Nestled by a 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 by 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.
Tearmann Care ethos promotes:
- Transparency & Integrity – We foster a culture of honesty, trust, and openness in all interactions, creating a positive and supportive environment
- Safety & Accountability – We maintain high standards of care through reflection, learning, and accountability, ensuring continuous improvement informed by data.
- Curiosity & Growth – We 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. We hope that through providing 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 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.
The keyworker shall help each 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. Once agreed the team at Tearmann Cottage can begin the process of supporting the young person and the carers with this transition.
Therapeutic care
We are a trauma informed organisation and have aligned with the Northern Ireland Framework for integrated therapeutic care, we recognise the importance of:
- Building safety
- Getting the help that’s needed
- Developing agency and taking part
- 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 models and methods such as sensory attachments intervention, attachment theory and neuro sequential approaches from experts such as Dr Karen Treissman, Eadaoin Bhreathnach, Dan Hughes and Dr Bruce Perry.
Tearmann Cottage aims 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. Providing safe and sensory play spaces both outside and inside the home
On admission each child will undertake various assessments alongside our multidisciplinary team. These assessment will inform our Therapeutic intervention plan, and this will be reviewed regularly to ensure that each child’s specific needs are being met.
There will be regular communication between all involved with the child, to ensure that the Child’s holistic needs are being addressed in a timely fashion.
The Tearmann Care team are knowledgeable in the application of various models underpinning our daily practice. Tearmann Care staff will be focused on building strong relationships based on warmth and attunement even in the most difficult of moments.
Our care staff will be able to offer co-regulation and engage in playful, verbal and non-verbal activities that shall promote the 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 Cottage shall not accept any emergency admissions due to our view that every move should be planned.