Supporting the educational achievement and emotional wellbeing of previously looked-after children – perceptions of parents, guardians and designated teachers.

Partridge, Jennifer (2022) Supporting the educational achievement and emotional wellbeing of previously looked-after children – perceptions of parents, guardians and designated teachers. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This research study explored the perceptions of Designated Teachers, Adoptive Parents and Special Guardians in relation to supporting previously looked-after children’s educational attainment and emotional wellbeing, following the release of the Department for Education (DfE, 2018b) statutory guidance for Designated Teachers. The purpose was to ascertain their views regarding the support that previously looked-after children need to improve their educational attainment and emotional wellbeing with the aim of identifying barriers and facilitators to this support. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with a purposive/selective sample of four Designated Teachers, five Adoptive Parents and five Special Guardians, and were analysed using Thematic Analysis. The main common theme identified between Designated Teachers, Adoptive Parents and Special Guardians was ‘Trauma and attachment difficulties’. Key findings highlighted that trauma and attachment difficulties were a barrier and have an enduring impact on previously looked-after children. Mental health should be at the forefront of any work with them, including providing therapy and counselling to not only support their emotional wellbeing, but their academic attainment. Adoptive Parents and Special Guardians perceived that teachers did not have a true understanding of trauma and attachment, and that a lack of training was a barrier to this understanding. This lack of training was not only perceived to be on a local level, but national, in relation to Initial Teacher Training. Special Guardians highlighted the disparity in support between Fostering, Adoption and Special Guardianship and how they felt they were at the bottom of a hierarchy. Designated Teachers perceived that the disparity between looked-after children and previously looked-after children was a barrier to better support. They felt that the profile of previously looked-after children needed to be raised and that Designated Teachers should share best practice, in relation to the DfE (2018b) statutory guidance to facilitate more consistently good practice.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2022 07:54
Last Modified:	26 Oct 2022 07:54
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/89362
DOI:

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