But instead of focusing on the negative, senior manager Damian McKee turned it into a positive.

“We told them how fantastic it was that they had been able to make it today,” Mr McKee said.

“Imagine those levels of anxiety and they were still able to walk through the front door.”

The school opened in Yarrowee Street, Sebastopol, on Monday with 14 year seven to nine students, though an extra six were expected by the end of the week.

The students have all been affected by major trauma in their lives which has dramatically affected their studies.

“We’ve found a lot have lost their trust in adults along the way because of trauma or negative experiences in mainstream education,’ Mr McKee said.

“We take a step back and move slowly with the aim of developing strong relationships first.

“I’m really keen to make it clear it’s not a deficit education but instead it’s centering on young people that require that extra support.

“We have the well being of the young people as our central focus.

“Mainstream schooling is not for everyone but we’re always wearing the well-being goggles.”

The school day starts with breakfast shared by teachers and students – “feeding the stomach, feeding the soul” – and then segues into teaching a normal curriculum but using trauma informed processes so as not to exacerbate anxiety or stress levels.

“We make sure the day is rhythmic or routine.”

The teachers also focus on making the students feel physically comfortable through walking or stretching exercises and help them tune in to the group dynamics via simple games.

In circle time, the students use emoticons to show their readiness to learn and they also have regular “brain breaks” before focusing back on their studies.

The students all work in together and are not “pigeon holed” into particular age levels but instead work at their own pace.

“We’re not worrying about ATAR results but we’re still talking about academic rigour and providing purpose.

“We also work a lot on character strengths and we focus on what the students do well and what they are good at.

“They have a learning plan around their character strengths.”

Mr McKee said the teachers don’t discuss their individual traumas with the students – “that’s not our job” – but just try to support them the best they can.

Staff members include teachers Peter Walker, Meredith Barclay and Samantha Walkenden, with Susanne Remilton in learning support and Belinda Podesta as the student well-being coordinator.

“We know we have a challenging time ahead of us but each day will be a new day.”

Trauma informed education expert Tom Munzel was working, very successfully, in schools in the Bronx and Harlem in his native New York when Berry Street made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

He moved to Melbourne six years ago and set about “cleaning our own house” and setting up the Berry Street Schools’ five new cornerstones.

The first is teaching de-escalation strategies to calm down anger and trauma in the body, such as taking “micro moments”, mindfulness and deep breathing.

The second is building strong relationships between teachers and students.

“If that relationship breaks down, the kids doesn’t want to take the next challenge,” Mr Brunzel said.

The third is building academic stamina.

“Some can only literally learn for 90 seconds at a time so we build up a minute at a time. But I’d rather have 15 minutes of gorgeous on-task work.”

The fourth is engagement, where students put in place strategies to build willingness to learn, such as goal setting.

“Motivation is an over used word. We set goals to help the students pre-empt the speed humps they will hit.”

The last cornerstone is character, where each student’s individual strengths are assessed.

“They have to be able to spot character strengths in others before they can see it in themselves.

“The teachers are constantly relighting that until they have the self-knowledge to see that in themselves.”

Mr Munzel said one of the indicators of poor school engagement was exposure to trauma, including abuse, neglect and violence directed at young people.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show up to 40 per cent of students have been exposed to or witnessed trauma.

And one in three girls and one in six boys are abused before the age of 18.

Mr Munzel said the Berry Street holistic model was the first of its kind to show significant academic growth in struggling students.

“Research and evaluation by the University of Melbourne shows that we have a 1.7 year reading growth in one academic year.” 

He said Berry Street had a strong track record and a key role to play in aiding the development of services for vulnerable children and young people.

“Berry Street is proud to stand on the shoulders of giants in the fields of traumatology, education, well-being and positive psychology.”