Trauma-Informed Leadership in Schools

Program description

The program aims to help schools to implement a whole school approach to trauma informed practice. A half-day training session teaches school leaders about the neuroscience of leadership, and how it can be applied to create trauma informed school cultures.

Intended outcomes

• Increased understanding of how to create school environments that provide relational safety to support students to engage in learning.
• Increased understanding of neuroscience and leadership skills and behaviours, and how this knowledge can be used to support a trauma-informed culture.
• Increased school leader confidence to drive engagement and cultural change in the whole school community.

Program details

Implementation considerations

• Target population: The program is aimed at staff in leadership roles.
• Program adaptability: The program can be adapted for schools in response to particular needs of a school, or contextualised for diverse student cohorts. The program can be adapted for diverse cohorts including:
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
  • asylum seeker and refugee students
  • culturally and linguistically diverse students
  • LGBTIQA+ students
  • neurodivergent students
  • out-of-home-care students
  • students with a disability.
• Staffing: Backfilling may be required depending on when the school schedules the training session. The Menu provider and its personnel must not be alone with any school student or group of school students in the classroom or in any other place at the school’s premises without another educator, teacher or teacher’s aide present at all times.
• Training requirements: Schools may need IT that enables the display of a PowerPoint presentation.
• Factors to consider: One half day of training for staff, around 5–6 hours. Focus is on small groups of up to 30 participants. No minimum number of participants required. The Australian Childhood Foundation can support schools with further training to support implementation as well as reflective practice or action research, at an additional cost.
• Australian context: The program has been developed and applied in Australia.

Cost

Minimum cost

$2,000+

Detailed cost

The cost for the full Trauma Informed Leadership in Schools program is $2,900 (including GST). This includes:

• a half-day/3–4 hour training program for up to 30 school leaders, delivered in-person at the school or online, by one senior consultant
• a reading list and handouts from the session
• links to further relevant resources developed by the Australia Childhood Foundation.

In the future there will be online self-paced learning modules and digital resources, which will be made available to schools at a nominal cost.

Travel is not included in the program price and will be charged at actual cost to the school.