Angela Greenwood — Educational Psychotherapist

This website is mainly oriented towards my new book, 'Understanding, nurturing and working effectively with vulnerable children in schools’ (Routledge 2020)

In these times of increasing pressure and stress many classes, especially in inner city schools, have a small number of students who just can’t learn and respond to good teaching. They can cause huge anxieties for staff. Their behaviour disrupts relationships and the learning of others - sometimes stretching the capacities of the whole school.

When I was a SENCO this realisation eventually led me to train as an Educational Psychotherapist with The Caspari Foundation in London (see ‘Origins’ above)

'Understanding, nurturing and working effectively with vulnerable children in schools?' arose out of my experience:

offering training and clinical supervision in schools and privately - including a Pupil Referral Unit

working with teachers, school staff, foster and adoptive agencies and parents, around issues and concerns relating to their most troubled pupils and children

working as an educational psychotherapist with the most vulnerable and disturbed children in a Domestic Abuse setting, privately, and in schools

facilitating and sharing in a local Nurture staff support group

All teachers need to know how to understand and work with their more vulnerable and learning resistant children. Such understanding, and the timely and conscious use of the significant relationships that occur naturally in school, will benefit everyone. Empathy and thoughtfulness will be evoked in all children when they see the more vulnerable ones being cared for and responded to in a firm and thoughtful way. Teachers will benefit too, as the description of a ‘nurturing school’ illustrates so vividly in the final chapter.

The opportunity for teachers and school staff

The good news for teachers and schools is that whatever has developed already in a child, if they are given a secure nurturing environment and significant, attuned, thoughtful and consistent attachment relationships, even vulnerable or ‘disturbed’ children can change and grow, and already formed dysfunctional patterns can be eased and replaced, or at least overlaid, with functional ones. It may not be easy and it will take time; but it’s possible.

'Understanding, nurturing and working effectively with vulnerable children in schools’ is all about this. (see Publications above)