This 5 hour course will give you an accessible introduction to new science about the brain and nervous system, and how adverse early experiences can affect children.

• How the crucial learning from our early years influences how our behaviours, minds and brains develop
• How early experiences can program our nervous systems, including how predisposed we are to feel stress
• How there are sensitive periods for brain development, such as early infancy and adolescence
• How adverse experiences, such as trauma and abuse, affect a child’s brain as well as how they behave, think and feel
• How biology and psychology are closely linked, and change is always possible, even in our brains.

We welcome anyone to this course who has a keen interest in the subject area.

In particular, this course is for you if you are working with children and families and wish to learn more about cutting-edge research findings and how these can be used in your direct work.

You may be working in:

• A school
• Social services
• Healthcare
• The voluntary sector
• Or you may be considering work with children in the future.

There are no specific requirements for the course, although we suggest you are working with, or have an interest in working with children, or want to learn more about the effects of difficult early experiences on children’s minds and behaviours.

There’s a multiple choice question assessment at the end of the course.

This course runs continuously, so you can sign up at any time. It offers five hours of learning which you can undertake at a time and pace that suits you.

You will have access to the course and its materials for a total of four weeks. Access begins the day after you’ve registered and paid, when you will receive login details by email.