Schools are poised with the unique opportunity to thwart negative outcomes underpinned by a child’s exposure to trauma. Persons with lived experiences of ACE’s have recounted how appreciative they are for schools that were their safe heaven.
It’s essential for schools to master the essence of what it means to take a trauma informed approach to learning, this will surely reiterate how despite trauma children can develop academic competencies.
Strategies for schools
- Aim to create safe, consistent and enjoyable learning spaces. This can have a great impact in reducing the potential for ‘triggering’ feelings and will allow the child’s brain to be able to access learning and play.
- Ensure clear and consistent set of routines and expectations about behaviour. This will help the child to feel safe and secure. It will help eliminate some of the potential for triggering situations such as shouting, aggression and bullying from other students.
- Give children advance notice of any changes which will be happening in their daily routines. This includes seating plans/ classroom layout/routines. This will give students time to ask any questions and emotionally prepare for the change.
- Ensure a classroom is set up to have reduced opportunities for sensory hypersensitivity. This could be making sure that the lights you have in your classroom are not fluorescent or flickering. Any background sounds coming from electronic devices need to be considered.
- Encourage and facilitate a range of clubs or other extra-curricular opportunities to give children chances to make friends, connect with others and foster a sense of safety which comes from belonging to a group. A teacher may need to accompany them to this club initially so that they have that safety net and familiarity.
- Allow students the chance to emotionally regulate in a way that works for them and is known to all staff. For example, if a student has become ‘triggered’ and are struggling to cope with extreme anxiety, it may be agreed with their parents/carers that they can use a range of methods to regulate in a toolkit. Some children may want to have a few minutes outside the classroom to sit quietly and take some deep belly breaths to calm things down. Others may wish to doodle in a notepad, or leave the lesson and go to speak to an identified accessible and safe adult and then return afterwards. Encourage the child’s involvement in a conversation around the best strategies to use as the child is able to come up with their own way to regulate.
- Give students opportunities for success in a way that is personal to them. Celebrate small successes to allow them to build their self-esteem and be able to tolerate experiences of failure if/when it occurs.
Low mood – ‘Support for pupils who are low in mood’
Regulation – ‘Supporting regulation’