Page 42 - SEN114 September/October 2021

Adoption
Supporting adopted
children in school
Jane Poore and Hetty Verhagen provide tips for making school a better experience for adopted children.
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Most children who are adopted in the UK, were removed from their birth parents’ care through child protection procedures. Some were in foster care from when they were born, while others started life
with their birth families and have vivid memories of this time. The reasons why children come into care are complex. Many have had early traumatic experiences due to abuse, neglect, domestic abuse or parental alcohol and substance abuse. Parental mental health, learning disabilities and poverty often also play an important part in the children’s histories. While we focus on adopted children in this article, many of the issues discussed are also applicable to children living with kinship and foster carers.
Adopted children have all experienced significant losses. At the very least they have lost their birth family and foster carers. If we understand attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness” between a child and their caregiver, it is easy to see that these losses can have a disruptive effect on the development of a child’s attachments. They may unconsciously feel that adults cannot be trusted and might one day leave them. School can therefore be a ‘big ask’, because they are being required to trust and follow adults. The learning process itself, engaging in curiosity, requires a child to feel safe and free to express themselves. It is hardly surprising that learning takes a back seat when the ‘primitive brain’- the parts that govern our fear responses such as fight, flight, and freeze – is in survival mode and the child does not feel safe.
Because many adopted children have experienced hurt in their early relationships, positive relationships with adults in school can be a very powerful part of their recovery. Adults who are willing to really get to know them are one of the most important resources an adopted child can have in school. Adults who recognise that underneath behaviour that may look distracted, disruptive, or even aggressive, there is a frightened child, trying to survive. Someone to reassure them that whatever happened today, tomorrow is always a new day. Somebody to help puzzle out friendship issues, as friendships may be complicated by low self-esteem, a need to control (often misunderstood as “bossy” or “manipulating”) and underdeveloped friendship skills.
Adoptive parents have the difficult task of choosing the best school for their child; one which will support them to reach their educational potential through an understanding of their emotional needs. Adoptive parents will be looking for schools that can demonstrate a thorough understanding of the impact of trauma and loss, where attachment principles are firmly embedded within policies. They may choose a school with experience in teaching children who are adopted or in the care system over the highest performing schools.
Whole school training on the impact of trauma and attachment disruptions is often helpful. We recommend that each adult in school access this training, as everyone in the setting has a role to play in showing the child that they are safe and valued in school. This training might be provided by Regional
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