Are you trauma-informed? ACE-Aware? Attachment-led? Resilience-building? There’s a lot of noise about trauma and adversity in childhood and it is easy to get confused. At the same time, the Scottish Government has created a Trauma Training Framework that sets out what different people need to know. This session is a chance to learn about trauma with the writer of the relevant sections in Realising the Ambition.
The sad truth is that many children, even young children, experience trauma and adversity. It can have lifelong impacts. But just as true, so can high quality experiences and interactions in ELC settings. What we do turns out to be just what children who have experienced trauma need to recover and to flourish.
This session covers Level 1 of the national framework. The three easy steps are learning about trauma and its impact, how to relate what we see in children to their experiences, and how to support coping and recovery. We keep it simple and practical – how loving positive relationships along with rich play and talk do all that is needed. And we look honestly at the two difficult steps – how we get everyone “signed up” and how we keep going in difficult circumstances, whether these are pressure to raise attainment or shortages of staff or resources.
Attendees will leave the session with:
· Knowledge of how common trauma is, and different types of trauma and their impact
· Understanding how young children with traumatic memories experience situations and might present
· Confidence in responding to a known traumatic event
· Awareness of how positive relationships and play can help children recover
· Ideas for self-care and reducing the impact of vicarious trauma