ENFOQUE DE DERECHOS DE LA NIÑEZ Y LA ADOLESCENCIA

Laura had a very difficult time in her family and was regularly told she was worthless by her step-father and mother. Laura’s mother was heavily controlled by her step-father and found it very hard to think for herself. At the request of School, a Family Support Worker became involved and helped to improve the situation. Last year Laura’s mother gained enough confidence to separate from her husband.

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Subsequently Laura’s neighbour (her best friend’s father) sent Laura sexually abusive text messages and began stalking her. Laura’s family involved the police and the neighbour was sent to prison. A feud between the two neighbouring families began and Laura was physically attacked at school on a number of occasions. Laura remained at risk for the best part of a term attending school infrequently until these neighbours moved out of the area.

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4.1.3J

4.1.3.1F

I

Jess was well presented and articulate; she seemed relaxed and confident. It soon became apparent how frustrated Jess was with learning, in particular the speed at which she was expected to understand concepts. I got a strong sense of both Jess’s work ethic and also her belief that she could never do enough to satisfy school. In addition to this it was apparent that stress and panic had a large part to play in Jess’s underachievement in exams.

TABLE 3: SUMMARY OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS AND TARGETS (SEE APPENDIX 6 FOR DETAILS OF CAT SCORES AND NATIONAL CURRICULUM LEVELS).

4.1.3.2S

D

I

Jess had a difficult time when she dated a boy who was involved with drink and drugs and who was subsequently permanently excluded from school at the end of Year 9. Jess accessed counselling with “safe speak” (a RELATE group).

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4.1.4A

4.1.4.1F

I

Alistair was good looking and smartly dressed with the latest haircut. He appeared confident and laid back. Alistair gave the impression that learning was too much effort for him, and seemed more focused on becoming self- employed and joining in with his father’s business or one like it. Alistair did not fit my expectations of a child eligible for FSM.

TABLE 4: SUMMARY OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS AND TARGETS (SEE APPENDIX 6 FOR DETAILS OF CAT SCORES AND NATIONAL CURRICULUM LEVELS).

4.1.4.2S

D

I

Alistair’s parents were separated; he lived with his mother and older sister on an ex-council estate. Alistair seemed very switched off from schoolwork. On his recent work experience week he refused to sort out a pile of hangers and left work early on his three o’clock break.

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4.1.5B

4.1.5.1F

I

Bradley wore very worn clothes that were too small for him. He had a cheeky smile, but his teeth needed professional attention. Bradley was very honest about his desire to do as little as possible at school and to be unnoticed by teachers. In spite of Bradley’s attitude he preferred school to home.

TABLE 5: SUMMARY OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS AND TARGETS (SEE APPENDIX 6 FOR DETAILS OF CAT SCORES AND NATIONAL CURRICULUM LEVELS).

4.1.5.2S

D

I

Bradley’s family originally came from a coastal town, where Bradley’s father was employed as a chef. All children in the family appeared neglected; they often attended school dirty and unkempt and could come to school with little or no lunch. Bradley had an older brother who was forced out of the house at 15 years old. School were concerned that a similar situation might arise with Bradley and he might be homeless by Christmas since, in the Director of Inclusion’s opinion, Bradley’s father needed to be the dominant male.

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4.1.6.J

4.1.6.1.F

I

Jason had very short hair and appeared a bit dishevelled. He was at ease talking and had interesting ideas and opinions that he was happy to share. There was a strong sense of the struggle Jason had concentrating and controlling his behaviour. Jason also had very critical self-talk and a strong desire to change his behaviour. Jason tended to focus on curtailing negative traits rather than encouraging any positive traits. Jason felt his family were distressed over his attitude and behaviour at school.

TABLE 6: SUMMARY OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS AND TARGETS (SEE APPENDIX 6 FOR DETAILS OF CAT SCORES AND NATIONAL CURRICULUM LEVELS).

4.1.6.2

S

D

I

Jason could be challenging of everything teachers said to him and needed careful non-confrontational and respectful handling. Jason related well with his Head of House, but clashed with his form teacher.

Jason tended to get away with doing what he wanted at home, but was recently sacked by his Auntie on his work experience placement because he didn’t do what he was supposed to.

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4.2

FINDINGS

A total of eight super-ordinate themes emerged from the analysis. Seven of the eight themes were shared by every student, the eighth theme, home events, was shared by five of the six students. These themes will now be described in clusters around each research question, with reference to their prevalence. Quotes or line references (for illuminatory quotes contained in the appendix) were taken from at least half of the participants who referred to a subordinate theme in their interview. The aim was to illustrate divergence as well as

convergence with these extracts, so as to illustrate both the breadth and depth of each theme (Smith, 2011). When interview extracts are used the interviewer’s words are shown in italics. A table begins the start of each superordinate theme section; they show the composite subordinate themes and which students refer to each subordinate theme. Line numbers are shown in brackets, the quotes they refer to may be found in the appendix. The appendix number associated with each superordinate theme is shown at the start of each superordinate theme section.

I recognise that as these findings are both idiographic and all from students attending one particular school, it will doubtless be possible for school staff to identify individual students from the findings which follow in this chapter. Consequently my feedback to this school will only contain generalisations, as will any training I give to other schools in the authority (as part of the EPS contribution to the challenge of closing the FSM achievement gap). If I use an example, this will portray the “essence” of a student’s comment but not

personal details. In this way I consider that I will honour my promise of confidentiality to the students who took part in the study.

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FIGURE 8: OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS, SUPERORDINATE AND SUBORDINATE THEMES, PART 1

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FIGURE 9: OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS, SUPERORDINATE AND SUBORDINATE THEMES, PART 2

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4.2.1R

:H