Procedure

To undertake the research a variety of school settings were required. This enabled the research to explore how the project would work in a variety of Secondary school settings with a variety of CYP led by different teachers.

Staff training was led by the researcher working with teaching staff in participating schools, it was an essential requirement for the project. Each school agreed to train 2 practitioners, one of whom had to be a qualified teacher and who would become the LP. Schools A and D were trained at the same time. Training was for 15 hours over 3 days. School B and E were not able to come together for the training and so were trained individually, training was undertaken for 15 hours over 2 days.

The training ensured that all staff understood the theoretical basis of the project. To ensure this a variety of papers was used to support the practitioners develop their knowledge and understanding in the key fields. Each area of training was linked to discussion and real-life practice by the researcher (see Appendix 12 for staff training presentations). The first day started with attachment, neuroscience and learning. This explored a brief history of attachment research, implications for relationships and the affect that attachment could have on both learning within schools (Geddes, 2006) and also on relationships with teachers and peers. The training also looked at the information that neuroscience is now offering to this field.

The second part of the CfL staff training focused on emotional literacy and emotional barriers to learning. Papers were again shared and research discussed, with specific information being highlighted and ways the project might develop this area within the classroom. The penultimate part of the training was focused on social skills, what was meant by this term, how they were taught and supported within schools and a variety of ways that they might be developed through the use of the parent- baby observations.

The final part of the training focused on learning dimensions and what makes a good learner. This brought together the threads of a secure base, relationships, emotional literacy and self-regulation within the school environment and the impact these had on learning. It finished with exploring the ways that CfL could support the development of learning dispositions within the classroom. To support practitioners’ understanding of how to develop the project within their class, video clips were used to demonstrate how the observations could be narrated, how the use of open

questions could stimulate discussion and debate and the use of the teaching

resources created by the researcher to support follow-up lessons. (See Appendix 13 for resources for teachers). The focus throughout the training was twofold: firstly, developing staff knowledge and understanding about the key theoretical concepts involved and secondly, developing the knowledge and understanding of how to use the baby-parent observations to stimulate work within the five key areas supporting PMHWB.

Training also involved looking at the assessments: Butler Self Image, (SIP) Effective Lifelong Learning (ELLI) and Southampton Emotional Literacy Assessment (SELA) that would be utilised and how to implement these.

Once the training had been completed, a plan of implementation was created and agreed with each participating school. This included:

1. Groups identified to take part and rationale behind these choices. 2. Baseline assessments.

3. How and when the observations and follow-up sessions would be undertaken for the year ahead. (See Appendix 14 for the timeline for participating

schools).

4. Who would lead the observation and follow-up sessions.

5. How the work would be shared with other colleagues within school. 6. How the children’s discussions and work would be recorded.

7. How the teachers understanding, thought processes and reflections would be recorded.

Each school became a case study and worked with the researcher to develop the project within its own environment to meet the needs of their CYP. Each school undertook the work in slightly different ways. Once the parent-baby dyad had been identified and the children prepared, the sessions began. A special blanket was used for the mum and baby to sit on so that the baby did not have contact with a dirty floor and all CYP used a hand sanitiser before the visit. The children then positioned themselves around the blanket in a circle so that they could observe the interactions. The LP chose to sit in a variety of places, however, the most useful place seemed to be opposite the parent-baby, as this allowed them to narrate what was happening and to ask questions. Children were encouraged to ask questions and interact with the baby. The time of the session was gauged on the ability of the baby or the CYP to manage, but most groups worked for 30-60 minutes. After the session, the practitioner explored the CYP’s thoughts and observations, which then fed into their follow-up lessons.

Due to the project being a case study research the researcher looked at the baseline assessments and then final assessments of children and young people undertaking the project, the topics covered and the learning that grew out of the observation sessions. The researcher also undertook semi-structured interviews face-to-face or by telephone with all LPs, to understand the impact of the work on their practice. (Appendix 8) In addition, the researcher was able to observe the parent-child sessions and videos made by the schools and also use the teacher’s log to discuss ways the project could develop within each school. The researcher then looked at the information collected from each school, both as individual case studies and then collectively.