Building Resilience in Children in Care and Care Leavers for better educational outcomes Mary Hinton

Introductions One definition of Resilience is the ability to better than might be expected in the face of adversity. It’s not about having all the resources ourselves – the tree needs the water from the river, the strength of the banks, the sun etc but clearly faces more adversity than the average tree, Intros- who you are, what your job is and what you do to build your own resilience.

What we will cover What do we mean by resilience? The educational experience of Children in Care and Care Leavers through a resilience lens How do we build resilience across the system?

Resilient children and young people “can resist adversity, cope with uncertainty and recover more successfully from traumatic events or episodes” Newman, T (2002) Not just down to the individual Resilient Children

Look at Simon, Shona and Steven through the framework – make resilient moves – drill down into exactly who and exactly what.

Making resilient moves. Choose one of the three people on the sheet. Write all the things that are going well for them inside the body outline Write resilient moves outside Done FOR the person Done WITH the person Done ON BEHALF of the person. Be precise about WHO and WHAT

Simon   Simon is 10 years old. He is in Year 6. He has been in care for 3 years and is in a secure foster placement with his younger sister who is 8 years old. Both children attend the same school which has had attachment training and they are happy there. Simon’s attainment is below his chronological age but he is making progress. His passion is taking photographs and now he says he wants to be an astronaut to be able to take pictures from space. He is anxious about his transition to secondary school.

Shona   Shona is 15 years old and is in Year 11. She has been in care for 10 years and has lived with 3 different foster families. Currently she is in a children’s home where she feels happier because she doesn’t have to try and be part of a family and she gets on with the other children of similar age that live there. Her attendance at school is not good and she has been ‘missing’ several times. When she attends, she does well and is predicted 5 A*- C including English and Maths. She is inseparable from her phone and social media plays a huge part in her life. She wants to leave school at the end of the year but doesn’t really have any ideas about what she wants to do next.

Steven   Steven is 18 and is in year 13 at the sixth form of the school that he has attended since year 7. He has been in care since he was 4 years old and has had many social workers. One of them was really influential for him and he still sees her occasionally at Children in Care Council events. He is studying for A levels and wants to go to university to study to be an engineer. He is living in supported accommodation and has some contact with his former foster family but none of them went to University. In his role as part of the Children in Care Council he attends corporate parenting meetings but finds them very boring. He doesn’t know how to decide whether university is right for him or whether he could actually go to one. One of his teachers at school has suggested that an apprenticeship might be better for him.

All young people should: Have an adult they trust who helps them through life Have support with getting the very basics in life, like food clothing, transport and housing Actually access activities, hobbies and sports Have multiple opportunities to practise problem-solving at home, school and in the wider community Feel safe, and be able to be themselves in their homes, schools and communities Know how to calm themselves down and take charge of their feelings Know what they are good at, and are proud of it Support other people, for example, through volunteering and peer mentoring Be supported to understand what they need to do to build their own resilience and support other people in their communities to build theirs Know that all adults in their lives are enabled to help disadvantaged children build resilience, at any time and in any place Have help to map out a sense of future (hope and aspirations) and develop life skills

A few key ideas Asset focused Positive chain reactions Chance for children to reinvent themselves Attention to effective detail Compensatory experience and challenge Child centred Ordinary magic Resilient Moves

Finally Grotberg (in Daniel and Wassel) states the resilient child can be described as one who can say: I HAVE I AM I CAN

http://www.boingboing.org.uk/ www.youngminds.org.uk Link to Damien’s NEET Pathway video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnQZe2WLQCU http://www.boingboing.org.uk/

What next?