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Life Long Learning Webinar Series, with Will Thomas
Our focus as an organisation is providing access to education for all children everywhere. The partners and teachers we work with are doing amazing work across the globe. We are trialling ways to share some of this learning so it’s available to an ever-widening audience. Introducing the Life Long Learning Webinar Series.
Our Life Long Learning Webinar Series starts on the 9th September with
A short introduction to Trauma-informed Practice with Will Thomas
We are living in the strangest of times, some of our coping mechanisms have been tested to the limits over the last few months. As educators, parents, students and just human beings, we have adjusted, mostly we have found our own rhythm and a new way of embracing life but what about the trauma brought about by COVID19?
How do we feel? Who do we talk to?
What is trauma?
Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel the full range of emotions and experiences. It does not discriminate and it is pervasive throughout the world.
While there are no objective criteria to evaluate which events will cause post-trauma symptoms, circumstances typically involve the loss of control, betrayal, abuse of power, helplessness, pain, confusion and/or loss. The event need not rise to the level of war, natural disaster, nor personal assault to affect a person profoundly and alter their experiences. Traumatic situations that cause post-trauma symptoms vary quite dramatically from person to person. Indeed, it is very subjective and it is important to bear in mind that it is defined more by its response than its trigger.
During this time of the COVID19 pandemic one thing that we can be certain of is that trauma is affecting many people across the globe. Will Thomas with his experience of working in the UK and Internationally has put together some tips that may help us all to cope with these challenging times.
A short introduction to Trauma-informed Practice
Aimed primarily at practitioners who work with people who have experienced emotional trauma, this short introduction covers some of the basics and may also be of benefit to those dealing with personal trauma.
There has been a groundswell of understanding about how the human nervous system responds to abuse, neglect and traumatising experiences, in recent years. The result is a very strong evidence base for understanding how trauma is created and how it can be treated and supported. This short webinar will help you understand something of the nature of trauma, how it can be treated using somatic-psychotherapeutic approaches and what can practically be done in non-clinical settings to support people with trauma.
Register Here:
At the Foundation we have been talking about ways in which we can support each other to cope with this everchanging environment and we have been sharing ideas with our colleagues, partners, parents and students too.
We think this is a timely and important webinar to start off our Life Long Learning Webinar Series and we hope you do too.
In the meantime, here are some articles we hope maybe of interest to you:
Eight ways to help children prepare
Listening grandmothers
I recently followed up a BBC World Service programmme that a friend heard in the middle of the night on 'Listening grandmothers' - very interesting. A bit on the model of the Chinese 'Barefoot Doctor' but less medical, this is a means developed in Zimbabwe to help people with depression who have few alternative sources of help. Amid successive traumas, Zimbabwe's 16m people have only 12 psychiatrists. The scheme is called 'The Friendship Bench', is free, and involves some 400 grandmothers in talk therapy with depressed people. The therapy is 'rooted in evidence-based therapy but equally rooted in indigenous concepts'. Proved to be effective though a randomised controlled trial, the concept is translatable to other settings, and there are Friendship Benches in deprived areas of New York. If you are interested, here is an account of it:
Cultivating Girls resilience by Dr Kathy Weston
Read the article on page 8 of the latest edition of Engage.
The Steve Sinnott Foundation • September 3, 2020
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
The outlook for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on global education is far from rosy. But a gloomy future isn’t inevitable. Disappointing statistics are the result of political choices that can be shifted and there are thousands of youth, grassroots activists and civil society organisations across the UK advocating for global education to make these changes. We need more people involved to build the momentum, we need to make a difference in challenging circumstances. You can help! Here’s how; Making global education a UK priority The UK is an important donor and champion for global education. However, education has been gradually deprioritised on the development agenda. Global education spending has plummeted from 13.5% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 to just 3.5% in 2023, and education was one of the sectors hit hardest by the abandonment of the 0.7% gross national income (GNI) target for ODA. With Labour’s annual budget confirming another reduction in the aid budget, funding for global education is under threat of being cut even further unless we stand together to say this can’t happen. While education is a domestic priority for the new Government, it has yet to emerge as a strong theme in their development agenda. As the Labour Party continues to develop their approach there is a unique opportunity for advocates to connect these dots and make the case for why education must be a key part of the Government’s international plans. For the Government to take action it needs to hear demand for change. There are many issues MPs recognise are important, but if they do not hear about these issues from constituents it can be hard for MPs to be vocal about them in Parliament. Following an election where many parliamentary seats were won with tight margins, MPs need to hear from the people they represent that global education must be on their agenda. With over half of MPs elected for the first time this year, many are actively looking for a steer on what issues to work on. We can give them one! How to Get Involved Write to your MP about why global education needs to be a bigger priority for the UK Government and encourage members of groups you are a part of, such as your union branch or a local community group, to do the same. This can have a real impact on your MP’s interest and ability to act for global education. You can also connect with other grassroots activists and get resources for taking action from international development advocacy organisations like Results UK. You can learn more about Results UK’s grassroots network on our website. If you are a teacher, get your school involved in the Send My Friend to School Campaign (SMF). Send My Friend is a UK civil society coalition advocating for SDG4 which supports a mass UK schools campaign to amplify student voices calling for universal quality education in solidarity with their peers around the world. Free campaign packs are available on the SMF website for primary and secondary levels with everything teachers need to run the campaign in their school. Parliamentarians can learn more about education issues and how to act by joining the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education, a cross-party group that brings together Parliamentarians interested in the right to education and provides them with knowledge and resources to be champions of the issue. By joining our voices through collective action, we can make a real difference in moving the needle on this issue. Together we have a chance to rechart the course for the realisation of quality education for all. BIOGRAPHY Hannah Frisch is the Senior Policy and Parliamentary Advocacy Officer for Education at Results UK and a Co-Chair of the Send My Friend to School Policy and Parliamentary Working Group. She is a policy advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education in the UK Parliament.
Last year the Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the work of The Federation of Drama Schools by providing financial aid to new graduates, enabling them to take part in an industry showcase at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The showcase is an annual event for Irish graduates who have completed a professional training at one of the Federation’s partner conservatoires in the UK, introducing young actors to the industry they hope to work in. The Federation of Drama Schools partners are institutions that provide conservatoire vocational training for those who want to be professional performers, theatre makers and technical theatre practitioners. The courses they offer are for students of eighteen years and over, who have completed their school level education. In November (2024) fourteen young Irish graduates took part in the showcase and the SSF provided financial support to two graduates who may not otherwise have been able to take part in this showcase, which is a bridge between training and their professional career. Melanie Lavery from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is one of those who benefitted from this support. Melanie writes of her experience. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Steve Sinnott Foundation for the support I received, making it possible for me to take part in the Dublin Showcase 2024. The opportunity allowed me to work with graduates from across FDS schools and widen my contacts in the industry. Coming from a socio-economically deprived area, I’ve often missed out on opportunities available to my peers. I have had to spend a lot of energy during my three years in drama school working to support myself and this has meant I often don’t have time to follow up network opportunities. In receiving this sponsorship and taking part in the showcase I have been able to connect with other Irish creatives - the people I am acting opposite, directors, casting directors and agents in the industry. These industry showcases are so important for graduates. It gives us the possibility of networking with industry professionals and hopefully the opportunity of taking that first crucial step into the profession we have trained for. As I studied in Wales, it gave me the chance to return to Ireland and to reach out to creatives there. The Foundation gave me this amazing opportunity to kick start my career in my home country. On the day of the showcase, I had such pride watching my fellow Irish peers performing on stage at Ireland’s National Theatre. Working together throughout the rehearsal period, I got to know them individually and we all helped each other to grow as performers. This showcase has helped me to create my own community of actors around me. When it came to talking with other creatives after the show case, I became so much more aware of how large and welcoming the industry is in Ireland and how much work is being produced here. I think this show case is so important as it highlights how vibrant and growing the industry is in Ireland. I feel so lucky that I was able to take part thanks to the help of the Steve Sinnott Foundation. For more information on the Federation of Drama Schools, professional industry showcases, and it’s partner schools please visit www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk
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