Critical Incidents in Education
News | Critical Incidents in Educational Communities
New resources for dealing with potentially traumatic critical incidents in educational settings, launched by the UK Trauma Council.
A new set of resources aims to help support educational communities in their response to traumatic events than impact children and young people.
Released by the UK Trauma Council, an initiative of the Anna Freud Centre, the materials outline how those in early years, schools, colleges and alternative educational provision settings can create an environment conducive to recovery after a critical incident.
Critical incidents are defined as an incident or event(s) which acts as a trauma within the educational community and overwhelms the normal community coping mechanisms.1 These can include the death of a member of the school community, a serious accident involving pupil or staff inside or outside the educational setting, events witnessed outside the educational setting, and significant events in the wider community (such as the Grenfell fire, or Manchester Arena attack).
The guidance draws on the work of Hobfoll et al2 and is outlines five principles for best practice following a crucial incident that detail how practitioners can help make those caught up in the incident feel: safe; calm; connected; in control; and hopeful. In addition, a four-stage response is outlined from preparation through to an ongoing response.
The resources include a framework and templates for critical incident policies, an INSET training package, lesson plans for children and young people of differing ages on emotional regulation activities, and guidance on meeting with parents and carers.
More details and the resources can be found at www.UKTraumaCouncil.org
References
- https://assets.gov.ie/132243/3e12aea7-031d-45c7-b66a-7115281e9729.pdf
- Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., Friedman, M., Gersons, B. P., de Jong, J. T., Layne, C. M., Maguen, S., Neria, Y., Norwood, A. E., Pynoos, R. S., Reissman, D., Ruzek, J. I., Shalev, A. Y., Solomon, Z., Steinberg, A. M., & Ursano, R. J. Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: empirical evidence. Psychiatry, 70(4), 283–369. (2007)
