You can get 20% off Sarah’s book - Creating a Trauma-Informed Classroom until 31 December 2025 using the code 25EFLY3 at https://www.routledge.com/ 

Teacher and author Sarah Lathan joins me to unpack what a trauma-informed classroom looks like in practice. Drawing on 15 years across additional needs and mainstream contexts, Sarah explains how understanding child development, the brain and the nervous system translates into day-to-day decisions about routines, responses and relationships.

We get into what “trauma-informed” actually means, we tackle common misconceptions (“isn’t this just being soft?”) and make the case that staff wellbeing and school culture are the real enablers. From practical tools to system conditions, this episode is about moving beyond quick fixes and committing to the steady, relational work that supports all learners.

In this episode

• Sarah’s journey through teaching to writing Creating a Trauma-Informed Classroom

• What “trauma-informed” really means 

• Why safety is both physical and emotional, often located in people, not just places

• Holding boundaries without abandoning nurture; dispelling the “softness” myth

• Practical tools

• Pupil voice as genuine agency (not a tick-box) and simple ways to surface it

• Primary vs secondary realities: time, relationships, developmental lens and phone policies

• Culture and values: trust, communication, non-exclusion approaches, working with families

• Staff wellbeing as a condition for relationship-led practice

• Playing the long game: prevention, patience and accepting natural “dips in the graph”
  

Referenced in this conversation

You can get 20% off Sarah’s book - Creating a Trauma-Informed Classroom until 31 December 2025 using the code 25EFLY3 at https://www.routledge.com/ 

• Nurture principles 

• The Resilience documentary

• Pixar’s Inside Out (Joy, Sadness & Bing Bong clip for emotions coaching)

• LEGO “Build to Express”-style activities for pupil voice

In this episode of Changing Conversations, I am joined by Kathleen Johnston - Education Manager, doctoral student and former Quality Improvement Manager for the Northern Alliance. Together, we explore what it really means to collaborate in education and what gets in the way.

From the promise and challenges of the Regional Improvement Collaboratives to the tension between policy intention and system reality, this is a conversation that opens up the complexity of working together in meaningful ways. Kathleen reflects on what she’s learned from both practice and research and how schools, leaders and systems can better create the conditions for collaborative improvement.

In this episode:

• The evolution and aims of the RICs in Scotland

• What meaningful collaboration looks and feels like

• The structures and relational dynamics that enable or inhibit it

• The role of research and reflection in understanding what works

• Why time, trust, and process matter

• Leading with bravery and clarity in busy, demanding systems

• What we can all learn by “unravelling collaboration” in our own contexts
  

Referenced in this conversation:

• Viviane Robinson – theories of action and engaged vs bypass models. Listen to an earlier conversation with Viviane here. 

• Jenny Donohoo – collective efficacy. Jenny also joined us for a conversation on this topic back in September 2020.

What happens when you bring AI into the conversation without rushing to a quick fix? Zahra and Rick from Winning Scotland are holding space for local authorities, researchers and educators to explore the possibilities and the nuance of AI in Education. This isn’t about chasing the latest tool, it’s about understanding the best conditions for change.

What began with curiosity has grown into a two-phase initiative: first, understanding the sector’s readiness and the conditions for success; then, potentially exploring how AI tools might be used in practice.

They share the thinking behind their phased approach, the partnerships they’ve built, the surprising feedback from both education and tech sectors, and why they’re staying agnostic about outcomes. Along the way, they explore the tensions between urgency and caution, and the importance of keeping teachers, pupils, and relationships at the heart of any technological change.

In this episode:

• How an initial spark led to a national, collaborative exploration of AI in education

• Why “is AI ready for Scottish education?” might be the more important question

• The risks of skipping straight to products

• What they’ve learned from speaking to local authorities, unions and tech leaders

• Designing a process that hears all voices

• The role of values in guiding decisions through uncertainty
  

Referenced in this conversation:

• Winning Scotland’s work on Growth Mindset and Planet Youth

• Khan Academy

• Educate Ventures

• The Dots

• Scottish AI Alliance

In this episode, Sarah is joined by three insightful guests: Shirley Clarke, Angela Evans, and Kate Moss, co-authors of Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary Classroom. Together, they explore the essential link between well-being and learning, drawing from their collective expertise in formative assessment, school-wide compassion, and child and adolescent psychotherapy.

Our conversation dives into the inspiration behind their book, the lessons they've learned from collaborating, and practical strategies for creating compassionate, supportive school environments that truly foster learning and growth. Shirley and Angela also share some reflections from their professional learning programme designed to bring these practices to life in classrooms.

Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary Classroom is available now.

To connect with Shirley, Angela, or Kate, visit their websites:

Dr Naomi Fisher is an independent clinical psychologist, author and trainer. She specialises in trauma, autism and alternative approaches to education and works with children, adolescents and adults. Find out more at Naomi's website.

In this episode we focus in particular on the mental health of young people and what Naomi has been observing in her work in this area. We discuss the education system and the role it can play in nurturing and supporting learning and wellbeing, but also the harm that some approaches and practices cause to too many young people and the need for change.

Get involved in the conversation by sharing reflections with us on social media or podcast platforms.

A brief scheduling update from us!

Sarah has launched a new podcast, Space to Think, which you will find on your preferred podcast platform. We'd love for you to check it out, subscribe, like or follow. You can subscribe on Substack meaning you'll never miss an episode!

We still enjoy our Changing Conversations and plan to record and share an episode each month. A big thank-you for continuing to tune in, your comments and appreciation really do mean a lot.

Billy hopes to share more brilliant conversations so keep your eyes and ears peeled...

We will be back next month with another Changing Conversation.

A month on from the live Word Education Summit event I had the opportunity to reflect on how it went with co-founder Anne-Marie. If you're wondering where and how to work your way through the epic resources that is WES, this is a must-listen.

Anne-Marie shares her highlights, some top tips for where to start as well as the 12 key thoughts that emerged for her:

In this episode, we reconnect with James Nottingham from Challenge Learning. James has recently published his 12th book, Teach Brilliantly we consider what's changed over the years and why this book and why now. We dig into the topic of engagement, what it means and what it looks like - how do we know learning is happening?

Find out more about Teach Brilliantly here.