How can Personal Tutors and other staff support

How can Personal Tutors and other staff support care leaver students to achieve? Anne Bentley Student Counselling & Personal Development Service Team Leader Louise Baker Student Support and Development Specialist Nadine Johns Care Leaver Support Worker

It’s not a level playing field • In 2001, 1% of young people leaving care went to university. • In 2011 it was 6%; compared with the 35% of the general population (Buttle, 2013). • Care Leaver students may not possess the cultural advantages of non-care leaver students such as ‘the lack of early and fluent reading in the home and poor parent-child communication, as well as a lack of family history of HE participation’ (Finnie cited in Cotton et al 2014).

Today’s workshop – what we’re going to do Using insights from Attachment Theory this workshop will: • look at the possible impact of insecure early relationships on the educational experience of students • draw on care leaver students testimony about their experience of Personal Tutoring • suggest ways in which Personal Tutors can become ‘attachment-aware’ to enhance care leaver (and noncare leaver students) educational experience

Care Leaver Legal Definition A person who has been looked after by a local authority for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and who was in care on their 16 th birthday Why placed in care? • Risk of harm • Circumstantial • No fault of their own What happens? • Placed with a foster family/children’s home • May move schools and/or be separated from siblings • May live independently from age of 16, care order ends at 18

Background Info – Plymouth University • 125 care leavers 2014 -15 – 0. 5% UG population • 69 Care Leaver Bursaries awarded in 2014/15 • 2013 -14 – 199 CL applicants, 45 enrolled, 1 withdrawn • 93% CL retention rate 2010 -14 • High proportion gain 1 st or 2: 1 & some excel • Holders of Buttle UK Quality Mark at exemplary level

What is Attachment? Identified by John Bowlby Attachment is about how we get our needs for safety and security met by our caregivers. Our early experiences of our relationship with our ‘attachment figures’ or caregivers are usually seen as forming the template for future relationship experiences

‘ Early developmental experiences with caregivers—the infant’s first exposure to humans—create a set of associations and ‘‘templates’’ for the child’s brain about what humans are. Are humans safe, predictable? Are they a source of sustenance, comfort, and pleasure? Or are they unpredictable and a source of fear, chaos, pain, and loss? ’ Perry and Hambrick 2008 cited in Furnival, J (2011)

What are attachments? Secure attachments support mental processes that enable us to manage our emotions, reduce fear, attune to others, have self-understanding and insight, empathy for others and appropriate moral reasoning. Insecure attachments, where a child could not rely on an adult to respond to their needs in times of stress, leaves children less able to develop ways to comfort themselves, manage their emotions and form healthy relationships. Furnival, J (2011)

Attachment and learning? Research demonstrates that emotions fundamentally drive cognitive learning and, in order to generate successful learning, educators need to engage the affective dimensions of pupils’ minds. ” (Immordino-Yang and Damasio 2007).

When students are anxious and feel insecure, their ability to think and learn is lessened. We can help students to feel less anxious by showing and communicating our understanding and support.

Attachment and Learning If we are aware of attachment, we can help our students to seek support, feel safe and develop intellectual curiosity. If students feel safe and secure it helps then to tolerate the times when they feel insecure and are struggling with the times of ‘not knowing’ that are fundamental to learning.

3 Main Attachment styles Secure – ‘I’m ok, you’re there for me’. Insecure avoidant – ‘It’s not ok to be emotional’. The carer is experienced as unavailable or insensitive. Insecure ambivalent – ‘I want comfort but it doesn’t help me’ Child experiences carer as not ‘holding them in mind’. Fears that they are forgotten. Inconsistent and unresponsive parenting. National College for Teaching and Leadership (2014)

Mind. Ed Quiz www. minded. org. uk

What can tutors do to support students with insecure attachments? Insecure avoidant: be available, introduce yourself, explain what your role is, proactively set meeting times, don’t wait for them to ask for a tutorial as they usually won’t. Insecure ambivalent: communicate that you haven’t forgotten them, that you are holding them in mind, notice absences, email reminders of appointments, proactively and supportively refer to other services.

Transformative Personal Tutoring ‘Attachment-aware’ Personal Tutors can potentially be a secondary attachment figure who could reshape insecure attachment behaviours and support the development of more secure ones. A empathic tutor can challenge early experiences of poor or unresponsive care giving.

The Care Leaver Team: what we’ve learned in a nutshell - Don’t assume students are doing OK if they don’t contact you. - Students may not ask for help when it is needed. - Some students may not have the confidence and trust to take the help that is offered. We may need to be persistent. - Students benefit from regular contact and a supportive, empathic relationship. - We try not to blame but to understand. - Look at the need rather than the behaviour.

Missed appointments Attending Counselling To date we are aware of 6 students who have informed us about receiving counselling support and 2 students that have been referred to external agencies for specific support Missed appointments This can be a regular occurrence with some students, where you may have to constantly contact them about their missed appointments. Some students prefer to receive a text on the day as a reminder, then they are more likely to turn up 5 students who are seen regularly, have missed more than 3 booked appointments

Quiz: Guess the Personal Tutor’s Attachment Style as experienced by our students We will present some Care Leaver Students’ Experiences of Personal Tutoring What attachment style is being perceived by the student?

Is it a: - Secure personal tutoring type – the student feels supported and cared for - Insecure avoidant personal tutoring type – The tutor is experienced as unavailable or insensitive - Insecure ambivalent personal tutoring type – the tutor is experienced as not holding them in mind, as not remembering them, as being inconsistent and unresponsive .

1. Personal tutor experience - Sally In my first year, my personal tutor was really good and helpful – I was introduced to my personal tutor at the very beginning. My attendance wasn’t very good, so I was called into a meeting with my personal tutor who was really supportive and put me back on track. I mentioned to my tutor that I was a care leaver and this made no difference in the way I was treated.

2. Personal tutor experiences - Clare

3. Personal tutor experiences - Alan

4. Personal tutor experiences - James

5. Personal tutor experiences - David

6. Personal tutor experiences - Ivan

7. Personal tutor experiences - Shelley

8. Personal tutor experiences – Mike

9. Personal tutor experiences - Raphael

10. Personal tutor experiences - Tim

What's your attachment style? • how do you think students experience your personal tutor attachment style? • Does anyone want to share their thoughts?

Attachment aware tutoring doesn’t just support Care Leavers – it supports all students Attachment aware tutoring has the potential to transform the educational experience of students Attachment aware tutoring can transform students lives beyond university.

References Buttle Uk (2013) Assessing the Impact of the Buttle UK Quality Mark in Higher Education 4 June Cotton, D. R. E. , Nash, T. and Kneale, P. (2014) The experience of care leavers in UK Higher Education. Journal of Widening Participation and LIfelong Learning 16 (3) Furnival, J (2011) ‘attachment-informed practice with looked after children and young people’, Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) [online] http: //www. iriss. org. uk/sites/default/files/iriss_insight 10. pdf

References Howe, D. (2005) Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment, Development and Intervention. Palgrave Macmillan. Immordino-Yang, M. H. and Damasio, A. (2007), ‘We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education’. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1. 1, 3 -10. National College for Teaching and Leadership (2014) ‘An Introduction to Attachment and the implications for Learning and Behaviour’ [online] http: //www. bathspa. ac. uk/Media/Education/attachment-and-the-implications-forlearning-and-behaviour. pdf

Contact Details Anne Bentley Student Counselling and Personal Development Team Leader Email: anne. bentley@plymouth. ac. uk Tel: 01752 587701 Louise Baker Student Support and Development Specialist Email: lbaker@plymouth. ac. uk Tel: 01752 586733 Nadine Johns Care Leaver Support Worker Email: njohns@plymouth. ac. uk Tel: 01752 587961 www. plymouth. ac. uk/careleavers Email: careleavers@plymouth. ac. uk

I was taken into care at the age of 4 along with my two sisters. I was moved around for 2 and a half years, and went back to my mum when I was 7 as she was pregnant. A month after the birth of my baby brother, we all went back into care. At 18 months old my brother was sadly adopted. Before I started University I was contacted by the Care Leavers Service, and offered support and was told about the £ 2000 care leavers grant available to me. As I don’t get much help from my social services this was greatly appreciated. Once I had started University I was told about the C. A. K. E meetings, these were meetings that were held once a month for care leavers at the University. They were usually for a reason e. g learning development sessions but they were also helpful for when any of the students had any queries or were feeling low. When I got back to Plymouth, I was in a really bad place but I got help and support with my course which helped me catch up. I had an enabler to help me with taking notes. This wouldn’t have been possible without the Care Leavers Service. This also convinced me to stay on at University. After two years of college I received the grades I needed to get into Plymouth University, so in September 2010 I moved from Essex to Plymouth to study Business Administration. In my second year, I became very unwell and was constantly in and out of hospital. This put me behind in my Uni work as I was not well enough to attend lectures. I was very close to quitting University altogether, packing my bags and going home. However I went to see someone in the Care Leavers Service, they helped me get home to see my family for a week and take time out. Me and the middle sister stayed together, unfortunately my eldest sister was taken elsewhere. Although we stayed with the same family for 10 years. The foster home broke down when I was 17 (no fault of my own might I add) my grandparents kindly took me in as supported lodgings. During the first year of college, my foster home was breaking down and things were really difficult for me, I started to skip lessons and not bother going in. However when I moved in with my grandparents, they helped me get back into college. I studied Accountancy and Double Business Studies. I am now living back in Essex, and am part-owner in a contract packaging and distribution business, as well as working for a teaching agency allowing me to teach part time. Cheri Duffett