Key takeaways:

- Webinar Context and Introduction: Kate hosts a webinar during lockdown, highlighting the importance of discussing childhood trauma and anxiety due to COVID-19’s impact on children’s social-emotional health. She introduces Jane Evans, an international parenting coach, childhood trauma expert, and author, emphasizing the relevance of her expertise for families and educators.

- Jane’s Background: Jane has extensive experience as a family support worker, foster carer, and speaker (including TED Talks and media appearances). Her work, grounded in neuroscience and practical experience, focuses on understanding trauma and anxiety, viewing children and families as her greatest teachers.

 - Prevalence and Nature: Trauma is common, often stemming from small, cumulative moments of overwhelm (e.g., a baby left to cry) rather than just major events. These experiences, even from the womb, can create lasting anxiety, stored in the body’s nervous system.

 - Impact on Development: Early trauma wires the survival brain (lower brain) and nervous system to be hyper-reactive, leading to fight-flight or shutdown responses. This reduces a child’s capacity to engage, learn, or feel safe, as their system prioritizes survival over curiosity or connection.

 - Behavioral Signs: Trauma manifests as high anxiety or behaviors like hyperactivity, withdrawal, or aggression. Children can’t articulate trauma, so adults must stay curious about behaviors rather than labeling them as “bad.”

- Role of Adults: Adults are a child’s potential safety resource. A calm, grounded adult presence helps regulate a child’s nervous system, moving them from overwhelm to safety. Connection with a balanced adult is key, not intellectual explanations or reasoning, which are ineffective for trauma.

 - Labeling Emotions: Help children identify emotions by connecting them to bodily sensations (e.g., “jumpy tummy”) when calm, not during overwhelm, to build true emotional intelligence from the “bottom up.”

 - Children Rejecting Calm Presence: Persist gently (e.g., sit nearby, check in softly) to rebuild trust, as rejection often stems from past experiences of shaming or overwhelming adult responses.

 - Bullying Recovery: Go at the child’s pace, validate their feelings, and prioritize safety (e.g., access to safe people or spaces) without rushing to “fix” them. Support for adults involved is crucial.

 - Residential Care and ACEs: Jane is cautious about generalizing, as recovery depends on the setting’s ability to provide safety and support, but she’s skeptical about widespread trauma-informed practices in such settings.

 - Classroom Behavior Management: Suspend judgment of behavior as good or bad; focus on creating safety for all. Pause, breathe, and ground the entire class (every 10-15 minutes ideally) to settle nervous systems. Address individual behavior later with kindness, not punishment.

- Classroom Challenges: Schools’ rushed timetables and high expectations hinder trauma-informed practices. Leadership support is vital to prioritize calming strategies over rigid schedules, ensuring all children feel safe.

- Jane’s Journey: Her interest in trauma began as a practitioner (NSPCC, foster care) observing repeated family patterns. Studying neuroscience and polyvagal theory over 17 years helped her understand behavior as fear-based, preventable through safe connections.

- Closing: Kate and Jane emphasize kindness, patience, and pro-social storytelling (e.g., via Tales Toolkit) to foster safety and reduce harsh judgments. The webinar ends with gratitude to Jane and attendees, encouraging relaxation and self-care.

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