The Yorkshire and Humber Education Project was a Department of Education funded collaboration between PAC-UK and the Yorkshire & Humber Adoption Consortium. Taking place between April 2015 and July 2016, the project aimed to support families and develop capacities of schools and local authorities to better meet the educational needs of adopted and other permanently placed children.
Focusing on 45 children identified by the region’s Local Authority adoption and special guardianship services, the project delivered:
- Training sessions for designated teachers across the region, in partnership with the virtual schools
- A local network of Adoption Advocates across schools
- A monthly education focused support group for parents and guardians
- Continuing professional development and networking events for adoption and special guardianship services, virtual schools and educational psychology services
In May 2016 a celebration event was held to acknowledge the project’s achievements and share the good practice which had been developed. With over 25 speakers, it provided an opportunity to hear about the positive impact of the changes that schools have made during the course of the year.
The Minister for Children and Families, Edward Timpson, sent a message for the event in which he said:
“Yorkshire and the Humber is in many ways a trailblazer. You (PAC-UK and Yorkshire & Humber Consortium) represent what can be achieved through genuine working together and should be rightly proud of what you have achieved and hope that you will continue to build on the spirited success... acting as a beacon of innovative practice for other regions to aspire to”
Outcomes from the project highlighted, on average, that schools involved perceived themselves to have a 20% improvement in knowledge, competence, staff teams’ commitment, school environment, direct support, senior leadership awareness and provision:
“Without a doubt our understanding of how to support children with a history of early life trauma has significantly increased …..This increased understanding has formed a key part of the school development plan for this year, and as a senior leadership team we are currently reviewing all policies and practices associated ….. We are a better more rounded school as a result of working with you”
Parents also reported feeling better supported, more confident in their children’s school and better equipped to communicate with their child’s school:
“We now have regular meetings at school about helping both our children. A lot of what is discussed does happen quickly. Thank you!”
PAC-UK's Education Service has a range of support for schools including training, consultations, assessment, support and advice to ensure that the educational
needs of permanently placed children are better met in schools. With the appointment of our Education and Wellbeing workers we are now also able to offer therapeutic work to schools to support in a range of areas, including:
- Transition groups for pupils
- Mindfulness groups for pupils and staff
- Friendship groups and interventions
- Attachment and attunement groups for children, parents and carers
- Reflective practice groups for staff
- Clinical supervision for individual staff including Headteachers
- Individual and systemic therapeutic work for young people where appropriate
For further information please visit our webpage: https://www.pac-uk.org/education/
Photo by Jennifer
