Working with Traumatised

Children in Schools
 Aim of the Session

• Provide a brief background into Attachment

and Trauma
• Look at the impact of Childhood Trauma on
brain development
• Consider ways to support these children in
school
• Introduce PACE Approach
 Attachment
The significance of our early experiences

• Is the building block of children’s development.

Through a positive reciprocal relationship the
children learn to modulate affect, soothe
themselves and relate to others. Attachment is
the base from which children...form their
concepts of self and the world around.
Bowlby
 ‘Good Enough’ Parenting

• The concept of the perfect child, parent,

teacher is not realistic – we all have our
moments!
• It is accepted that parenting doesn’t have to
be perfect but ‘good enough’
• Appropriate reactions 85% of the time seems
to give children what they need to develop
and thrive
 Consequences of
Good Enough Parenting
Helps the child;
• Feel secure, confident about themselves, feel
appropriately self reliant but confident that help
is available
• Feel confident to explore their environment and
learn
• Develop good emotional intelligence
• Develop good social skills (attuned to others,
understanding, responsive, empathic; skilled in
turn taking, sharing)
• Have a strong and well integrated sense of self
• Show resilience in the face of adversity
• Develop a SECURE ATTACHMENT 6
For many children their
early experiences do not
allow secure
attachments to form
 Insecure Attachments

• Avoidant – experience insensitive, intrusive or rejecting

caregiving. Appear independent and don’t seek help

• Resistant / Ambivalent- experience inconsistent and

largely unresponsive caregiving. Easily frustrated and often
clingy and rejecting. Often need attention and hyperactive

• Disorganised – frightening, abusive or ‘absent’ parent, child

with overwhelming fears, anxieties and mistrustful of adults.
Often unpredictable, controlling and easily overwhelmed.
 Trauma

•
Traumatic events in children's lives
Brain Development

• 0-6 years is the most important period for brain

development in childhood.
• At birth:95% of neurons are already present
• At 4yrs, the brain is nearly 90% adult size
• By end CP: < a quadrillion synaptic connections
(391,389,408,00 per day)and will begin pruning
back to around 300 trillion by 30 yrs old.
• “Neurons that fire together wire together”
• “Use it or lose it”
Sequential brain development
What does this mean for these children?
• Might not recognise if getting too hot
• Become hyper if over stimulated
• Eye difficulties- tracking, focusing, rapid/jerky,
• Sensory integration difficulties
• Appetite regulation/satiation
• Fine/gross motor skills
• Co-ordination and balance
• Arousal continuity/satiation
• Social difficulties- empathy, theory of mind, attribution
• Communication difficulties-
• Managing behavioural impulses
• Cognitive difficulties
 How to support these children
• Understand the child and what experiences they have
lived through
• Help them feel they belong
• Manage your own reactions
• Help children to comply with requests e.g. I see you
need help with...
• Structure and consistency –timers, timetables, cues,
ordered classroom
• Time in, not time out
• Consequences not punishment
• Structure choices to remain in control
• Acknowledge good decisions and choices
 Teach Emotional Regulation
• Practice deep breathing
https://youtu.be/RVA2N6tX2cg
Classroom visuals, stories, soft toys.
• Build in ‘quiet time’ after busy times
• Mindfulness in the classroom
• Yoga- Cosmic Kids
• Relaxation – https://youtu.be/OiaUV-OiBGE
• Music cues
• Develop a ‘calm down’ plan e.g. Calm down box,
safe space, safe adult
 Teach Social Skills
• Recognise difficulties with relationships and provide
support
• Engineer short partner work
• Choose other child carefully
• Supervise closely
• Prompt and reward good sharing, turn taking etc
• Explicitly ‘notice’ positives e.g. I liked the way you..
• Role play, stories, modelling empathy
• Programs- Socially Speaking, Circle Times, Time to
Talk, emotion snap cards
 Sensory Regulation
• Observe and understand the child’s
sensory needs
• Build in time for specific movements
• Repetitive
• Spinning, bumping, crashing, splashing
• Art, craft, messy play
• Dance to music, follow/copy beats

https://youtu.be/Xbq2Ujb3J1U
 Reduce Feelings of Shame
Shame
• “I am bad” or “I am unlovable”
• stressful and painful
• Triggers lies, excuses or blame
• avoid this feeling “I don’t care! It
doesn’t bother me!” or deny
behaviours that activate this
feeling “I didn’t do it!”
• Self- centred emotion
• Reduced empathy for others
Guilt
• “I did something wrong. I
hurt someone”
• Triggers need to repair
• Associated with empathy.
• An open centred emotion –
locus is behaviour.

To facilitate empathy and encourage development of

conscience, try to reduce child’s shame, leaving room
for guilt. Shame precedes guilt in the development
stages.
 The PACE Approach

• Playfulness – focus on the positives, provide opportunities

for laughter and enjoyment.

• Acceptance – accept the child, not necessarily their

behaviour.

• Curiosity – be interested and offer ways to help the child

to reflect and make sense of their experiences.

• Empathy – show that you are trying to understand and

that you care about what they are feeling.
 Playfulness

• Brings fun and laughter into relationship

• Reduces the intensity of a moment
• Provides reciprocal enjoyment
• learn to experience and regulate positive
affective states
• Conveys confidence and hope and optimism
• Protects children from feeling shame.
 Acceptance
• Creates psychological safety
• Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, wishes, desires
• Accepting internal experiences of others we
communicate our understanding
• Your experience is your experience
• Acceptance is different from agreement.
 Curiosity
• Curiosity drives exploration
• Expressing interest
• Shows respect and value
• Helps to build trust
• Helps to find new perspective and helps to
understand behaviour, motives, fears and
thoughts that drive
• Non judgemental wondering
• Adult wondering out loud
 Empathy
The ability to feel with someone
• Communicates our curiosity and acceptance
• Helps us to stand in their shoes and recognise
and respond to emotional experiences.
• Not alone
• Grows resilience
• Softens discipline
• Relieves shame
 PACE – How to put it into practice
Playfulness “Thank you
Convey optimism for showing “No wonder
Keep things light me ...” you...”

Acceptance
Be non-judgemental “When did you start
Accept child for who they are feeling like this?”
See behaviour as a way of coping

Curiosity “Have you seen

Show an interest in child’s inner life
someone else act
Discover who they are
like this?”
Empathy Match Affect
Get a deep sense of what the child is experiencing
Get alongside child - let them know you “get” them Verbal and non-verbal
congruence
 Keeping yourself safe

Schools must provide a secure base for teachers

• by responding to teachers successes and difficulties within a
PACE model.
• Safe and confidential space and time to discuss troubling
children and any associated feelings they have from these
events.
• Strong relationships between staff
 Adjust Your Sails

"You can't control the wind, but you can

adjust your sails.“

Yiddish Proverb
How you can help me
in school.......
Understand
that I have
strengths and
sometimes you
focus too much
on what I can’t
do rather than
what I can.
Tell me
when I am
managing
my
behaviour
well- I need
to know
when I have
improved.
Talk to each
other-my
parents,
carers,
social
worker and
other staff
at school-
to help you
understand
me better.
Help me to recognise my feelings. It
helps if you name it and tell me how I
am looking and maybe feeling e.g. “you
are looking happy, smiling and relaxed”
Sometimes I do
feel angry and
don’t know why –
please let me
know that’s ok so
long as I don’t
hurt myself or
others.
Make a plan with
me to help me
through the day
or difficult
times – it could
be about what I
like and what I
need to avoid or
how to help me
when I am
upset.
Sometimes it is easier for me to draw or write
a story about why something happened than to
talk to you about it.
My behaviour is telling you how I am feeling. It is
important that you stick to the plans that we have
made to help me through these difficult times.
I might find it hard to look at you directly
but it doesn’t mean I am not listening to you
– don’t ask me to look at you if I find it too
difficult.
Sometimes I
need to be on
my own to calm
down – can we
agree on a safe
place for me to
go and a quick
way for me to
tell you I am
going? I will
only use this
when I really
need to.
I do appreciate you being there for me and
trying to understand me.