Trauma experienced across the refugee journey and during settlement can significantly disrupt young people’s capacity to engage, learn, and feel safe within school environments. Impacts often extend beyond mental health presentations including anxiety, depression, concentration, attendance, peer relationships, and overall sense of belonging. In response, the Connecting Culture and Movement to Thrive project integrates expressive arts therapy with movement-based approaches, including yoga and somatic, body-based practices to support recovery, regulation, and connection for refugee-background students in schools.

This 40-minute experiential workshop will introduce participants to the project’s design and delivery within educational settings, led by HEAL Expressive Arts Therapist's. Attendees will engage with key theoretical underpinnings of expressive and somatic work, including trauma-informed and body-based approaches relevant to working with trauma presentations. The session will highlight how movement and creative expression can support nervous system regulation, cultural connection, identity, and meaning-making, while strengthening protective factors for young people impacted by trauma.

Participants will also gain insight into program outcomes, including feedback from students and school staff, demonstrating the impact of integrating expressive, movement-based modalities within school contexts. The workshop will then shift into guided experiential activities, offering attendees a felt sense of the practices used with students, such as grounding, rhythm, and culturally responsive movement exploration.

This session is suited to educators, wellbeing staff, and practitioners seeking practical, strengths-based approaches to supporting trauma-impacted students. It aims to build understanding, confidence, and embodied awareness of how expressive and somatic practices can foster safety, engagement, and thriving in school communities.

Schools are increasingly expected to respond to the impacts of trauma, exclusion and disengagement while continuing to operate within mainstream education systems. This abstract explores how schools can "do school differently" without abandoning mainstream structures, by embedding trauma-aware, inclusive and relational approaches into everyday practice. Drawing on the development and implementation of the Pirlirrpa Alternative Education Model, this presentation examines how safe, predictable and flexible learning environments can be created for students whose needs are not met within traditional classrooms, creating a successful wellbeing space, for staff and students, whilst still being mainstream.

The Pirlirrpa Model is grounded in trauma-aware principles that prioritise relational safety, co-regulation and student voice as foundational to learning. Rather than positioning alternative education as a separate pathway, Pirlirrpa operates alongside mainstream schooling, providing adaptive supports that reduce re-traumatisation and support re-engagement. Key elements include shorter days, educational pathways and curriculum design, strengths-based learning, community and workplace connections, and an explicit focus on wellbeing as a prerequisite for academic participation.

This presentation will share practice-based insights into what it means to do school differently while remaining system-aligned. It will consider the conditions required for implementation, including staff mindset, wellbeing systems and leadership support. The session aims to support educators and school leaders to critically reflect on how trauma-aware practice can move beyond individual strategies to become embedded within school culture, enabling safer, more inclusive and responsive learning environments.