Presentation to the Virtual School Designated Teacher Conference 2017 Hertfordshire
Our school context • Scotholme Primary and Nursery school is situated in Hyson Green, close to the city centre of Nottingham. • We have 420 pupils on roll in main school and 60 in the Nursery. • The school deprivation index is 0.33, which places us within the 80 th percentile • Our school population is highly diverse, with 92% of pupils from ‘minority ethnic’ groups ( na = 32%) and 45 different languages spoken across school. • Between 75% and 80% of each class have English as an additional language, compared to a n ational a verage of 20%. • The school population shows greater than average mobility, with only 75% stability ( na = 86%) • Approximately 10% of our school population currently have, or have had in the past, involvement with Social Care. • We currently have 2 looked after children in school and a larger group who have either been looked after previously or who are close to the threshold currently.
PALAC (Promoting the Achievement of Looked After Children) • We were invited to work with the PALAC project team from the IoE. Because we were looking for ways to promote the achievement of vulnerable pupils in our school, this seemed to be the way forward for us. • At the first session, we were asked to think of a practical way in which to do this. • Whilst at the initial meeting, we saw the following video, which reaffirmed to us that good relationships are vital for all children but especially so for children with attachment issues.
Adam’s story • https://vimeo.com/88338784
After that… • Using our knowledge of children in school, we looked at those who we felt were vulnerable. This included LAC pupils, those who have been LAC pupils previously, those who are close to being taken into care and other children who had attachment issues. • Next, we thought about attachment and ways to support children who had attachment issues.
What is attachment? • An enduring relationship between two individuals. In the child’s early years, the attachment relationship involves complete dependency for the child because of their vulnerability and helplessness. Initially the purpose of the primary attachment relationship is to facilitate the child’s survival, on both the psychological and biological level Louise Bomber
Why did we need to develop the project? • We have a significant group of children who have attachment issues. • Many of our children are vulnerable and need extra support and guidance, above that provided by their class team. • We have a regular group of children who are in Local Authority care. • Our children thrive on positive relationships with adults. • We recognised the many issues which face children who are in care and decided to focus on strategies to promote positive achievement at school for this group of pupils. • It was hoped that the learning from this project would eventually be used to support other pupils in school.
Why is it important to feel attached?
Aims of our project • STRAND 1: To increase the attachment and emotional security of highly vulnerable children, who are in care/have been in care/who live with family members other than their parents. • STRAND 2 : To develop a comprehensive tool to measure the impact of well-being strategies for vulnerable children.
Our Project – the basic idea • STRAND 1: - We were seeking to set up a support system for our identified group. This involved adults trying to form bonds with the children, in order to increase their emotional security and feelings of attachment. This would involve taking a general interest in each child on a regular basis- maintaining a regular contact with them to show that they are valued and appreciated. • We were aiming to increase the feeling of being ‘cared about’ and the idea that these children really ‘matter’ to at least one person in school . We aimed to show children that we were ‘keeping them in mind’. The positive feelings gained from this could then be harnessed to promote greater academic achievement in the classroom and better socialisation with peers and other adults in school. • We wanted to do this WITHOUT children being aware that they were being focused on. • STRAND 2: To develop a way to measure the strategies we were using to support vulnerable children. This included measuring strand 1.
Next steps • Decision was made to use PASS. • All children from Year 1 to 6 were surveyed. • Staff were given a questionnaire about whether they wanted to take part in the project. • Survey results were analysed and children were identified for the project. • Further in- depth questionnaires were completed with the identified children. • Staff were matched to children. • The project was named by staff • Scotholme- Happy Attached Relationships Everywhere SHARE was launched. • A presentation was made to governors
Using the PASS survey • All children between from Years 1 to 6 took part in the survey • It is done twice a year in January and July. • We have completed 3 full surveys. • Results are shared with all staff. • Children are identified that may need extra support. At the end of the first year of 36 children who we had 2 sets of data from • 23 scores had improved. • 5 had stayed the same. • 8 had gone down.
Individual Questionnaires • 22 questions about how they feel about school, home and Key Stage 1 – 3 choices Yes, No, Sometimes. • Key Stage 2 – 3 choices Most of the Time, Not at All, Some of the Time. • These choices were then scored 10, 5 and 0. • Children were able to annotate them if they wanted.
Data from year 1 and trends • Average score out of a possible 220 • Jan 2016 144.2 • July 2016 153.6 • Jan 2017 164.1 Question 8. I have a grown up in school who I can trust of I need to talk to someone • Jan 2016 7.1 • July 2016 8.6 • Jan 2017 9.25 Question 15 I know that there are teachers in school who care about me • Jan 2016 7.6 • July 2016 8.8 • Jan 2017 8.75
The hardest part
Difficulties with SHARE • Finding it hard to meet up with a designated child due to class commitments in other areas of school. • Making a relationship with a child who finds it difficult to respond to unfamiliar adults. • Children leaving the school-during the year, at the end of year 6 etc. • Finding time. • Some staff felt that it could become harder to discipline your linked child.
How do adults help?
The best parts of the SHARE Project
Benefits of SHARE • A chance to think carefully about the kind of relationships we make with all children. • Getting to know a child from another part of school, who you wouldn’t usually encounter. • Developing the understanding that a cheerful comment can brighten someone’s day. • Identification of children through PASS and through the ‘attached relationship’ led to meetings with parents, referral to counsellors, awareness of staff. • Staff have mentioned good non-verbal contact with their children. • Children initiating this contact themselves.
Accomplishments • Detailed action plan; • Staff meeting to outline the project; • 53 pairs of children and adults have been matched. 42 at this present time; • Presentation to governors; • Training on ‘In My Shoes’ programme completed by one member of staff; • ELSA training completed by one member of staff and now up and running; • Yellow Kite Training completed by one member of staff; • Completion of surveys and questionnaires with children three times; • Completion of SWAN analysis by staff-Strengths, Weaknesses, Achievements, Next Steps; • Decisions made to continue the project; • Decisions made about whether people kept the same child.
Changes to school practice • Gradual attitude change by staff- an understanding that a lot can be achieved without a lot of effort. • Acceptance of the results of the pupils surveys. • Changing attitudes to all pupils. • An understanding that ‘knowing the child’ will help in any dealings with that that child. • Children have become used to the PASS survey and the questionnaires and understand that it is their opportunity to share their views.
Wider benefits of the SHARE Project
Changes to practice in Nottingham City • The involvement of PALAC initiated several schools to start their own projects. • An Attachment Lead Group has been set up and several days of free training have been offered. • Leads will be available to support staff in other schools who have not accessed the training. • A resource base has been set up.
Conclusion • This is a work in progress. We are now coming to the end of the 2 nd academic year of the project and new issues have arisen - we are still learning all the time. • Not all of the relationships have been brilliant but the vast majority have. • Even with the PASS and questionnaire results, it is hard to measure the impact of the whole project. However, as long as the project has a positive outcome for some of the children, we strongly feel that it is worth doing. • We are gradually changing the ethos of the school and the project is having many positive effects. Staff are more aware of the impact their relationships have. • Children with behaviour issues are generally happier to come to school because they feel liked and cared about. We are starting to dispel the ‘self fulfilling prophecy’ idea.
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