Road Map for Life 2015 Whole school approaches and strategies to support the achievement of Looked After Children

1. Whole school approaches and
strategies to support the
achievement of Looked After
Children
15th May 2015
Dr Catherine Carroll
SENJIT
UCL Institute of Education
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2. Today
• What does school data say about the
achievement of Looked After Children?
• Current ‘evidence’ base for what we know
about whole school and specific strategies
• PALAC approach at UCLIOE
• Current PALAC projects with schools
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3. Current data – education outcomes
• Looked after children have poorer educational
outcomes than socio economic matched non-
looked after children (DfE 2013)
• A higher proportion; (67.8%) have SEN and their
emotional and behavioural needs are a cause for
concern
• The percentage of looked after children achieving
five or more A* to C GCSEs or equivalent including
English and maths has increased from 11% in 2009
to 15.3% in 2013
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4. Current data – education outcomes
• This is compared to 58% of non-looked after
children who achieve this level
• Although this gap has reduced it is still higher
than it was in 2009
• Looked after children are twice as likely to be
excluded from school as non-looked after children
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5. Current data – education outcomes
• GCSE passes for 16 year olds who have been in
care for more than five years are double that of
children who have spent less time in care (DfE
2010)
• Being in care has less effect on GCSE outcomes
than any other variable apart from having English
as an additional language (DCSF 2010)
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6. School can really work for looked after
children
• http://attachmentawareschools.com/filmwindow.php
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7. Current data – social and emotional wellbeing
• Looked after children are likely to have mental
health difficulties (DFE 2013)
• Among primary school age children, half of looked
after boys and one third of girls had an identifiable
mental disorder
• These rates increase for older age groups
• Most common were clinically significant conduct
disorders (37%) followed by emotional disorders
(anxiety and depression) (12%) and seven percent
were hyperactive (DCSF 2009) 7

8. What evidence do we have of what
‘works’?
• There exists just two reviews of intervention
studies to date, with no more than twenty
studies in total (Forsam and Vinnerljung 2012,
Liabo et al. 2013)
• Demonstrated that most interventions designed
for looked after children have benefits but most
were not sufficiently robust to make strong
claims to effectiveness
• But it is possible to identify some emerging
trends 8

9. • Tutoring is the type of intervention that has
most been evaluated to date and programmes
such as Catch Up and the Three Tutoring
Models
• Interventions that encourage reading (including
paired reading), show some very promising
initial findings with respect to progress in
attainment. These are the Letterbox Club
project and the Paired Reading Intervention
(Griffiths et al. 2012, Osbourne et al. 2010)
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10. • Strong teacher-child relationships based on
trust and respect are key to learning (Driscoll
and Pianta 2010; Wetz 2009)
• In the US, Caring School Communities based
on whole school policies promoting pupils’
influence over their environment and their
sense of belonging to the school helped to
increase academic achievement and reduce
anti-social behaviour (Schaps et al. 2004)
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11. • Developing strong empathic relationships
between a ‘key’ adult and a child can be
more effective than behavioural approaches
• ‘Emotion coaching’ approach develops the
child’s internal regulation
• Nurture groups 11

12. Activity 1 - What were you given as a
child?
• Please note down privately the possessions,
attributes and beliefs you were given as a child
by the people who brought you up which you
value now – not just toys or other objects, but
also values and skills
• You will not be asked to disclose personal
details to the group, but that feedback will be
more general
• In twos or threes share some of the things
which you have noted 12

13. Attachment theory and training
• Originally work of Bowlby on attachment
• Emotion coaching - Bath Spa University
• Attachment Aware Schools
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14. Attachment styles
Ainsworth - 1970s (Secure, resistant, avoidant)
Main and Solomon 1986 (Disorganised)

15. Activity 2: Attachment Aware Schools
audit
• On your own - please complete the audit
• Review in small groups
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16. Promoting the Achievement of
Looked After Children
PALAC
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17. Background to PALAC at UCL IOE
• Interdisciplinary team
• Forum for knowledge exchange between
professionals and researchers
• Process of rethinking the school environment
• It works with schools and teams over a period of 5/6
months to identify and support improvements, at the
school level
• Projects and development work being undertaken
by the schools will be published and used to
strengthen the limited evidence base as to how to
promote better outcomes for this group of children
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18. Structure of programme
• One full day at IOE - audit, handbook,
presentations and begin action plan
• Two facilitator visits
• One half day evaluation at IOE

19. PALAC Audit
• Written specifically for this programme
• Frames the content of today and the whole programme
• Provides a common language and approach to thinking
• Framework to focus our actions in school during the
programme and over the long term
• Benchmarking tool for schools

20. Audit Areas and Handbook content
• Supporting emotional development and wellbeing
• Raising and monitoring attainment
• Supporting Learning
• School Environment
• Effectiveness and deployment of staff
• Supporting equality and diversity
• Working together with carers and other professionals

21. Current PALAC projects with schools
• Designing a ‘safe base’ for pupils and
monitoring how it is used
• Delivering and monitoring the impact of training
in attachment issues
• Targeted literacy and numeracy groups
• Implementing and monitoring the impact of
electronic PEPs
• Developing the role of a specific key worker for
Looked After Children
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22. Next programme
• Day 1: 15th October 2015
• Day 2: 17th March 2016
Details on SENJIT website
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/research/107116.html
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23. Finally..
As a foster child, I initially hated school life. Yet as I grew into
my mid-teens, it swiftly transformed into a safe haven from
the turbulence of my personal life. It became a place of
productivity; a place of hope and optimism where I could
redirect my life and define my future. With friends and
teachers, I eventually found community, purpose and a sense
of belonging (securing the contrasting blessings of a degree
from Cambridge University and a spot on the X Factor!).
Ashley John-Baptiste is a musician and activist for foster
children The Observer, Sunday 10 August 2014 23

24. Thank you
• c.carroll@ioe.ac.uk
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