"One third of children do not have a secure attachment to at least one primary caregiver."
Chief Medical Officer’s Report, Our Children Deserve Better
This tells us that there could be 10 children in every class with significant barriers to learning and socialisation, and behaviour which may be misinterpreted or a challenge to understand and manage.
This masterclass will introduce Attachment, exploring how we can transfer knowledge and understanding into the classroom to support the children we work with each day, using skills and strategies to enhance the school experience for our most vulnerable children.
More and more schools are becoming Attachment Aware, using attachment theory to help both children and the adults who support them, to better understand their internal worlds and where necessary repair and rebuild relationships in a safe setting – a secure base where they can learn and thrive. Whilst this is particularly important for looked-after and previously looked-after children, it is not confined to those children, given the CMO’s report mentioned above.
“Designated teachers should take lead responsibility for ensuring school staff understand the things which can affect how looked-after and previously looked-after children learn and achieve and how the whole school supports the educational achievement of these pupils. This means making sure that all staff… are aware of the emotional, psychological and social effects of loss and separation (attachment awareness) from birth families and that some children may find it difficult to build relationships of trust with adults because of their experiences, and how this might affect the child’s behaviour…”
The designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children: Statutory guidance on their roles and responsibilities: Department of Education: February 2018
This half-day masterclass will introduce Secure and Insecure Attachment types; the implications for the child, the classroom and the whole school; and look at ways of supporting our most vulnerable children. We will consider the behaviours which indicate that a child is less able than their peers to manage everyday challenges and ask if some of these behaviours are misunderstood. We will look at the secure base model and other strategies and approaches.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The designated teacher for looked-after or previously looked-after children, Senior leaders, Pastoral leaders, DSL teams, SEND leaders, Whole staff groups in schools wishing to become Attachment Aware.
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES
This Masterclass will enable you to have:
An understanding of attachment theory
Considered the implications for the child, their learning and behaviour, and implications for your setting
Explored how some behaviours can be misunderstood and looked at alternative ways of understanding a child who is struggling
Considered managing change, reparation and ‘second chance learning’ (Winnicott)
Had opportunities for reflection
Looked at and explored a range of strategies and resources.
