The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) articulates that all children have the right to grow, play, learn and contribute. They deserve to be well supported and equipped to deal with life’s ups and downs, and buffered as much as possible from traumatic experiences and their impact, to enable them to thrive.

“So what do we need to do to keep children safe and well? Well I think we know what to do, the problem is we are not doing it. We have a ‘doing’ problem.”
Ann Hollands, National Children’s Commissioner, 2022

How do we move from 'knowing' to 'doing' and apply learnings from evidence, practice and educator wisdom to an already overcrowded education system?

Elevating the awareness and impact of trauma-informed education must be a cornerstone if we are to maximise positive health, development and learning outcomes across the lifespan.

Recent key Queensland Government strategies, including Achieving Balance, Shifting Minds, Every Life and Putting Queensland Kids First, have highlighted the need to develop more confident and culturally-competent workforces and systems to adopt developmental and healing approaches that better support children who have experienced trauma.

These approaches complement education-specific initiatives including the Queensland Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence 2023-207 plan. They also align with the priorities that emerged from the Better and Fairer Education national review, namely equity, mental health and workforce.

In this presentation we will explore how the Enabling Workforces and Organisations to Thrive initiative is connecting existing resources; catalysing conversations and implementation strategies to build collective capability; and learning from trial and test locations and application across systems. We will share resources and emerging findings that will help uplift the capability of education staff and systems, now and into the future.

Enabling Workforces and Organisations to Thrive is funded by the Queensland Mental Health Commission (QMHC) and is led by Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP) in collaboration with Emerging Minds, Yiliyapinya Indigenous Corporation, Queensland Brain Institute of the University of Queensland and Dovetail, as part of Insight, Centre for Alcohol and other Drugs Training and Workforce Development.

Drawing on the latest research, lived experience and cross-sectoral workforce wisdom, Enabling Workforces aims to broaden and sustain shared, contemporary knowledge, language and practice within and across sectors regarding:
- Brain and body health and development, mental wellbeing, healing and resilience; and
- The incidence and impacts of adverse childhood experiences, trauma, complexity and diversity.

I am – a Samoan, but not a Samoan...
To my aiga (family) in Samoa, I am a palagi (Caucasian)
I am – a New Zealander, but not a New Zealander...
To New Zealanders I am a ‘bloody coconut,’ at worst, a ‘Pacific Islander’, at best
I am – to my Samoan parents, their child. (Anae, 1998, p. 2)

Educational excellence in Indigenous and Pacific communities is a rare privilege that data shows many do not get to experience. With the increased urbanisation of their individual ecosystems, Pacific and Indigenous youth are continually stuck navigating two worlds, and not fitting in either. With many of these youth being too “brown” for mainstream society and too “white” for their elders and communities. Not fitting in has resulted in disengagement with high levels of trauma and identity crisis.
This presentation explores how a white Australian, Queensland teacher was able to transcend racial barriers and help her Indigenous and Pacific Island students navigate these spaces safely and empowered. Whilst ensuring they academically excelled in the classroom and beyond graduation. Through her Trauma informed embedded practice and Relational Pedagogy, she shares how she was able to increase student engagement and consequential achievement among this cohort. Many of these students have become lifelong friends years later with a symbiotic relationship to continue to support and enhance personal, social, and academic growth. Combined with one of her former Pacific students who was destined for the factory, but is now a doctor, they share what the formula is for success among this cohort.
It is envisioned that this presentation will better inform Practitioners, community leaders and policy makers in best practice as well as effective targeted practical strategies to ensure Indigenous and Pacific Island student's celebrate success within the education system.

Horses act like a mirror – they cannot lie, and they simply reflect our emotions, energy, and communication, back to us.
The featured program was offered to young people from Flexible Schools in Queensland. Young people who attend these schools have typically experienced significant and complex educational, social, developmental, psychological, health and family issues which demand unique trauma informed responses.
A framework developed from Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) was adapted to engage young people in this experiential program to learn about themselves, other people, and their world through interactions with horses. The program incorporates social and emotional capabilities from the Australian Curriculum and the CASEL model of social and emotional learning. Social and emotional capabilities are essential for connecting with others, managing emotions, building healthy relationships, and feeling empathy. EFL also teaches the importance of body language, gestures, breathing and voice, and shows how to build relationships based on trust. All this takes place through practical on the ground lessons as young people learn to work with horses. Horses utilised in the Equine Team are well experienced with this type of work and were originally selected for this purpose due to their calm, curious, and accepting temperaments.
Longitudinal data capturing learning outcomes were collected via verbal and observational feedback, and through written surveys. Demonstrated transferable skills included: improved verbal and non-verbal communication, enhanced self-regulation skills, increased assertiveness, ability to quiet the mind, listen more attentively, participate in a team, as well as self-advocacy and other agency skills. The lead EFL facilitator is also a teacher at the Flexi Schools, and observed transferable skills in the classroom, home, community and in future transition to work planning.
Additionally, the program provided professional development and capacity building for Youth Workers at the Flexi Schools, who were trained by the key EFL staff lead facilitator. Trained staff were then able to support the lead facilitator in program delivery and expansion. To date six eight-week term programs have been offered for class groups, multi-age groups, along with four holiday programs, a senior class leadership program and a staff professional learning day. The term long programs were offered for one full day per week, over eight weeks. Each program involved the lead facilitator and two trained youth workers with 8 - 10 young people. The last day of the term involves a celebration and showcasing of new skills.