The Department is committed to supporting Queenslanders affected by natural disasters and provides range of resources to support students, staff and parents.
The Department liaises with national experts such as Professor Brett McDermott, who has been tasked by the Queensland Government to plan and deliver the Queensland Child and Youth Mental Health Service Recovery and Resilience Program, Dr Rob Gordon, a clinical psychologist with many years experience in advising the Red Cross and governments on disaster related matters, and leading child and adolescent psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg.
Visit the department's natural disasters page for more information.
Following natural disaster events in 2010/2011 throughout Queensland there are some key messages that staff need to keep in mind when schools prepare for students to return to school.
DET fact sheet - Supporting students following floods 
66k to help staff support students as they return to school.
The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has developed a collection of publications 
designed to assist staff and managers in providing support and calming the fears of infants, children and adolescents.
Children can be particularly affected by disaster but there are several things parents and caregivers can do to reduce their child's fears and help them move on.
DET fact sheet - Parenting strategies for children affected by natural disasters 60k
DET fact sheet - Emotional responses by children affected by natural disasters 60k
The Australian Psychological Society have developed some guidelines for parents looking after children who have been affected by floods .
Looking after yourself after a disaster - information and self-help booklet. Produced by beyondblue, Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Australian Red Cross and the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement.
The YourKidsEd website has added useful links designed to help families assist children who have been affected by natural disasters.
A series of resources for parents, families and carers have been developed by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to assist children affected by emergencies or natural disasters.
The Queensland Government has developed important tips for parents to help support children during the dangerous weather season. With the dangerous weather season upon us, this timely information can help with children's anxiety about the weather and the upcoming anniversaries.
The article for inserting in your school newsletter can be downloaded in pdf or image format:
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542k 432k 347k 55k 229k 151k 361k 49k 224k 266k 46k 47k 58kProfessor Brett McDermott presents a new series of vodcasts to assist school communities in preparing for the possible wet season over the 2011/2012 summer. These vodcasts cover emotional preparation for dangerous weather, dealing with emotions over anniversaries and how to get help.
Professor Brett McDermott is the Director of the Mater Child and Youth Mental Health Service, South Brisbane, as well as the Director of Beyond Blue. Professor McDermott is an expert in emotional trauma in children following large scale disasters.
Title:1. Preparing for the upcoming wet season -Introduction Duration: 00:00:34
View introduction transcript (DOC version) 
23k
View introduction transcript (PDF version) 8k
Title: 2. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - What are some common reactions students might experience to the upcoming wet season? Duration: 00:02:25
View What are some common reactions students might experience to the upcoming wet season? transcript (DOC version) 25k
View What are some common reactions students might experience to the upcoming wet season? transcript (PDF version) 11k
Title: 3. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - What are the common emotional reactions students might experience to the upcoming anniversaries? Duration: 00:01:37
View What are the common emotional reactions students might experience to the upcoming anniversaries? transcript (DOC version) 24k
View What are the common emotional reactions students might experience to the upcoming anniversaries? transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 4. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - How can teachers look after themselves following this difficult year?
Duration: 00:06:59
View How can teachers look after themselves following this difficult year? transcript (DOC version) 30k
View How can teachers look after themselves following this difficult year? transcript (PDF version) 17k
Title: 5. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - Will kids have difficulties heading back to school next year? Duration: 00:03:37
View Will kids have difficulties heading back to school next year? transcript (DOC version) 27k
View Will kids have difficulties heading back to school next year? transcript (PDF version) 12k
Title: 6. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - How do parents prepare kids for school next year? Duration: 00:02:08
View How do parents prepare kids for school next year? transcript (DOC version) 25k
View How do parents prepare kids for school next year? transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 7. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - Is it too late for students to get help? Duration: 00:01:16
View Is it too late for students to get help? transcript (DOC version) 26k
View Is it too late for students to get help? transcript (PDF version) 9k
Title: 8. Preparing for the upcoming wet season - Where can I get help? Duration: 00:02:17
View Where can I get help? transcript (DOC version) 25k
View Where can I get help? transcript (PDF version) 10k
Below is the previous series of short vodcasts prepared by Professor Brett McDermott, following the floods that occurred over the summer of 2010/2011.
Professor Brett McDermott is the Director of the Mater Child and Youth Mental Health Service, South Brisbane, as well as the Director of Beyond Blue. Professor McDermott is an expert in emotional trauma in children following large scale disasters.
The vodcasts cover a range of issues and provide answers to some of the commonly asked questions.
Introduction by Director-General, Julie Grantham - Queensland flood crisis - back to school. Duration: 00:01:30
View introduction transcript (DOC version) 21k
View introduction transcript (PDF version) 9k
Title: 1. Provide a brief state-wide picture of possible reactions to the flood crisis. Duration: 00:01:25
View possible reactions to flood crisis transcript (DOC version) 25k
View possible reactions to flood crisis transcript (PDF version) 9k
Title: 2. What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? Duration: 00:02:23
View Post Traumatic Stress Disorder transcript (DOC version) 26k
View Post Traumatic Stress Disorder transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 3. What do we do when school commences? Duration: 00:04:10
View school commencement transcript (DOC version) 28k
View school commencement transcript (PDF version) 12k
Title: 4. How should we as adults act and what can we say? Duration: 00:03:11
View what to say transcript (DOC version) 27k
View what to say transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 5. What are the stages of post trauma? Duration: 00:07:34
View stages of post trauma transcript (DOC version) 31k
View stages of post trauma transcript (PDF version) 15k
Title: 6. To what degree does media coverage impact on students? Can students not directly affected be traumatised?
Duration: 00:03:05
View media coverage transcript (DOC version) 26k
View media coverage transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 7. How do we get the students back into learning? Duration: 00:03:11
View getting students back into learning transcript (DOC version 26k)
View getting students back into learning transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 8. How do we manage students who have been temporarily relocated to our school? Duration: 00:02:54
View managing temporarily relocated students transcript (DOC version) 26k
View managing temporarily relocated students transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 9. What should teachers do to look after their own wellbeing? Duration: 00:03:35
View teacher wellbeing transcript (DOC version) 27k
View teacher wellbeing transcript (PDF version) 11k
Title: 10. Are there any particular key messages for support staff? Duration: 00:02:48
View key messages for support staff transcript (DOC version) 26k
View key messages for support staff transcript (PDF version) 10k
Title: 11. What are some key messages for parents? Duration: 00:02:45
View key messages for parents transcript (DOC version) 26k
View key messages for parents transcript (PDF version) 10k
Here is the catalogue version of all the clips.
The Department of Education and Training, in conjunction with Professor Justin Kenardy BSc.Hons, PhD Qld, FAPS, has developed some vodcasts to assist educators and parents to assist children (0-5) who have been affected by the recent natural disasters and who may be experiencing feelings of anxiety. These can be found on the Office for Early Childhood Education and Care website
An online suite of multimedia resources to support young people - podcasts, videos, and links to resources.
A booklet produced to provide practical advice in returning to your house following a flood.
Relief in times of crisis: Cleaning up after the floods
Queensland Health has developed a suite of fact sheets aimed to help identify some of the common signs of stress in yourself and/or loved ones, provide tips for coping and suggest when professional help may be required.
Ed-LinQ is a statewide initiative funded by Queensland Health. The initiative aims to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people by enhancing partnerships and referral pathways between local school communities, primary care providers and child & youth mental health services. Ed-LinQ has developed factsheets designed to assist after a natural disaster.
Ed-LinQ Overview 113k
Ed-LinQ disaster response update 75k
Ed-LinQ contacts details 188k
Natural disaster contacts 135k
This package has been developed as a part of the Queensland Mental Health Natural Disaster Recovery Plan 2011-2013. The department has been working with the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD) to support their resource implementation for the benefit of school staff to assist teachers to respond appropriately to children who have experienced traumatic events. These materials remain the intellectual property of the authors. This has been made available for the purpose of training of staff in schools.
They are best used in conjunction with a training program delivered by trained staff, ideally a mental health professional and a teacher.
The resources are available to download but they remain the intellectual property of the University of Queensland and therefore must not be used for commercial purposes without express permission of the authors.
Please direct any questions concerning these materials and their use to J Kenardy.
These are topic specific tipsheets that summarise the content in the training and the Handbook.
How teachers can help in the classroom 443k
How and when to get help 295k
Preschool aged children 443k
Primary school students 466k
Teacher self-care 379k
Early teens and adolescents 532k
This is a copy of the actual presentation for reference 799k
This is a blank form of the Selfcare plan 34k
Within the training video vodcasts were presented (Vodcast 2: What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Vodcast 4: how should we as adults act and what can we say?). Brett McDermott discusses responses by teachers to school age children following trauma. These are located above.
Justin Kenardy discusses responses to pre-school children following trauma.
This page was last reviewed on 05 Mar 2012 at 01:52PM
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