Ms Clodagh Carroll:

Good morning everyone. I am the assistant director of children's services in Barnardos in the north of Dublin. I am delighted to be here today. Barnardos provides front-line services to children and their families. We work with children and families who have been affected by traumatic life situations such as poverty, abuse, mental health challenges, neglect, separation, bereavement and parental addiction. We offer a range of early intervention and targeted services in our 45 locations across the country and we work in homes, family homes, schools, early learning and care settings and in the wider community.

Since the first Ukrainian families began arriving into Ireland, Barnardos has been identifying opportunities to provide support and lend expertise wherever it is likely to be of direct benefit to these families or to the agencies working directly with them. This has included proactively exploring how best to respond to the immediate and longer term needs of Ukrainian children and parents arriving into Ireland by liaising with colleagues in Tusla and those within the children and young people's services committee. We also reach out to hotels and other facilities where large numbers of Ukrainian refugees are being housed to offer our Breath Body Mind programme. This programme has been shown to be particularly helpful for those who have experienced trauma. The programme specialises in releasing the impact of trauma from the body. We also advise schools on how to support the well-being of children by supporting them to feel they are in a place of safety which will allow children to regulate their emotions, learn, and make friends. It is only when children have a balanced nervous system that they are able to engage positively, learn, and make friends with their peers.

There is a focus on the importance of minimising sensory triggers in schools, supporting a predictable routine, and supporting children with language barriers. Working with Ukrainian refugees in Dublin Airport and City West assessment centres, Barnardos is developing training with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Our bereavement service is providing training to hotel staff housing Ukrainian families who have been bereaved. We also hold webinars with guidance for early years educators to support children from Ukraine, and provide resources for there early years educators.

Focusing on psychological supports, many Ukrainians who have come to Ireland over the past few months have faced considerable trauma. This trauma includes fleeing war; death of a family member or parent; being forced to leave their homes and their families homes suddenly; enduring a challenging journey; and entering a new country without speaking the language. It is important that agencies working with these children, be it for housing, health or education, take into account the trauma they have been through and consider this when designing the help they intend to provide. As children and families settle in Ireland and the immediate requirements such as housing are met, adequate attention should be given to wider needs, such as psychological well-being. Schools should adopt a strengths-based approach to Ukrainian children, with a trauma-informed lens. The children have experienced huge disruption to their lives. They may be more sensitive and alert to their surroundings and less tolerant to sudden changes. From our experience, children who have gone through considerable disruption and have been without a routine for some time can find it difficult to adapt to new rules and regulations. Where schools identify children who are particularly struggling, they should be able to refer them to family support agencies, such as Barnardos.

We can work with families and schools to provide them with the support needed to address school refusal or behavioural problems and build structure and routines again, helping children to find it easier to integrate into schools and to adapt to their rules and systems.

Schools should consider what it is like for Ukrainian children from the moment they connect with the school, including when they are in class, and think about how they can make it easier for them to adjust and how the schools can make it a more straightforward process for getting into school, getting through the process and getting used to a new routine and being made feel welcome. This extends to the school environment – the layout of the classroom and school, where is the child going to sit and who will sit beside the child - and helping children to be aware of this information before they get there. We urge the Government to help schools provide a strengths-based approach and that training be provided for schools so that all services working with these families can provide compassionate and considered supports that take into account all the trauma they have experienced.