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Mary Hinton

Academic ResilienceWorkshop

• Name• Role• One thing you do

to cheer yourself up after a hard day

Introductions

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By the end of this session you will..

• Understand academic resilience and what it could look like in your school

• Explore systems for identifying vulnerability amongst pupils/students and how to support those at risk

• Create strategies to build systemic resilience into your work

In small groups, discuss;

What is the fundamental purpose of school/college?

Activity

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‘the strength and capacity of our minds to grow and develop, to be able to

overcome difficulties and challenges and to make the most of our abilities

and opportunities’

YoungMinds, 2006

Mental health – a definition

Monitor change Whole school

community

Understand academic resilience and what it would look like in your school

Identify who is at risk if you do not ‘step up’ your support

----Evidence base----What works

----use data----prepare for targeted support

Audit - How are we doing?What can we improve?

School Development Plan

Create baseline formeasuring change

Review

PlanDo

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Evidence base – what works

On your body outline, write all the risks people faceAround your body outline, write all the possible effects of these risks

Identify who is at risk.

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Identify who is at risk.

• Risk and protective factors

• Vulnerability registers

• Attendance

• Attainment

• Progress

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What do you do? - examples

• Think about a particular child who has done better than you might have expected given their circumstances – through something your school does now

– What was it?

– How did it happen?

– What difference did it make?

Systems and processes

• Who is vulnerable?

• How can you find out?

• How can you share information effectively?

• How can you enable staff to ‘hold in mind’ more vulnerable pupils?

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X no. High risk (likely known to

you already)

X no. Medium risk (prevent escalation)

X no. Risk indicated (keep an eye on and focus prevention activity

here)

Rest of the school (embed Fostering Academic Resilience culture )

High level intervention e.g. lead adult, focusing on developing relationship and sticking with them

Medium level intervention; e.g. step up to more individual support, monitoring etc.Raise awareness of others in school

Low level intervention e.g. watchful teacher/mentor; develop rapport and belonging

Curriculum opportunities. Modelling the approach

Interventions

Pyramid of Need

Score and collate pupil data to map need, e.g.

• Attendance• Safeguarding• Special Educational Needs• Looked After Children• Free School Meals• EAL

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1. At least one trusted adult with regular access over time, who ‘holds the pupil in mind’ and lets the pupils know they care

2. Preparedness and capacity to help with basics: food, clothing, transport and even housing

3. Making sure vulnerable pupil access activities, hobbies and sports

4. Helping pupils to be better at problem solving at every opportunity

5. Creating safe spaces

How are we doing?

6. Helping to map out a sense of future (hope and aspirations) and developing life skills

7. Helping pupils cope, e.g. teaching self soothing or management of feelings

8. Support to help others e.g. volunteering, peer mentoring

9. High intensity interventions based on individuals needs and with joined up approach between home, school and other organisations for those that need it

10 Supporting children, young people, staff and parents to understand what resilience is and how they might achieve it for individual students and the whole school community

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What would you see?

1. At least one trusted adult with regular access over time, who ‘holds the pupil in mind’ and lets the pupils know they care

2. Making sure vulnerable pupil access activities, hobbies and sports

What would you see happening in school communities that are successful in doing these things proactively for their more disadvantaged students?

Pupil Focus Groups

The needs assessment of the children and young people is carried out with a scenario about a vulnerable child and how s/he would cope in the school. This information is then added to the SLT assessment to help plan interventions appropriately.

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• Culture – ‘the way it is round here’.• Perception and experience – pupils, parents, staff (leaders,

teaching, support, catering, maintenance, specialist, pastoral), visitors.

• “You’re an X student first and a person second”• “They don’t actually care about you…everything they say to you,

all of it is just about getting you to do what they want”• “If you have a problem you go to Mrs X and she sorts it out for

you”

Pupil Focus Groups

Extract from TES – 4th March 2016 relating to teacher mental healthA survey of 2000 teachers found 84% had dealt with mental health problems in the last 2 years but only 26% of these had spoken to their line manager about it.

Staff Audit – Teacher Resilience

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I got a call from the school one day and it was the call I needed because

it's helped so much …there's been ongoing phone calls and emails from staff and any time I need help they're

there and they've just been so supportive.....they've put me onto Relate and for mediation ......the

resources they are showing me are available are brilliant because I didn't

know where to go.

Parents

• Foodbank

• Fruit stall

• Healthy Eating week

• LAC child speaking to cook.

What might you do? -Healthy diet

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• Differentiated reward systems

• Family diversity day

• Celebration day

• Analysis of attendance data on non-uniform day

Being free from discrimination and prejudice

• Student led review of behaviour policy

• Resilience workshop for parents

• Use of restorative practice

• Volunteering

Responsibilities and obligations

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• Safe bravery

• Notice

• Parents being brave

• Brave schools

Be brave

• Notice and encourage

• Go the extra mile

• Use outside money/support

• Parents have talents too

• Teachers can do other things than just teach

Foster talents

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ARA in action

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfl9uX6MCzY

Strategy and leadership

Systems and structure

Parents and community

Pupils and staff

School culture

A vehicle for cultural change

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• As many people as possible understanding the evidence and what they can do (whole staff workshop/s)

• Identify vulnerable and higher risk pupils (using existing pupil data)

• Gain insight in to how it is now (focus groups, audit) and get ideas (staff/pupils)

• Develop concrete improvement plans

• Continuous learning/embedding change (Community of practice)

Academic Resilience Approach

Action Planning

• A way of thinking about what you might do

• A way of planning for evaluation

• A tool not a straight jacket

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• Raising awareness and profile of resilience and mental health in school

• Helping staff to empathise with the perspective of students and ‘step up’ their response to them

• Helping develop a shared understanding and language for staff

• Development of a Vulnerability Index or similar data management system (either new or building on existing systems) in school to identify and share information about vulnerable and at-risk students earlier

• New or re-focused staff roles and responsibilities relating to relationship building, support and building resilience

Impact

It IS about……

• Not treating all pupils the same – they don’t all start from the same place

• Early intervention – identifying which pupils are at greater risk of poorer outcomes (educational and otherwise) and targeting what you do to build them up alongside your universal resilience approaches for all pupils

• Some things to try based on evidence of what works.

• Not giving up on vulnerable pupils who can leave us feeling deskilled and/or frustrated

• Not giving up on yourself as the adult that can help them to do better than you might have expected

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YoungMinds

• Tel: 020 7089 5050

• Parents Helpline: 0808 802 5544

• Website and Publications: www.youngminds.org.uk

• Training & Consultancy: training@youngminds.org.uk

• Mary Hinton: mary.hinton@youngminds.org.uk