Why do Looked After children and Adopted Children fail to thrive in our Schools?

The Effects of early Trauma on the brain A significant minority of children in our schools appear to be unfocussed, disruptive, controlling, withdrawn and destructive These children tend to underachieve in school and are often punished and even excluded. Feeling safe and secure is now known to be more important in our children’s brains than learning Neuroscientific evidence demonstrates that warm, responsive relationships and interactions build children’s brains and help them to learn to self- regulate their behaviour Securely attached children build positive internal working models of others as trustworthy and of the self as valuable and effective

What Attachment Disorders mean for children in our schools Our children may have Regulatory disorders including Toxic Stress – high levels of stress hormones leading to hyper arousal and or dissociation. An inability to manage behaviour and Shame – hypersensitivity to criticism/ apparent lack of remorse are common features too Social function disorders mean an impaired understanding of others and difficulty with empathy / feelings of worthlessness and poor self esteem / lack of capacity for joy Processing disorders [ creating cognitive difficulties] result in an impaired understanding of the world/ difficulty in making sense of sensory information/ difficulty in making sense of feelings

Types of Attachment Disorder Insecure Avoidant – cannot trust the teacher/ can only focus on what to do and cannot seek help / self reliance which inhibits creativity and exploration of the unknown = underachievement Insecure Ambivalent – separation anxiety means they need constant teacher attention and the task is unimportant / we give 1 to 1 support often but this can feed anxiety and prevent independence growing Insecure Disorganised – tasks are too unbearably challenging to their vulnerability/ low esteem and limited resilience / the response is often omnipotence shown through anger and frustration Insecure Ambivalent- both clingy and rejecting of the teacher /seek comfort but cannot be comforted / attention seeking with hyperactivity and cannot easily recover from upset

Ways to help our Children Succeed at School Feeling safe and secure physically and emotionally Relationships and secure attachments Being able to express what has happened and creating a narrative to make the memories safe A structured environment is needed with firm boundaries and nurturing empathetic relationships Secure foundations will help to develop social skills , build self esteem and emotional literacy, autonomy and self identity THIS IN TURN WILL PROMOTE READINESS TOO LEARN

What do Schools and Teachers need to do Be child centred and acknowledge children’s different attachment styles Create nurturing relationships to promote children’s learning and satisfy their innate need to have a secure sense of belonging Acknowledge adults’ roles as secondary attachment figures who can help to reshape insecure attachment behaviours and support the development of more secure ones Create different policies for children with emotional and behavioural impairments [ as we do for physical and learning impairments ]