Research shows that intense, prolonged exposure to adversity can have a toxic effect on children's developing brain architecture and disrupt the foundations of learning, behaviour, and health, with long-term consequences on children's development. This evidence is especially concerning for our youngest, whose brains are 90 per cent developed by the time they are five years old.
Kim Moroney, Project Officer for Early Learning at the Catholic Schools Office, tells us about her recent appointment as Conjoint Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle.