1. Overview – The Springfields Academy
Attachment
Overview – The Springfields Academy

2. Attachment Theory
Attachment theory is the study of how we attach to people in the early stages of our development, and its impact on how we view ourselves and develop relationships throughout our lives.
Forming secure attachments leads to the development of self-esteem, positive affect, good peer/adult relationships and a strong sense of belonging.

3. How attachment patterns present?
Attachment Style
Parenting Style
Attachment Behaviour
Organised secure attachment
Sensitive & empathetic
Enables the child to use the parent/carer as a secure base, developing patterns of behaviour that allow the child to search the environment actively, but also seek the comfort of the secure base when needed.
Organised insecure attachment
Ambivalent - resistant
Inconsistent with parents/carers having difficulty in attuning to the child needs – resulting in inconsistent and unpredictable responses
The child maximises their behaviours to ensure they receive care. Their emotions drive behaviours such as:
Emotional distress at minor events
Resistance to being comforted
Low self-esteem and expectations
Social incompetence and poor peer relationships
Avoidant
Emotional needs are demanding and parents/ carers cannot meet the demands. This results in the child expecting the parent/carer backing away when emotions are expressed
Child minimises behaviour to ensure parent/carer remains close. The child may:
Be passive & withdrawn
Display little emotional distress
Self-sufficiency
Disorganised attachment
The parenting style is frightening to the child or the parent is frightening
The child experiences conflict between where they would normally seek safety and the source of the discomfort/fear, this can result in:
Distress with little provocation
Violent anger
Anxious dependency
Dislike of being held or touched

4. Implications for Teaching & Learning
Avoidant Attachment
Deny need for support & help
Need to be autonomous and independent of teacher
Will be hostile when directed to do a task
Have a limited use of creativity
Limited use of language
Need task focused interventions
Resistant- ambivalent
High levels of anxiety and uncertainty
Show a need to hold the teachers attention
Need support to complete task
Need turn taking tasks
Need transitional objects – when teacher is out of the room
Cannot work independently
Disorganised
Need to be control – particularly when anxious
Unwilling to accept authority
Do not like no knowing
Appear to immature – in terms of learning
Need reliable predicable routines
Need a secure base
Benefit from consistent emotional support and positive re-enforcement

5. Supporting Pupils Environment Relationships Attunement Therapy
They must feel safe within the environment – it needs to be predictable and reliable. We try to achieve this through:
Providing a schedule
Providing a “who is board” pictures of staff
Giving the pupil a space which they can personalise
Limiting the demands when a pupil is anxious
Giving achievable targets
Relationships
Staff should remain emotionally available, sensitive & responsive. When the pupil is distressed or excited the staff should aim to empathise and nurture. The aim is make the pupil feel relaxed so an attachment with emotional regulation can occur. Positive interaction should happen at every opportunity.
Attunement
Firm boundaries and expectations should be delivered at all times. However when a pupil is disciplined the sense of shame will be amplified. It is important that the school attunes to this. This means not focusing behaviour but trying to understand how the pupil feels. This builds trust and positive attachments.
Therapy
Pupils with diagnosed attachment issue will benefit hugely from therapeutic input – the key is then integrating this work into the school day.