Aim: To share how we have reconsidered our physical environment to create a trauma-informed, healing-oriented environment that support students to reengage in education.

Background/Context: A key aspect of how we do school differently is through the focus on the built environment. We recognise that an environment needs to be safe, respectful, productive and inclusive to create a place where students want to be. So we ensure our built environments include principles of healing-oriented design, construction, and interior design. With all buildings of the school, including fit-out, intentionally designed with an emphasis on community, identity and belonging.

Relevance: At our school we ensure all we do is from a healing-oriented lens that focuses on creating environments for students to feel safe, respected and productive. We will share some ways of rethinking the physical environment that is more trauma-informed and builds a strong sense of connection and belonging.

Contribution: This presentation will share practical ideas for participants to consider how physical environment changes can improve engagement, attendance, wellbeing and learning outcomes for young people.

Description: This session will provide an overview of what key considerations have helped in creating a sense of belonging and connection for our students within our physical spaces. We will draw on case studies from students, staff and Gray Puksand Architects who helped design the spaces.

Engagement: Participants will be engaged in a presentation drawing on practical examples to show the thinking and positive impact of trauma-informed design for schools.

South Australia is investing in the early childhood system to give our children the best possible start. The Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD) was set up in 2023 to respond to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care, with a mission to reduce the rates of developmental vulnerability in children beginning school. In addition to our headline reforms, aimed at giving children aged 3-5 access to quality preschool programs, it also made recommendations on investing in early years’ services capability to support children affected by trauma.

This presentation describes the development and implementation of a mandated, statewide Trauma‑informed Practice training module for services delivering 3-year-old preschool in South Australia. It is designed to build capability of the workforce to respond to the increasingly complex needs of children and families. Developed in collaboration with the Department for Education, the training comprises of two self-paced online modules. These modules sit within a multi-tiered framework endorsed by the South Australian Minister for Education and are mandated for Early Childhood Teachers, educators and other staff working in direct contact with children and families in the preschool program. Together, these modules support understanding of trauma theory and its application within early childhood contexts.

This initiative represents a shift from trauma‑informed practice as an optional, self-directed professional learning opportunity to a mandated system expectation embedded in policy and service contracting. The presentation will explore the policy levers, cross agency collaboration, and implementation strategies that enabled statewide roll out of the initiative.

This presentation draws on findings from research exploring the lived experiences of school counsellors responding to critical incidents. While school counsellors were the focus of the research, the experiences shared reveal broader insights that are highly relevant to all education professionals.
Drawing on the lived experiences of school counsellors, this presentation explores how school-based support professionals manage uncertainty, navigate expectations to remain calm and available during times of crisis, and make sense of their roles while holding others' distress.
Understanding that schools are complex workplaces, this presentation explores how experiences are shaped by individual coping strategies, school culture, leadership practices, collegial relationships, and role expectations.
Practical implications are central to this presentation, offering considerations for school leaders, wellbeing teams, and educators. Attendees will be invited to consider how schools can prepare for critical incidents in a trauma-informed way. Sustainable, trauma-area practice depends on systems that actively support those in caring roles, recognising that protecting staff wellbeing strengthens the entire school community.

Aim: To present a trauma informed, student centred education model that integrates wellbeing, learning, and vocational pathways through a structured case management system, positioning hope and pathway development as protective, evidence‑aligned core outcomes of trauma aware practice.

Background/Context: Trauma informed education requires more than awareness of trauma or the introduction of isolated wellbeing initiatives. Many young people impacted by trauma experience disrupted engagement with education, shaping learning, identity, and beliefs about their future pathways. Trauma aware systems must therefore be intentionally designed to restore safety, agency, and a sense of possibility.

Relevance: This submission addresses trauma aware practice by demonstrating how integrated, systems level case management can strengthen continuity of care, sustain engagement, and intentionally cultivate hope and pathway clarity as protective outcomes of trauma informed education.

Contribution: The presentation contributes a practice informed systems framework that positions case management as a core mechanism for trauma aware practice, enabling coordinated support, shared responsibility, and consistent pathways across wellbeing, learning, and vocational domains.

Description: The model is structured around three equally valued and interconnected pillars: wellbeing, learning, and vocational pathways. A structured, systems level case management system underpins integration by coordinating multidisciplinary input, maintaining visibility of supports, and enabling purposeful review over time. Practical examples illustrate how this approach strengthens learning, wellbeing, engagement, and future pathways.

Engagement: Participants will engage through guided reflection and applied discussion, exploring how trauma aware, wellbeing underpinned case management can be implemented to reinforce hope, consistency, and sustainable practice.