Australian Childhood Foundation’s ‘Making SPACE for Learning’ framework has been supporting schools for more than twenty years, to better understand and meet the needs of children, young people, families and communities who have been affected by trauma. We are reinvigorating this framework to include up-to-date insights from our systems work, education professionals, and contemporary evidence-based research. 

The new framework introduces a set of universal children’s needs informed by the work of Narvaez and colleagues which includes stable responsive care, welcoming places, self-directed play, appropriate kind touch, a supportive village, connections with the natural world, and opportunities for re-balancing. Trauma can cause deep impacts and leave these needs unmet. Our renewed schools’ framework brings focus to this, offering transformational knowledge and strategies, to enable schools to become places where students’ needs can be met and their recovery from trauma advanced. 

Schools offer unique foundations for influence to mobilize change for students with trauma, that include classroom to whole school contributions, input from the built environment, and family, community and cultural connections. Join us to explore our evolved conceptual framework and revitalized practice approach for schools working towards meeting the needs of children and young people.