Thanks to funding from the Association of Colleges (AoC) mental health strand, Bury College and its staff have taken the first step on a journey to becoming a trauma informed organisation. 

All staff have taken part in training to make them more trauma aware in their teaching practices and interaction with the students at the college.

The training was led by Beyond Psychology, a not-for-profit Social Enterprise led by Clinical Psychologists, who use their expert knowledge to empower people to improve the mental health of children and their families. 

The intended outcomes of the training were:

  • To support Bury College to become a trauma informed College
  • To support all staff to become more trauma aware
  • To develop strategies and methodologies to embed a trauma informed approach within policies and procedures
  • To improve the overall student experience in terms of well-being, support, retention and attainment

One of the trainers was Kirsty Hughes, Co-Director of Beyond Psychology. She said: “It’s very important to make staff feel that they can adequately support when difficult situations arise. The staff at Bury College seem really passionate about helping their students and this was evident during the training sessions.”

Marc McMahon, Safeguarding Manager at Bury College, added: “This staff training has been a great start in our journey to become a trauma aware college. This first step has given all staff some background into trauma and how this may still impact the young people and adults that study at the college.  I look forward to working with the team from Beyond Phycology as the project continues to embed a trauma informed approach across all of the organisation.”

Huge thanks to everyone at Beyond Psychology for delivering such an interesting and thought-provoking training session. To find out more about the services they offer, click here: https://www.beyond-psychology.co.uk/   

To learn more about the help and support the students at Bury College receive, watch the video below or click here: https://burycollege.ac.uk/full-time/student-support