Royal Caledonian Education TrustWe are delighted to welcome author, Lisa Cherry, as a keynote speaker for our 2021 virtual conference in November.
Our conference is about putting trauma and trauma-informed practice into the context of children and young people from forces families and exploring the impact their unique experiences can have on mental health and wellbeing, relationships with others and future pathways in life. If we embed trauma-informed practice in our work is that enough to support Armed Forces Children and Young people? Is there anything else we should be considering? Is there anything we need to be mindful of in relation to this group of children and young people’s unique experiences Whatever your background, our conference is an opportunity to join us in this exploration and conversation.
Why another conference on trauma-informed practice?
We know that trauma can affect any one of us and that the Scottish Government’s ambition, shared by many partners, is for a trauma informed workforce and services across Scotland. At Royal Caledonian Education Trust (RCET), like many other organisations, we have been re-evaluating our organisational practice through a trauma lens and asking ourselves is there anything we need to take into consideration that is specific to the unique experiences of children and young people, from serving personnel, reservist and veteran families across Scotland? We have been exploring the research and listening to what our young people tell us.
Lisa Cherry
Lisa Cherry is an author and a leading international trainer and consultant, specialising in assisting those in Education, Social Care and Adoption and Fostering to understand trauma, recovery and resilience for vulnerable children, young people and their families. Lisa has over 30 years of experience in this field and combines academic knowledge and research with professional skills and personal experience.
Lisa’s MA research looked at the impact on education and employment for care experienced adults who experienced school exclusion as children in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Currently, Lisa is undertaking her DPhil studies at The University of Oxford in the Department of Education, asking the research question “How do care-experienced adults understand being excluded from school in relation to ‘belonging?”
On attending the conference, Lisa has said:
“I am so looking forward to spending some time with you all at the conference.
“We will be looking at the key principles of trauma-informed practice as set out in A Toolkit for Scotland bringing them more deeply into our awareness by focusing on relationships, belonging and identity including:
- Safety - Understanding that safety IS the strategy
- Trustworthiness - Developing a deeper understanding of how we can create trust
- Choice - Understanding the power of choice in the face of powerlessness
- Collaboration - Working together to form a network of interconnectedness that holds our children and young people
- Empowerment - Creating opportunities to ensure that we learn how to really listen to our children and young people
“I hope that by cross-referencing the themes with the tool kit, it really helps to bring the principles to life in a meaningful way.”
Who Should Attend the Conference?
Since being trauma-informed is a national ambition within Scotland, relevant to all of us, our conference will be of interest to a wide variety of people who wish to expand upon their continual professional development; from those working within education, social care, community, armed forces and the third sector. Our virtual conference is an opportunity for professionals working with Armed Forces children, young people and families to come together, hear about and share good practice.
• Primary/secondary education
• Further/higher education
• Community/Youth/third sector
• Clinical Practitioners (Psychology/Mental Health/Social Care)
• Military Welfare Personnel
• Undergraduate/Postgraduate Students
• Policy & Development
Registration
The Conference will be held virtually this year to ensure that it can go ahead safely due to the ever-changing situation of the COVID-19 Pandemic and event registration will open during the week commencing 26 July 2021.
For further information about our virtual conference, please email [email protected]