Trauma Informed Practices in Scottish primary schools: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for the following information relating to trauma informed practice in Scottish Primary Schools specifically:

1. How many Primary schools in Scotland have Trauma Informed Practices for Care Experienced Children within their School Improvement Plan, broken down by Local Authority
Area?

2. How many Primary school teachers in Scottish schools have received any training or CPD in Trauma Informed Practices for Care Experienced Children?

3. What form does Primary schools Trauma Informed Practice take i.e. training course or online learning resource and how many hours does it take to complete?

Response

Question One

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Education Scotland does not have the information you have requested on how many primary schools in Scotland have trauma informed practices for care experienced children within their school improvement plan, broken down by local authority area.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Education Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

You may find it helpful to contact Scotland’s 32 local authorities directly, they may be able to assist you further with your request and provide a response to the question you have asked.

For ease, please find a link to all 32 local authorities websites - https://www.mygov.scot/organisations#scottish-local-authority.

Question Two

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Education Scotland does not have the information you have requested on the number of primary school teachers in Scottish schools who have received professional learning (training or CPD) in trauma informed practices for care experienced children.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Education Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

However, you may be interested in knowing that in 2016, NHS Education for Scotland (NES, not Education Scotland) was asked by the Scottish Government to develop a set of resources to promote and implement trauma informed practice within Scotland. This was due to the growing recognition of the impact of traumatic experiences on people.

For more information about the National Trauma Training Programme, please visit Trauma – national trauma training programme | NHS Education for (scot.nhs.uk).

This interactive document details the different knowledge and skills needed by workers, including but not exclusive to those working in schools and settings to respond to those affected by trauma at different stages in their recovery and this national-trauma-training-programme-online resources is designed to be used in conjunction with the Knowledge Skills and Framework to support all organisations in Scotland to develop their workers to understand the impact of trauma on people’s lives and be trauma-responsive.

Question Three

Details of the NES training for the whole workforce at informed and skilled level can be found here – national-trauma-training-programme-online-resources.

To compliment the NES materials which are for the whole workforce, Education Scotland worked in collaboration with NES to develop a professional learning package called ‘Compassionate Connected Communities’. This was delivered over two days to strategic Educational Psychologist leads in local authorities to enable sustainable local delivery at skilled level. However, rollout locally was impacted by Covid-19 and the professional learning package was adapted to an online delivery model, ‘Keeping Trauma in Mind’.

Keeping Trauma in Mind has been delivered virtually three times. Keeping Trauma in Mind has also been delivered at local authority level across Scotland to support sustainable local delivery. Content is as follows:

Session 1: Trauma : prevalence, impact & signs (1.5 – 2 hours) This session explores the different types of trauma, how to recognise the signs in children and young people. It outlines how experiences can impact on brain development and the stress response system. The session will encourage practitioners to respond to the hidden need rather than the behaviour.

Session 2: Responding to trauma (1.5 – 2 hours) This session deepens understanding of trauma and explores trauma, outlining trauma informed approaches in educational practice and when practitioners should consider specialist supports. It explores the importance of social and emotional skills development.

Session 3: Self-regulation (1.5 – 2 hours) This session will develop practitioner knowledge and understanding of self- regulation. It outlines the importance of self-regulation and co-regulation in trauma informed practice. It will explore how trauma can impact on development and provide practical educational approaches to supporting self-regulation development.

Session 4: Traumatic bereavement (1.5 – 2 hours) Session 4 explores what is meant by traumatic grief and the role education practitioners have in supporting children and young people who have experienced traumatic bereavement, with practical supports.

Session 5: Staff wellbeing (1.5 – 2 hours) This session highlights the importance of staff wellbeing and the impact supporting children and young people who have faced adversity or trauma can have on staff. It outlines strategies and frameworks to support both staff wellbeing and wellbeing within an education community.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.