Scottish Attachment in Action (SAIA)

Scottish Attachment In Action (SAIA)

Newsletter

Issue 7 May 2014

Welcome to the 7TH Scottish Attachment in Action newsletter!

In February 2014 the Advisory overwhelmingly agreed to the formation of a Development Team and we are delighted to inform you that the team will be Fiona Lettice & Barbara Godden. Fiona & Barbara have been members of SAIA since we started bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion which will be both invaluable and inspiring to this role.

The role of the Development Team will be preparing SAIA to move to charitable status, respond to & coordinate requests for information & training and matching these to skills & resources within the membership. They will also Coordinate & organise regular events, support the Newsletter Editorial team [Elizabeth King & Tracy White], develop resources and partnerships with other similar organisations and promote SAIA to increase memberships, continue with involvement with ScottishGovernment and promote training opportunities.This year we aim to build on these events by producing a range of 'Practice Papers' as useful guide of where & how our learning has been put into practice.

We have also had 3 very successful events.
In September 2013 'Why Attachment Matters When CHILDREN have to MOVE - THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY FOR ALL OF US'

Our Annual Conference in December 'IT CAN'T BE TOO LITTLE AND IT'S NEVER TOO LATE: WHY ATTACHMENT STILL MATTERS BEYOND THE EARLY YEARS' – see report on page 2

March 2014 network seminar saw us 'branch out' of the central belt to Dundee, with the topic of 'Secondary Trauma - causes, impact and support.'

Members of our Advisory Group continue to be active in promoting an understanding of Attachment on many fronts, including

• Early Years Collaborative [Learning Sets]
• Two events in N Lanarkshire - Early Years and GIRFEC – an interagency group
• Presentation to a group of Paediatricians ay Royal Alexandria Hospital, Paisley
• One member has set up some work with midwives in which various members have been involved. This led onto further work to do with the school curriculum.
• Helen Minnis was a guest on Radio 4 'Woman's Hour' discussing the prevalence of reactive Attachment Disorder

We would like to hear from you, our fellow members, your ideas, thoughts & comments on any of the above focus points and where you may wish to or able to be more involved. Contact details are at the end of
this newsletter.

Yours
Paul Gilroy, Chair on behalf of Executive committee

National Attachment Round Table – 3rdFebruary 2014

Representativesfrom the SAIA Advisory Group were delighted to be included in the invitation from NHS Health Scotland and the Scottish Government to the first meeting of a national round table discussion on attachment. The invitationwas directed to a wide range ofnationalleadersand groupsin thisarea. The overall purpose of the round table isto develop a collaborative approach to supporting secure attachments for all children in Scotland, so SAIA were keen to be represented.

Prior to the meeting on the 3rdFebruary, held in Atlantic Quay in Glasgow, participants were asked to complete and submit survey responses, providing information on any programmes/ projects across Scotland promoting attachment. A truly impressive range of initiatives and materials were identified from the survey, and a summary was distributed to participants before the meeting.

It was a challenging task for Laura Martin, Senior Health Improvement Officer – Maternal and Child Health, who chaired the meeting, to identify a date which suited everyone! However, the majority of those invited were able to attend. Anne Rooney from the Scottish Government provided an overview of the ‘driver diagram’ methodology and Laura and Anne organised group activities aimed at developing draft driver diagrams for taking forward the attachment agenda.

There was a lively discussion around various issues, including whether the word attachment itself is the ‘right’ word to use. However the main focus of the dialogue was on current commonly used definitions of attachment.

The meeting has given SAIA the opportunity to further strengthen links with various colleagues and groups across Scotlandwho share our vision and our aims.

A second meeting is planned for 19thMay 2014 and we will keep you up to date via the newsletter on the development of this key national initiative.

Elizabeth King

Principal Psychologist,South Lanarkshire Council

Dr Lio Moscardini

Heather Baldry
School of Education

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

University of Strathclyde

Learning Together about Making Choices

Background

Learning Together about Making Choices (LTaMC) is a three-year action-research project funded by the Robertson Trust, KPMG Foundation, NHS Scotland and Glasgow City Council. The project is led by a team of researchers and practitioners from the University of Strathclyde and the Jeely Nursery in Castlemilk, Glasgow. It is currently taking place in two mainstream primary schools. The aim of the project is to develop and sustain an inclusive model of support for young children with attachment issues as they move into and through mainstream primary schools.

LTaMC followed on from a highly successful evaluative project carried out in the Jeely Nursery over a three-year period between 2007 and 2010. The purpose of the Jeely Nursery project was to meet the particular needs of children exposed in their earliest years to highly adverse social and economic circumstances, including the experience of living with parental substance abuse and addiction. The Jeely Nursery project was successful in developing a collaborative strategy that involved children, nursery staff and parents together in ways that helped to build the emotional resilience needed by children to overcome adversity. The LTaMC project builds on this by working with two primary schools and specifically school managers, teachers, parents and anyone with a responsibility in supporting children’s well-being in developing and maintaining effective and sustainable support for children with attachment issues. It has been strategically designed to monitor and support, over a three year period, not only those particular children identified in the early years who have come through the Jeely Nursery and moved on to primary school but also to develop the capacity of teachers to identify and support any child with attachment issues. The project focuses on working with the schools to develop and extend existing practice and to map this practice onto current support structures, procedures and national policies, namely Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Staged Intervention.

The project model and delivery

The project was called Learning Together about Making Choices for two main reasons. Firstly it captures the collaborative nature of the project acknowledging that all participants have a role to play in its development. Secondly it emphasises the importance of the concept of choice and the need for autonomy to support children with attachment issues.

The project began in August 2011 by following the transition of a small number of children from the Jeely Nursery as they moved on to primary school. The role of a key liaison person, the Director of liaison (DoL) from the Jeely Nursery with teachers and parents was established. Following some professional development sessions on attachment theory led by the research team, the key role of the DoL was established. This involved working closely with classteachers and supporting them in carrying out and analysing classroom observations around the children who had moved on from the Jeely Nursery. The DoL worked with the teachers in class on a weekly basis. Professional development then took the form of highly focussed dialogue between the class teachers and the Director of Liaison (DoL). A key finding at the early stages of the project was that the teachers lacked confidence and felt that they did not have the requisite skills to support particular children when in fact their classroom practice was very supportive and appropriate. They just needed this reassurance.

The next phase of the project, which began early in 2012, involved replicating this model of support with all teachers and support staff in both schools. This quickly led to the DoL working with 15 teachers in one school and 5teachers and 1 pupil support assistant (PSA) in the other school. This was in response to the teachers’ identification of children with attachment issues requiring support. An important finding at this stage of the project was that teachers were beginning to recognise and respond to children who previously would not have been noticed or would perhaps have been dismissed on account of behaviour.

As we enter the final year of this three year cycle, the project team have been working particularly with the senior management teams in each school to move them towards assuming more responsibility for maintaining the practice models which the project has introduced into the schools. This responsibility will mean that in each school a member of the senior management team will gradually assume the functions of the DoL. In order to ensure this transition is as effective and comfortable as possible, this development is being implemented through a carefully monitored mentoring programme. Concurrent with this development, the project team is working with the schools to connect this practice to national practice models which are set out in national policies, specifically Staged Intervention and GIRFEC

(Getting it Right for Every Child).

Emergent issues

There are a number of issues that have emerged in relation to the main aim of the project which was to not only support those children with attachment issues who had moved on from the Jeely Nursery, but to develop a sustainable model which would recognise and support any children with attachment issues. Firstly, we have evidence that the initial small group of children would not have been identified as requiring support had it not been for the project. Secondly, teachers are now beginning to identify other children throughout the schools requiring support who previously had been dismissed as simply being ‘difficult’ or ‘naughty’. There has also been some evidence of children being overlooked because ‘someone else will be dealing with it’. However there is a growing awareness by teachers of their personal skills which were not previously attributed as responses to issues of attachment.The responsibility that all teachers have towards every child is at the heart of GIRFEC and it is this connection between practice and policy which we are continuing to build on.

Growing up in Scotland and Scandinavia: What do our longitudinal studies tell us about our children's wellbeing?

Conference - November 13th 2013 - John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh

The conference was hosted by Leslie Riddoch and invited professionals (national and international) to explore the experiences of children growing up in Scotland and Scandinavia. Keynote speakers included Aileen Campbell (MSP Minister for Children and Young People) who highlighted the latest (OECD) report; Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden) istop- ranked for outcomes for children. Aileen Campbell identified some positive developments in Scotland such as“Getting It Right For Every Child” as well as the challenges of child poverty. A full list of presenters can be accessed on the links at end of this article, also aninsightful and enjoyable statistical overview of Glasgow and Gothenburg (europeinminiature) video which is a useful method of illustrating common health and well-being statistics. There is also a link for the full content of this article which explores GUS in respect of attachment/empathy.

Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) is a large-scale longitudinal research project with the task of following the lives of several cohorts of Scottish children through their childhood trajectory. Commissionedin 2003by Scottish Government to "generate, through robust methods, specifically Scottishdata about outcomes throughout childhood and into adulthoodfor children growing up in Scotland" across a range of keydomains inclusive of physical, social, emotional and educational development. GUS is an excellent resource for professionals of all disciplines whom have an interest in the lives and aspirations of children and young people in our society.

From a Scottish perspective the conference aimed to explore individual children's experiences through their development trajectory. It provided a clear perception of the challenges, strengths and aspirations of individual children who collectively made up cohorts.The conference highlighted effective and productive work which is evident in Scotland as well as highlighting the levels of parental mental health conditions, poverty and high levels of anxiety in childhood. The inclusion of direct interviews with children and their carers was powerful and acknowledged the Scottish Government’s aim that future planning of services needs to engage service users and professionalscollaborativelyin theimprovement of outcomes for children's wellbeing.The questions illustrated as an ecological model of assessment. As professionals we have a shared responsibility in recognition of a holistic and person centred way which promotes inclusion.The responses from participants should influence future planning of services and promote a sense of citizenship for those involved in the aim of improving outcomes for children's wellbeing.

GUS collates information over time with the same cohorts of children and enables a comprehensive/critical analysis of developmental stages and the interplay of parent/child relationships. GUS provides the statistical evidence to substantiate this. Child development is not one which operates in isolation, a fundamental component is the presence of a healthy, reciprocal consistent care giver whom has a secure attachment to the child. Neuroscience among other fields is increasing our awareness of the potential damage individuals may be exposed to pre-natally and in early childhood. Over-stimulationby way of high levels of cortisol can create a hyper arousal to stress. Research tells us that the majority of brain development occurs early in childhood and highlights an overproduction of synaptic matter, pruning occurs naturally when synapses don't join up.

In acknowledgement of secure attachment processes, one area of interests is the 18 months parental leave given to both parents after the birth of a child in Scandinavia. The very early physical andphysiological interactions after birth which facilitate attunement and the development of a secure basecan be compromised when parents are either physically or emotionally away from their child, for example, at work or themselves experiencing mental/physical health conditions.

GUS identified the difficulties young people can experience during the transition to primary and high schools. A key developmental task in infancy is attachment to the primary care giver which creates opportunities for self-control. This skill if achieved in infancy creates the capacity in later childhood to move from control of self to control of the environment.Lack of positive reciprocity between family members/carers can create dubiety for children during interactions with teachers, peers and within school environment.All presenters promoted the sense of self-esteem and resilience to empower young people in overcoming the challenges they face.

To conclude GUS highlighted the need to analyse information in a meaningful way. Adopting an ecological/holistic child centred framework such as "Getting It Right For Every Child” co-ordinates a shared assessment and planning approach with the inclusion of risk assessment. The conference reminded all of us of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.Longitudinal studies provide an extra dimension to our collective knowledge of when working with children and families andhighlights awareness of rights/access to services. Attending theconference and accessing the research collated by GUS provides professionals of all disciplines with a learning opportunity. Having an open mind in the appreciation of other professional knowledge is a systematic way to improve outcomes.

For full access the main link for all conference presentations:

* http// - provides access to all presentations and highlights findings of research and future planning

* http// - provides an enjoyable and insightful overview of similarities and differences of life in Scotland and Scandinavia

* Full article - Analysis ofGrowing up in Scotland and Scandinavia: What do our longitudinal studies tell us about our children's wellbeing in respect of attachment and child development.

Eileen Stewart

Social worker

Introducing The Child’s Curriculum Group

In 2007 Barbara Robertson, Head of the Cowgate Nuresery in the Old Town of Edinburgh started a campaign to respond to Edinburgh City Council plans to close the Cowgate, and other much loved stand-alone nursery schools in the city, and to reduce staff in all nursery schools and classes, all to cut costs by incorporating preschool classes in primary schools under a primary head teacher. They had reduced the number of children, many in areas of multi-deprivation, who can take up full-time places at nurseries, following a plan to encourage parents to use private preschool. This policy, counter to the objectives of the SNP Government for the Early Years, ignores the wise tradition of nursery or kindergarten education and care, long supported famously in Scotland, which accepts the benefits of creative play, and the social sensibility of infants and toddlers wanting and their responsiveness to care from affectionate and imaginative teachers, before mastery of reading, writing and arithmetic. A young child’s body and mind does not thrive in a classroom with little freedom to move, to explore the natural world, and to celebrate peer company.