Working with parents of vulnerable pupils
Story Links has been very effective here. It’s a valuable vehicle for working with parents of pupils at risk of exclusion and especially supports those pupils who also have problems with literacy.
Headteacher, Brighton
Story Links is a more specialised extension of Therapeutic Storywriting Groups and includes work with parents of vulnerable pupils.
For many of these pupils the emotional difficulties that are getting in the way of their learning are related to attachment difficulties. Story Links uses therapeutic storywriting to address behaviour issues, support positive attachment and improve pupils’ reading. It is a solution-focused systemic programme delivered in weekly sessions in which the parent/carer and the child are facilitated to co-create a story which is then used as the child’s reading text during the week.
Research funded by the TDA and conducted by the University of Chichester shows that Story Links improves parental engagement with their child’s learning, reduces exclusion from the classroom and improves pupils’ reading.
Training
Course content
- attachment theory and implications for learning in the classroom
- strategies to include the ‘hard-to-engage’ parent
- emotional significance of story metaphor
- establishing an emotionally containing environment for parents and pupils
- delivery of the 10 week Story Links intervention
Target group
SENCOs, Behaviour Intervention Teams, Educational Psychology Services, Looked After Children Services and other professionals working with parents of vulnerable pupils at KS 1 & 2.
Course duration
3 days
The training course is supported by an online training manual: www.storylinkstraining.co.uk