Trauma

Editor's Notes

1. We don’t remember the teacher that taught us to read, or how to add. We remember their kindness, compassion, acceptance and willingness to help
2. Low attention span, difficulty following instructions, memory problems, behavioural difficulties, emotional outbursts, altered brain development, relationship problems
3. If you have a look at the handout, these are the 5 key components of a trauma informed school. When all staff have the same common understanding about how to promote a safe and secure environment for students, students become more capable of engaging in their learning as they are in a predictable environment, regardless of which staff member they are working with.
4. Teachers spend an extraordinary amount of time dedicated to improving the lives of the children that they work with. We know that the 9-3 work day and 12 weeks of holidays is a myth, and not only do educators spend time after school preparing, marking, creating, learning, supervising and networking, they go home and try and squeeze in having some kind of social life, relationships, families and extra work! It’s no wonder that often we forget to put ourselves first – so much time is spent thinking about others, it is so important to think about yourself too. Some little things that you can do in order to make sure you are taking care of yourself:
5. Think about what happens for some children before they get to school – we all know when one of our kids has had a “bad morning”…. What if instead of kids being in trouble for being late, we told them how great it was to see them? That we set them up with a buddy when they arrive so that they know what activity they need to be doing? Or take a minute when the class is settled so that you can talk to them one on one and make sure that they know? How we respond to all of these situations impacts on our whole class. If we keep things positive and calm, the children are better equipped to respond in kind.
6. It can be really challenging to move beyond the idea of rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour – traditionally it is what we have all encountered. You do good things, you get good things. You do bad things, you miss out or get something bad. For most people, the fear of punishment is enough, we don’t want to get in trouble, we want to please people, so we adhere to the rules, we are compliant and obedient. For children who have experienced trauma, some inherently believe that they are bad, they get it at home, they come to school and they still can’t do the right thing, they miss out, they are suspended, they can’t go on camps and excursions and they lose the opportunity to practice the social skills that they need. When we take the time to really get to know the students that we work with, we are able to find things they like, hook them in and develop relationships. When children develop positive relationships, they are more likely to engage because they feel safe and secure with the people that they are working with.
7. Appropriate behaviour is not innate – for some students, conflict is all that they have experienced. They do not know how to develop a positive relationship, or how to speak kindly to others. What would look different in your class if you approached behavioural errors in the same way that you approach academic errors?
8. The more we know about the children in our care and their families, the better equipped we are to understand their behaviour and possible motivations. What do you think the benefits of having this level of information regarding a child is? Last week we gave everyone the opportunity to have a look at the case formulation sheets from the CAMHS BIS – did anyone have the opportunity to fill theirs out? We will take a few minutes now for people who have not had a chance to fill theirs out
9. Some examples of acceptable alternatives Over time the young person ceases to use the challenging behaviours as the acceptable alternative is meeting their need, then this in effect becomes the new challenging behaviour and we need to identify something that is less worse.
10. I’m going to give you a copy of the RAAP application behaviour support plan – for some of the most complex children that we work with, we need to formulate a plan for action that covers the aspects of behaviour in which children are most at risk. In small groups, have a go at creating some different ways
11. I’m going to give you a copy of the RAAP application behaviour support plan – for some of the most complex children that we work with, we need to formulate a plan for action that covers the aspects of behaviour in which children are most at risk. In small groups, we are going to have a go at creating some different ways to tackle each area of concern. We will start with environmental changes, positive programming, focused support