded, balancing therapeutic depth with practical classroom strategies.
The ARC Origins
Sam Gummer is collaborating with Tootgarook Primary School to deliver the ARC Initiative, drawing on her extensive experience in creative arts psychotherapy, education, and trauma-responsive practice. The initiative has been shaped by Sam’s work across therapeutic, school, and community settings, with a strong emphasis on relational safety, inclusion, and whole-school wellbeing.
Sam works alongside staff, families, and allied health professionals to support a connected, sustainable, and inclusive whole-school approach, combining holistic, child-centred support for children’s learning, mental health, neurodevelopmental, relational, and contextual needs.