Hand drawn illustration of a tree

School Workshops

Behaviour, Trauma, Anxiety, Emotional Regulation &Wellbeing

Practical, trauma-informed professional learning for teachers, SNAs and school staff, alongside an emotional wellbeing workshop for primary-school children, in Ireland.

Schools are supporting children through increasingly complex behavioural, emotional and family challenges, all of which can affect learning and relationships

These workshops are designed to give staff greater confidence in understanding what may be happening for a child and in knowing how to respond in ways that are calm, practical and supportive.

By choosing the workshop that best fits your school’s current needs, you are giving your staff useful language, greater understanding and approaches they can bring back into the classroom straight away.

Professional Learning for School Staff

Each workshop is a one-hour professional learning session for teachers, SNAs and other school staff.

Workshops can be booked individually according to the needs of the school or combined as part of a wider staff development or whole-school wellbeing programme.

The Backpack

Illustration of a blue backpack with various cards inside labeled Feelings, Worries, Experiences, Hopes, Strengths, Body clues, Support, and Kindness. Four smiling children, two standing and two sitting, are around the backpack, engaging with the cards. The image has the text 'We all carry things inside... THE BACKPACK' at the top.

A film-based, emotional wellbeing workshop for primary-school children

90 minutes · Best suited to 3rd- 6th class · Also available as two 45-minute sessions

We all carry an invisible backpack. Inside it can be feelings, worries, experiences, beliefs, hopes and strengths; things that other people cannot always see.

The Backpack uses carefully selected, age-appropriate film scenes as a starting point for emotional learning. Rather than asking children to speak about themselves, we become curious about a character on screen:

  • What happened?

  • What might the character be feeling?

  • What clues can we notice in their body?

  • What might they need?

  • What did they do to cope?

  • What could help?

Through film clips, guided discussion and creative activities, children begin to make connections between feelings, body signals, thoughts, needs and behaviour.

The film creates a safe distance from the material

Children can explore a character’s experience without being expected to disclose difficult or personal experiences of their own.

Children Explore

  • Recognising and naming emotions

  • Noticing body signals and early signs of overwhelm

  • Understanding that behaviour can communicate what is happening inside

  • Empathy and seeing an experience from another person’s perspective

  • What helps us feel safer and more regulated

  • Coping with setbacks and recognising personal strengths

  • Knowing when and how to ask for help

The central message is simple: we cannot always see what another person may be carrying. Curiosity, kindness and connection can change what happens next.

The Backpack is educational and preventative in focus. It is not group therapy and does not ask children to disclose personal experiences.