Trauma Informed Schools. - Hertfordshire County Council

Trauma Informed Schools.

Workshop for HCC Designated Teacher Conference

24th October 2018

Kati Taunt

• https://youtu.be/vyQdOLl6d2c

Attachment? Survival? Developmental Trauma? Same same??

Luke aged 9 • Hypervigilant

• Finds it hard to sit on his chair, fidgety

• Has few friends

• Reacts disproportionately to minor disagreements with peers

• Can be uncommunicative

• Hides under tables when asked to undertake new learning activities

• Can be violent and aggressive to pupils and staff

• Luke is the eldest of 4 children

• His mother was 17 when he was born

• Mother subject to DV at the hands of his father

• Mum and Luke left home town to live in refuge

• Mum has diagnosis of border line personality

• Stepfather (father of two youngest children) recently imprisoned

• Luke has attended 3 different schools

• Currently awaiting rehousing due to arguments and threats from neighbours

ACEs Studies in the UK 2012: 1st UK study using ACE found increasing ACE associated with behavioural, social and Health outcomes (Bellis et al 2014) 2014: national study 8% of population reported 4 or more ACEs 2016: Centre for Public Health study of ACE in Luton, Hertfordshire and Northants. 17% of population have 2-3 ACEs and 9% have 4+

https://youngminds.org.uk/resources/policy/addressing-adversity-book/



• Ed Talks Mark Sanders

• https://youtu.be/QAGx2PyMh_o?t=3

https://youtu.be/QAGx2PyMh_o?t=3

Traumatized children may present with physical and emotional distress. • Physical symptoms like headaches and stomach aches

• Poor control of emotions

• Inconsistent academic performance

• Unpredictable and/or impulsive behavior

• Over or under-reacting to bells, physical contact, doors slamming, sirens, lighting, sudden movements

• Intense reactions to reminders of their traumatic event:

• Thinking others are violating their personal space, i.e., “What are you looking at?”

• Blowing up when being corrected or told what to do by an authority figure

• Fighting when criticized or teased by others

• Resisting transition and/or change

Islington CAMHS 2017

Curriculum - Blaustein

While kids are getting really good at survival, what are they not getting?

Young Children (0–5)

Key

Developmental Tasks

Trauma’s Impact Development of visual and

auditory perception

Recognition of and

response to emotional

cues

Attachment to primary

caregiver

Sensitivity to noise

Avoidance of contact

Heightened startle response

Confusion about what’s

dangerous and who to go to

for protection

Fear of being separated from

familiar people/places

School-Aged Children (6–12)

Key

Developmental Tasks

Trauma’s Impact Manage fears, anxieties,

and aggression

Sustain attention for

learning and problem

solving

Control impulses and

manage physical

responses to danger

Emotional swings

Learning problems

Specific anxieties and fears

Attention seeking

Reversion to younger behaviors

Multi-layered nature of trauma

Discrete experiences of danger (i.e., physical/sexual abuse)

Failures of need fulfillment (i.e., neglect)

Interpersonal context (i.e., betrayal of caregiving expectations; loss, abandonment; working models)

Interference with developmental tasks

Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2010; Kinniburgh & Blaustein, 2005

Multiple Layers Lead to Complex Outcomes

Expectations of harm (from the world and from others)

Difficulty forming relationships

Difficulty managing, understanding, and regulating feelings and behaviour

Developmental challenges (problem-solving, agency, imagination, academic performance, etc.)


Trauma’s Dual Influence on Development

• Prioritization of those domains of skill / competency / adaptation which help the child survive their environment and meet physical, emotional, and relational needs

• De-emphasis of domains of development which are less immediately relevant to survival

Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2010; Kinniburgh

& Blaustein, 2005

Why trauma informed schools?

• Symptoms resulting from trauma can directly impact a student’s ability to learn. Students might be distracted by intrusive thoughts about the event that prevent them from paying attention in class, studying, or doing well on a test. Exposure to violence can lead to decreased IQ and reading ability. Some students might avoid going to school altogether.

https://traumaawareschools.org/traumaInSchools

One out of every 4 children attending school has been exposed to a traumatic event that can affect learning and/or behavior.

• Trauma can impact school

performance. • Lower academic

attainment • Higher rate of school

absences • Increased drop-out • More suspensions and

expulsions • Decreased reading

ability


• Exposure to violence and other traumatic events can disrupt youths’ ability to relate to others and to successfully manage emotions. In the classroom setting, this can lead to poor behaviour, which can result in reduced time in class, suspensions, and expulsions. Long-term results of exposure to violence include lower academic achievement along with increased incidences of teen pregnancy, joblessness, and poverty.


• In a trauma-informed school, the adults in the school community are prepared to recognize and respond to those who have been impacted by traumatic stress. Those adults include administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and law enforcement.


• In addition, students are provided with clear expectations and communication strategies to guide them through stressful situations. The goal is to not only provide tools to cope with extreme situations but to create an underlying culture of respect and support.


Some of the Key components of a trauma informed school

• Establishing a shared definition of a ‘Trauma informed school’

• Enhancing trauma- awareness throughout the school community

• Conducting a thorough assessment of the school climate

• Inclusiveness

• Specific risk and protective factors for each individual school community

• Senior leadership ‘buy in’

• Knowing there will be skeptics

• Developing trauma informed discipline policies

• Awareness of the prevalence and impact of secondary traumatic stress of teachers and staff



Caregiver

Affect

Mgmt. Attunement Consistent

Response

Identificat. Modulation

Executive

Functions

Attachment

Regulation

Competency

8 Primary Skills: Building Blocks

Expression Self Dev’t

& Identity

Psychoed

Routines

Caregiver Affect Management – Key Concepts • Care givers play a key role in

helping children learn and implement skills in self-regulation

• To be able to help children, caregivers have to be able to recognise, tolerate and modulate their own emotional responses

Put on your Oxygen mask

• To step out of the cycle caregivers must first regulate their own emotional experience

• Keeps us calm

• Models effective coping

• Helps us respond instead of

react

Taking it not just personally

Understanding the survival and functional nature of behaviours

Understanding function of child behavior

Understanding and recognising triggers (and differentiating from boundary testing, opposition etc)

http://www.ladyzona.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Symptoms-Of-Depression.jpg

Attunement: Key Concepts

• Primary Goal: To build rhythm in relationship.

• The foundation for rhythm is a curious stance: the assumption that youth behaviors make sense, and the desire to respond appropriately.

• Difficult behaviors are often fronts for unmet needs or unregulated affect; a key attunement challenge is therefore to identify the function of youth behavior


& Blaustein, 2005

Behavioral Response

• . Building predictable, safe, and appropriate responses to children’s behaviors, in a manner that acknowledges and is sensitive to the role of past experiences in current behaviors


& Blaustein, 2005

• We think kids have behaviour problems, or they're not interested in learning, or they're not able to learn, when really, when you get down to the bottom of it, there's some experience that they've had that has taken priority over everything that's going on in their life."—Melinda Johnson, Teacher

•

Barriers to developing a trauma informed school: Personal impact on staff (Ristuccia 2013)

• This is hard work, and I am already stressed and overwhelmed.

• Developing a trauma sensitive environment may lead to student outcomes that will actually help reduce my stress.

Balancing individual student needs with those of the class

• Why should I make so many changes just to help the students that give me the hardest time?

• The entire class can benefit from improving the school ecology, including my more challenging students leaving me more time to devote to learning rather than discipline.

Lack of skills to address social, emotional, and academic learning in the school. • I was trained to teach

students about science not how to make friends.

• By teaching students how to cooperate, compromise, respect one another, problem solve and self regulate, I can teach them how to use peers as learning supports, become active and engaged learners, and become better human beings.

Tendency to view trauma as a home and not a school issue • Dealing with my

students home situation is not in my job description, Isn't it the school counsellors? Social workers job?

• If I want all students to learn, I have to teach who I have in my class/school- not who I wish I had in my class.

Trauma informed schools

• Not a whole new approach, or new lesson plans

• Catching the moments as they arise as we look through a trauma lens.


Next steps….

• What do you need?

• What are you already doing?

• What might get in the way?

• Who do you need it from?

• What could be the smallest step?

• https://traumainformedschools.co.uk/

• https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2017/12/05/trauma-informed/

• https://traumaawareschools.org/traumaInSchools

• https://arcframework.org/what-is-arc/

• https://beaconhouse.org.uk/


& Blaustein, 2005

https://traumainformedschools.co.uk/

https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2017/12/05/trauma-informed/





https://arcframework.org/what-is-arc/





https://beaconhouse.org.uk/

Documents

Trauma Informed Schools. - Hertfordshire County Council