New trauma guidelines launched to help Blackpool schools

Early years intervention project Blackpool Better Start has launched a new set of guidelines to help schools understand the impact of experiences such as neglect, abuse or bereavement in a child’s development.

It is hoped this will help them to provide better support to some of the town’s most troubled children.

‘Guidelines to becoming a trauma informed school’ aims to support schools to understand how trauma in a child’s early life could impact their overall development and affect behaviour or attendance.

The guide has been produced in partnership with education charity Right to Succeed.

Better Start director Clare Law said: “Whilst there is increasingly more information available about the importance of becoming trauma informed, we wanted to really understand our local picture and the lived experience of staff.

“An incredible 573 interviews with school staff took place to help establish the current level of need for the guide, and to help form the basis of the content.

“Our research showed 96 per cent of Blackpool school staff agreed that applying a trauma informed approach was important.”

The guide is aimed at everyone working within a school setting including senior leadership teams, teachers, teaching assistants, support staff, welfare officers, administrative, domestic, and building maintenance staff.

Paul Turner, assistant director of children’s services at Blackpool Council said: “This guide to effective trauma informed practice in schools is a great resource for everybody who seeks to improve their practice by better understanding presenting behaviours and the reasons why children behave in the ways that they do.”

Simon Eccles, headteacher at St Mary’s School on St Walburga’s Road, Blackpool, also welcomed the guide.

He said: “This guide is going to be a very useful vehicle in helping more schools to become trauma informed, and we thank Blackpool Better Start for creating it.

“I know from staff feedback that there is an appetite in schools for taking this approach, and this important piece of work will provide an excellent framework for achieving this.”