Lowri Roberts So, hi everyone, my name’s Lowri  Roberts. I’m an Assistant Educational Psychologist   working for Neath Port Talbot Local Authority.  I predominantly work with children looked after,   but since joining the team, I’ve had an array  of different experiences, working from the   early years, and working mostly with children  with social, emotional and behavioural needs,   as well. So, I’m going to be telling  you a little bit about my role today. So, what are my best hopes for  today? And it’s go – moving forward,   we always say it’s a ‘best hope’ rather  than an aim or an objective, in our team,   because we know that sometimes it doesn’t always  happen, but we can always hope for the best. So,   hopefully today, I’m going to tell you about my  role as an Assistant Educational Psychologist   in Neath Port Talbot, working with children  looked after and the communities around them.   I’m also going to share the Tonnau Community  Model. So, this is my small team within the   educational psychology service that I  definitely couldn’t do my role without. Then, I’m going to be sharing some psychological  principles that may help you, or could help you,   understand some of the behaviours that we see  in children looked after, and then, finally,   I’ll be sharing some information about the  different ways that we could support children,   young people, families and professionals moving  forward. So, we’ll be thinking not only at an   individual level here, but also what are some of  the more creative ways that we are using in the   Tonnau Team to support the children, young  people and their families moving forward? Okay, so, who am I? So, this is one of the  most important things, I think, that I can   do in my role and that – and I would advocate for  anyone to do working with children looked after,   is actually introduce yourselves. Say who you  are, a little bit about yourself, but obviously,   maintaining those professional boundaries. This  is going to look different for everyone, but this   is a little bit about me. So, like I’ve said, I’m  an Assistant Educational Psychologist for children   looked after. I love being outdoors and spending  time with my pets. So, as you can see, this is me   on the beach with my trusted support dog, Angus  Young, who also comes into the schools with me.   It’s very rare you’ll see one without the other.  In my free time, I also enjoy playing netball.   Play netball most Mondays and it’s a lovely  way for me to network and make friends there. So, little bit about Angus. He is a support dog  within the Tonnau Team, and the children always   ask, “What breed is he?” He’s a yellow Labrador,  and when he comes into school, he loves having   what we say in Wales is a cwtch, which is a Welsh  version of a hug. He loves having cwtches with   the children to help them feel a little bit more  regulated and a little bit more calmer in their   environment. And I have to applaud him, because  he does help me with my role, because sometimes it   can be scary meeting someone new and when working  for – when working with children looked after. So,   there’s a little bit about me and a little  bit about my dog, and we’ll move on now. So, like I said, I work for the Educational  Psychology Service in Neath and Port Talbot. So,   the Educational Psychology Service, we’re  a growing team, I guess, depending on how   many Educational Psychologists are, we all  work for a particular cluster. However,   within this wide team, I work for a smaller team.  So, within this team, we have Dr Carys John. So,   Carys is a Senior Educational Psychologist for  social, emotional and behavioural difficulties   and we also have another Assistant Educational  Psychologist, whose name is Caitlin Davies,   and she mostly supports children and young  people with emotional-based school avoidance. So,   previously, you may have ref – heard of this  term being called ‘school refusers’. However,   Caitlin works with the emotional aspect of that. So, mainly, we support children across the  authority with social, emotional and behavioural   needs and we do that by applying our knowledge  of psychology. So, we draw on lots of different   theories and we don’t just, sort of, stick to one  approach because it’s never a one size fits all,   as Kathryn just alluded to. So, we use lots  of different theories, ranging all the way   from attachment, positive psychology, solution  focused therapy. We’ve got lots of different   tips and tricks that we use, and what we really  do is use the psychology to facilitate meaningful   change for that individual child. So, we’re  working with that individual child, but also,   the people around them. So, that could be  their families, their carers. It could be   other services, which I’ll talk about in  a little bit more detail moving forward. So, like I said, we mostly support children  looked after and one of the main reasons that   the Tonnau came – that the Tonnau Team  came together was because we, sort of,   originally were working individually,  however, a lot of our children, we noticed,   were overlapping in their cases. So, for example,  children looked after, a lot were experiencing,   following the pandemic, emotional-based  school avoidance. So, it made much more   sense for us to work together and learn  from each other and be able to have that   opportunity to reflect on each other and learn  from each other’s best practice, moving forward. So, what exactly does Tonnau mean? So, in Wales,  we’ve obviously got our Welsh language. So, Tonnau   is Welsh for waves. So, this was a metaphor,  really, for the area that we work in. So,   Neath Port Talbot is located very, very close  to the beach and we have a lovely beach called   Aberavon close by, but also, it’s supposed to  act as a metaphor for the children and young   people that we support. So, the lo – the  child and young people as – we support,   as I’m sure most of you are aware, can  sometimes come from very, very challenging   backgrounds. A day in the life is never the same.  Sometimes they’re faced with quite large waves,   but sometimes the waters can come – appear a  little bit more calmer and experiences different   waves throughout their lives. So, that was the  metaphor for working with our children, really. Within our team we have shared values that we like  to hold moving forward. So, we’re always working   in a way that’s pupil-focused and like I just  mentioned before, we want to ensure that we’re   applying our psychology in a way that’s meaningful  for that individual child. A lot of the time,   the children looked after that we support, or the  children that are adopted that we support have had   lots of different professionals come into their  lives. And they meet lots of different people,   who are there for shorts periods of time, some  are there for a little bit longer. But what we   really want to do is make sure that we’re do –  facilitating change and supporting the people   around them to make sure that change is meaningful  for that individual child. So, that means that   it’s focused on their interests and that it’s  person-centred to their individual needs. One thing that we also focus on is  championing that pupil voice. So,   for a lot of the children and young  people that we support, historically,   their voices aren’t always heard in the best  way. We’ve often seen, I suppose, sometimes   that the pupil can’t contribute their views and  we really want to challenge that stereotype,   because we know that they do have a voice and  they definitely have some very, very important   opinions. And we want to make – find different  ways to empower them to hear their voice. The other thing that we aim to do is build  relationships. So, building relationships   and engaging and connecting with others is really,  really important in our role, not only to help the   children and young people feel safe, but to also  connect communities together, the communities that   need to be connected to support these children and  young people. And we can do this in many different   ways, such as psychoeducation, so teaching  the child and also, the people around them,   how their brain works. What are their  strengths? What are their interests?   And how we can use them to a child’s advantage.  And I suppose, overall, what we’re aiming to do,   then, is provide that individual child with  a sense of hope and optimism moving forward. So, what exactly does our support look like?  So, the Tonnau Community Model is based from   Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory.  So, what does this theory mean exactly, so on,   so forth? So, I suppose, in a nutshell,  Bronfenbrenner’s Theory suggests that   it’s not just an individual. There’s  lots of different systems around that   individual child or young person that could  impact and influence their development. So,   I’ve got an image here on my right. Full  credit to the Creative Clinical Psychologist,   who’s got some lovely infographics out there  that she shares, and this helps to explain that. So, if we just work at an individual  level, we have to ensure that we’re   finding different ways to engage that child,  to build that relationship with that child,   and then, we move into the wider systems.  Now, the wider systems can sometimes be   a little bit more complicated and sometimes,  the individual child can’t access those. So,   part of our role is connecting with the  different individuals in those wider   systems to see how we can facilitate change  for that individual child or young person. So, for example, in the microsystem, this could  include doing consultations with families,   and I’ll talk about our parent/carer drop ins that  we’re offering later. We go out a little bit to   the exosystem, so looking at media, so finding  different ways that we can share information,   whether that be different resource sheets  online, podcasts, so on, so forth. And also,   contributing to local policies, as she’s put –  as is put on there, within the local authority,   to ensure that children’s – that we’re championing  the voices of the children and young people. So, the aim of community psychology is  to connect and build relationships in the   community with the people who are best placed  to support that child or young person. So,   that means that it’s not just going in and working  with that individual child, and as we’ve mentioned   earlier, we need to find ways to link with  different people from different services,   to make sure, really, that, you know,  everyone who’s best placed to support   that child has something to bring. And again,  there’s many different ways we can do that. Another key reason is – for the Community  Psychology Model of Tonnau was to provide   a service that’s more equitable. So,  I’m not sure if everyone’s aware,   but within Wales at the moment, we’ve gone  through a huge reform at the moment. So,   we’ve – the reform’s called the Additional  Learning Needs Reform. So, we’ve moved   from special educational needs to additional  learning needs within Wales. And one of the things   that we wanted to empower through our model is to  provide a service that is more equitable so that   these more vulnerable groups, such as children  looked after, can actually access our service. So, we’ve had to look at the services around  that individual child and the systems around   that individual child to see how, actually – what  can we do to make a difference here? How can we   make sure that people are getting the support that  they need? And like I said, the whole aim of that,   then, is to empower those peo – those individual  children who may actually find it a little bit   harder for their voices to be heard. So, I’m  going to talk about some different ways within   our Tonnau Model that we do this, next. an Assistant Educational Psychologist is  never the same. It’s a lot of fun and it’s   a lot of flexibility going on in terms  of one minute I could be, potentially,   having a consultation on Teams with a parent,  a carer or a Social Worker. So, this is where   I would have a chat and we would talk about what’s  important to the child, what’s important for them,   what’s working, what’s not working. And we would  then use different psychology techniques to try   and understand what, potentially, could be  going on for that individual child here. Next thing, you never know, I could be going  out and working within a school, doing different   activities, such as an observation. I might be  doing a different needs circle or assessment,   or potentially, I could be having a  meeting within a school where we’re   trying to understand different ways and different  strategies that we could support the child. So,   this could be done using something called a  ‘solution circle’ or doing a ‘psychoeducation   session’. There’s also lots of different  ways that we can support transition for   that individual child. So, we can do  something called ‘digital stories’,   which are person-centred videos. I’m not going to  talk more about them now ‘cause I’m going to talk   about them in a bit more detail later on, but  looking at what transition support is needed. So, for a lot of the children and young people  looked after that we support, as you can imagine,   they might have experienced multiple foster  placements. So, that, along with itself,   normally comes with lots of different school  placements, as well. So, we want to find different   ways that we can make that transition into school  a little bit easier for them. And we always say,   “a little bit easier” or “a little bit better,”  because otherwise, everyone’s having these big   expectations and that’s a big part of our role  is communicating, actually, what can we do to   make things a little bit better, move things a  little bit forward for that individual child? So, where do we start, then? So, when we’re going  in to do individual work, as you can imagine,   if I was to just turn up on the doorstep and  explain to a child who’s looked after, “Right,   what we’re going to do today is we’re going to  do this worksheet,” you can imagine some of the   responses that I would be met with. So, what’s  key to our role is having that understanding of   psychology and one of the main theories that we  draw upon is Attachment Theory and ensuring that   we’re focusing on building relationships  and connections with that individual. So,   from our early years of life, we know that  our early childhood experiences form the   blueprint of how we view relationships. And  I suppose the Godfather of Attachment Theory,   John Bowlby, referred to this  as “an internal working model.” So, this internal working model informs how we  approach others, how we develop relationships,   how we interpret social cues and how we  communicate with others. So, for children   looked after, it’s highly likely that  they might find it more challenging to   engage in relationships because their internal  working model, the blueprint for who they are,   actually may perceive relationships  as quite scary. Could be perceived as   quite daunting and quite worrying and  something that they do not want to do. Now, this is really hard because our role is to  go in and build relationships with the children   so that we can understand what is meaningful for  them. However, through no fault of their own at   all, they’re finding it really, really difficult  to engage with us. So, this is where we’ve got   to be quite creative and find innovative ways  and have an understanding of the psychology of   their behaviour, like, why is this happening? And  remain curious about what’s going on, so that we   can find different ways to engage them, so on,  so forth. Their perception of the world could,   potentially, be slightly different because of  these early experiences that they’ve gone through. And again, another image credit to a  Creative Clinical Psychologist here,   who has explained that really, really well.  So, “We view our here and now through the   lens of there and then.” So, potentially, when  we’re going in to work with these children,   we really do need to be mindful about this and  think about, oh, remain curious. What could be   going on? What is it that I can do maybe a little  bit differently? So, that when we go forward,   we know that if we can build relationships  and build others’ capacity of relationships,   whether that be with school, with social  services, so on, so forth, the research has   shown that relationships will then support that  placement stability, children’s self-esteem in   school. They’ve seen positive emotional behaviour  developments, reduction in those stress hormones,   such as cortisol, and it’s also supported language  development for children and young people. So, what exactly is going on? So, there’s  many different theories that could explain why   some children and young people find it hard  to develop relationships, but the one that   I’m going to be talking about today is called  “The Window of Tolerance” by Dan Siegel. So,   there’s a lovely infographic here that can help  explain that. So, for children and young people   who have experienced challenging upbringings, so  this doesn’t necessarily mean that they, you know,   are still in the foster system, this could  be for those children who have been adopted,   we can have a look at their behaviour  through this model, The Window of Tolerance. So, if a child or young person, or even us, as  an adult – this definitely applies to adults,   as well. I know I use this myself. When we think  of our window of tolerance, when a person’s within   that window, so in this middle section, here,  a person who feels maybe a little better to   cope with any challenges that, sort of, come their  way, they’d be able to engage in those executive   functioning skills, such as their thinking,  their memory, their attention and concentration.   So, when this child or young person’s in school,  they’d be better able to overcome challenges with   their work. Their motivation and perseverance  would be a little bit stronger and overall,   they’d just feel a little bit  more emotionally regulated. Now, for our children who have experienced  challenges in their early years of life,   their window of tolerance  maybe is slightly narrower. So,   this means they’re more likely to tip into  what we call hyperarousal or hypoarousal. So,   hyperarousal can be described as behaviours,  or feelings or emotions, that are quite angry.   Children often describe that they just feel out  of control, they feel a little bit overwhelmed,   and sometimes they can be seen as those primitive  spon – responses, such as fight or flight. So,   ‘fight’ as in they might do something to push  others away, so externalise their behaviours,   or actually, they might just leave the classroom  because that’s actually the safest place for them. On the other hand, children, as well,  could also tip into hypoarousal. So,   this is where children just feel a little bit  zoned out. They may look as though they’re   daydreaming. A lot of the time, with  children and young people we work with,   this can be presented as they might be at their  desk, but they have their hoodies up. They might   want to keep their headphones on. But what’s key  here is a lot of the time for this – that this   happens with our children and young people,  is the likelihood of them tipping into hyper   or hypoarousal is going to be higher because  of their cher – early childhood experiences. So, if we’re coming in as that professional  and as that Assistant Educational Psychologist,   it’s highly likely that if I was to come in  and explain and introduce myself and say, “Oh,   hiya, this is what we’re going to do today,”  the likelihood on that child of tipping into   hyper or hypoarousal is probably going to be much  more higher compared to if, actually, I prepared   for this and I shared different ways and different  information to build and engage that child from   the first answer, from that first interaction,  or even before that first interaction. Thinking   about different ways that we can minimise that  chance of them going into hyper or hypoarousal,   so that they feel that they are actually  a little bit more comfortable and that I   am safe and that I am someone that’s here to  help them and that I can make a difference. So, what are the different ways that we do that in  Tonnau? How do we support engagement and how do we   build relationships? Well, one of the first things  we do, and I suppose this does seem quite simple,   but it’s just communicating our role.  Who are we? That’s often what I’m asked,   who am I and what am I going to do that’s going to  make a difference? Fair enough question. You know,   a lot of these children have had multiple  people come in and out of their lives and   what am I going to do that’s going to make a  difference? So, again, I explain my role. So,   that could be sharing the information about myself  in a one-page profile. So, if that child is able   to engage and read information in their own time,  they can read that I do like my netball and that I   do have a dog called Angus and that if they would  like to meet him, you’re more than welcome to. For children who maybe find it a little bit harder  to read, we can share our role in different ways.   So, we’re looking at developing digital stories.  So, these are short person-centred videos about   who a person is, what their strengths are, what  their needs are and what we can do to make a   difference. So, in particular here, something  called a “We Are Digital Story,” which I’ll share   more information about later. It’s really, really  helpful because it can help the child understand,   do you know what? This is what I can do to make  a difference, or actually, we’re going to work   together, and I think that’s key. Communicating  our role that we don’t have all the answers and   what we want to help you to do, and help the  others, and the best people placed around you   to do it, is problem solve different ways to  make your day a little bit easier in school. The other thing we do is look beyond that  label. So, one of the key things about, sort of,   ALN Reform is looking beyond that individual  label. So, it’s not necessary that a child has   to have a label to access certain provisions.  So, what we advocate for in Tonnau is we don’t   expect children necessarily to have a label of,  for example, ADHD or ASD to be able to work with   them. We’re going beyond that and we’re taking  a needs-based approach. So, what we’re doing   is looking at what is it that this child needs,  rather than looking and seeking towards a label. Now, that could be for an individual child that  actually, a label will help me understand my   identity more and that would help improve my  self-esteem, and that’s fine. But for other   children, maybe actually, it’s not about having  that label. It’s about what can we do around that   child in that classroom to make their day  a little bit better? Is it that actually,   having a space to go when I need some quite time  is helpful, or is it actually when I’m feeling a   little bit frustrated, I need a movement break and  I need to go and play some basketball outside? So,   building relationships is key and as you can  see, by communicating our role and looking   beyond those different labels, that’s  going to help us build relationships. A lot of the time, the children that we go in  to support, who are looked after, or who have   experienced challenges in their early years, often  feel that they’re already labelled. We already   think, do you know what – they often comment to  us, you know, “Well, what’s the point? There’s   no point. There’s no point in doing this,” or “I’m  bored.” And that’s because throughout their lives,   they have been labelled as that child who isn’t  going to succeed and we want to be those people   who are there championing for them and rooting  for them and saying, “Do you know what? Yes,   you are going to bring something.  Yes, it is going to be hard. You know,   life’s a journey and your early experiences have  been challenging, but there are different ways we   can look forward and manage the behaviours and so  on, so forth, to support you as an individual.” The next thing that we look to do is to develop  psychological safety. So, this is that ability,   I suppose, where one feels safe and comfortable to  be themself in the presence around us, but also,   safe to take risks. So, by communicating  basic things, like when we go in,   for example, safeguarding procedures, you know,  by outlining, “This is what we’re going to do,   but this is what happens if we do say this,” all  these different things can help an individual   child feel safe and secure in their environment  and more likely to engage with you moving forward,   because they know what the boundaries are  and they know what to expect. But also,   that you’re going to be there  rooting for them, moving forward. So, some of the more, sort of, different or out  of the box, sort of, thinking things that we’ve   brought in, as well, are our support dogs,  like I said. So, you’ve got Angus Young,   and I can’t forget Nala as well, and we  haven’t got a picture of her, unfortunately.   But what do the dogs do? So, for a lot of the  time – and there’s lots of different research   out there to suggest the benefits of bringing  in dogs, how it can help people to emotionally   regulate. But I think what’s key is for a lot of  the children and young people that we work with,   we have to go – look beyond that label and  think what other needs are going on for   them. And for a lot of them, they have speech  and language needs and one of the key things   about the dogs is that they don’t actually  ask questions. So, the children can feel   safe in the room with the dog. Obviously, we’re  never leaving the dogs alone with them. I’d be   there, or Carys or Caitlin, and we can talk  with them with the dog there. They’re more   likely to talk to the dog than they are to talk  to us, sometimes, and that’s absolutely fine. So, then, we look at using different  trauma informed, sort of, approaches. So,   we have the PACE approach by Daniel Hughes, and so  PACE stands for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity   and Empathy. Sometimes, as well, when you look  it up, it could be referred to as PLACE. So,   I’d put an L and the L would stand for Love. So,  I’m not going to go into lots of detail about that   PACE approach today, but I think what’s key here,  PACE is a really fantastic approach that can be   adapted to the context. And what’s key about  it is a lot of you working with children and   young people are probably applying this approach  without actually realising it. It’s that, sort of,   ordinary magic, really, that you’re already doing.  And what’s great about that PACE approach is   that you can adapt it to the child, and you  can also adapt it to that context, as well. So, if we take the P, for example, the  Playfulness aspect of it, for some of the   young children and people that I go in, if I was  to come in all bouncing, full of joy, “Come on,   we’re going to do this,” they might  look at me and think, hmmm, actually,   I don’t want to engage with you. You’re really,  really scary. But that playfulness can also   just be a warm smile for some children and that’s  enough for them to go, oh, okay, let’s think about   how we can move forward. Oh, actually, you’re  okay, and it can be really reassuring to them. The next approach, then, is by John Gottman  et al and it’s called Emotion Coaching. So,   there’s five steps to Emotion Coaching, but  one of the key aspects of Emotion Coaching,   which I think is really, really important when  working with children and young people, is that   validation of emotion. Validation is key here  and it’s so important when working with children   looked after, or children who’ve experienced that  challenging upbringing. A lot of the time their   emotions may not have been validated in their  early years of life. They may have been ignored,   they may have been dismissed, or in some cases,  actually punished for showing specific emotions. So, for a lot of the time, when I go in to work  with children, they already have this internal   working model whereby they perceive relationships  as quite worrying, sometimes in cases, some cases,   threatening, and it supports our role there  to validate that feeling. So, sometimes I’ve   gone in and gone, “I understand that you might be  feeling a little bit worried about meeting me.”   And they’ll tell you if that’s the – what they’re  feeling, or they’ll say yes or no, or they might   give a little nod and go, “Oh, yeah, I am feeling  a little bit worried.” And that’s where we can   come back in then to link in that communicating  with that role, developing that psychological   safety. So, validating that emotion is key because  it can bring down that child so that they become   back within their window of tolerance,  rather than, sort of, question, “Oh, well,   what’s actually going to happen? What are  you going to do next to me?” so on, so forth. Okay, so, moving on, on this individual level.  I know we’ve got a lot of bullet points here to   get through, but one thing that we’re working on  within our Tonnau Team and the wider educational   psychology services, looking at this power of  language. How we’re talking about children and   young people can form huge, huge, huge  implications for that individual child   moving forward. And it’s really important that we  consider and be mindful of our language. You know,   can a child hear us when we’re having  specific conversations? We need to be   mindful of the ethics behind that, as well. But  also, the reframe of certain language, as well. A lot of the time, for our children looked after,  we see lots of phrases that they’re ‘attention   seeking’. Well, actually, let’s have a look at  that. Let’s be a little bit more curious about   that, following PACE, and actually, could it be  that they’re actually seeking a connection? I’m   not saying that the way they’re seeking that  connection is always the most appropriate way,   but the basic need of that individual  child is connection. And straightaway,   by flipping that and considering  the power of the language,   of using connection rather than attention,  is really, really important because it can   change how we interact with that child and  how others perceive that individual child. And then, finally, something that I think  is very, very key for our role in the Tonnau   Team is actually just reflecting on our  own langua – on our own practice, sorry,   and thinking about different things through  a different lens. So, a lot of the time,   we may be working at an individual level, but  it’s making sure that within your practice,   you have the time to step back and reflect. We  have a lot of supervision and so, I’m always   supported by Carys, our Supervisor throughout,  but we also do group supervision, as well. So, we all come together and we  learn from each other what’s working,   what’s not. It is also gives us that time to share  new research that we’ve found, which is really,   really important when working on an individual  level, because we know it’s not a one size fits   all and we know there’s – things are evolving  all the time. And it’s important that we keep   up-to-date with that so that when we go into work  with children, we can go, “Oh, have you tried   actually engaging this?” or “Have you tried this  new technique?” which is really, really important. So, once we’ve got our relationships established,  there’s lots of different things we can do. So,   like I said, this could be a, sort of,  needs assessment, but some of the more   innovative ways that we’ve been working with  children and young people looked after is   Digital Stories and our psychoeducation.  So, what exactly are Digital Stories? So,   we’ve been inspired by the work from Southampton  University by Sarah Parsons. Digital Stories are,   basically, a celebration of all the things a child  can do. So, they take what we call a solution   focused approach, so looking at what a child can  do, rather than what they can [means can’t] do. And what they do is share information about the  child from their perspective and what’s key about   these is that they don’t actually rely on a child  writing down their views and handing them over on   a piece of paper. They can film them, which as I  said before, for a lot of our children and young   people looked after, they find it quite hard,  actually, to communicate and articulate verbally,   for many different reasons. So, by doing it in  this way, it’s really, really empowering for them. The videos can then be shown during a child’s  transition meeting. So, if a child was   transitioning from maybe a provision, back into  their mainstream school, this school can say, “Oh,   who is this child? What are they about? What have  they been doing? What have they been learning?   What’s working for them?” And they can apply those  strategies in the new setting, moving forward. They can also be helpful for parents, carers  and their families to share. For example,   if they’re going to meet a new Doctor,  before they go to the Doctor’s appointment,   a GP can watch the video, because – before  the child enters, so that they know what works   for them. How can they make them feel safe and  secure and help engage them in that situation,   as well? And what’s key is that they’re  part of the decision-making process,   moving forward. Their pupil voice is heard and  we’re empowering them to share them. Some of   the feedback I’ve had from the kids is they felt  really, really proud watching their videos back,   seeing all the things that they have actually  been able to accomplish that they never thought   they would’ve. And yeah, they – the – they’re  a lovely celebration of what the child can do. Moving on from that, as well, is  psychoeducation. So, this is where we,   sort of, do lots of different way – assessments  on the child and this can range from observation   to gathering person-centred fears. And we try  and help the child to understand what are their   strengths and what are their needs? And then, by  using different theories, such as brain house,   we might use window of tolerance, Maslow’s  hierarchy, we then explain to the child and   the professionals around them what is going on  for their brain. What are their strengths? What   do we need to be doing more of and how can we  support them to develop the areas that could be   considered their needs, moving forward? If that’s  what the child wants to do. So, we get everyone   in a room to problem solve different strategies.  Like I said, this could be in a solution circle,   or it could actually just be a consultation  with the child and their Teacher, there,   if they would like that, to see what different  services and stuff we can provide. But again,   it’s providing that key time for them to reflect  on the professional practice and reflect on how   maybe they could approach situations a  little bit differently, moving forward. So, who exactly do we work with? So, as an  Assistant EP for children looked after, as   I alluded to at the start, we’ve got the child in  the middle, but we’ve also got to make sure that   we’re connecting communities and we’re involving  all the people around that child. It’s really,   really important that we remember that everyone’s  got something to bring to the table. Whether   they may think it’s quite small and whether  it’s – maybe they consider it more bigger,   everyone’s got something to bring.  And I think a lot of the time when   working with children looked after, people  maybe come in from different perspectives,   but we have to find a way that everyone can  engage with and move forward to support that   individual child. Everyone wants the same  outcome, but we just approach it differently. So, we work with lots of different services.  So, like I said, we work with the parents. It   could be their foster carers. It could  be special guardianship. It could be   parents that – with adopted child. We  work with Social Services. We do lots   of work with Social Workers and children  looked after teams. We’ve got health. So,   we also work with the health professionals, ‘cause  like we said, we’re Educational Psychologists,   so for some of the children that we work  with, they may have medical needs that we   need to consider. They may have worked with an  Occupational Therapist, Physio, so on, so forth. We’re also working with public services,  as well. So, I know Carys, my colleague,   is working with the Fire Service at the moment.  They’re hoping to go in to deliver talks to some   of our schools and they wanted to find and  understand different ways to engage children   looked after. We work within our Inclusion Service  in Neath Port Talbot, so that consists of many   different teams, all with something to bring. So,  it’s really important that we’re working together,   seeing what other people are doing, so that we can  create, really, approaches that are consistent and   that we can share with others. We’ve got the youth  service and our Education and Welfare Officers,   also known as our EWOs. So, we work  with them by providing them training,   but also, through consultation, hearing what’s  working, what’s not working, so on, so forth. So, what exactly do we offer training  wise? So, there’s lots of different   trainings that we offer. One of the  most important parts of our Tonnau Team,   and like I said, it’s a Community Model, so  although it’s, sort of, made up of myself,   Caitlin and Carys in the middle, we need  to think about the community around. So,   one of our pride and joys are our  Emotional Literacy Support Assistants,   also known as ELSAs, not to be confused with  the Disney Princesses. But they, sort of – we   train them up over a seven-day period, in lots  of different topics, so as you can see here. So,   we do emotional literacy. So, that’s a person’s  ability to understand different emotions,   label different emotions. We talk about emotional  regulation, self-esteem, attachment, bereavement   and social skills. And within there, what we do  is train them in lots of different therapeutic   techniques that they might find helpful  when working with children, moving forward. So, for example, we do therapeutic stories. One of  the favourites is our LEGO club, which is teaching   children social skills, which is key for children  looked after. Teaches them many different things,   patience, understanding that other people  might have different perspectives to bring   and how we can honour those perspectives. Two  truths don’t necessarily mean one’s wrong,   one’s right. We look at self-esteem. We do  techniques such as drawing the ideal self. So,   there’s lots of different ways within  that that we can support our ELSAs,   who are Teaching Assistants within schools,  to work with children looked after. We also provide Tonnau skills training  for professionals. So, this isn’t just for   professionals with school. Like I said, we work  with lots of different teams around the child,   again, providing different sessions on active  listening, drawing the ideal school or self.   Young carers, for a lot of our children  looked after, some of them actually also   have another role as a young carer, caring for  siblings, so on, so forth. Or they have been a   young carer previously and they’ve had a lot of  reflections and thinking about different ways,   that that’s actually quite empowering for  them, moving forwards. We look at a growth   mindset. So, again, for children looked after, a  lot of them can have what we call a fixed mindset,   where they believe that their abilities are fixed  and they cannot change, and we work on different   ways that we can reframe that to help them moving  forward. And sociometrics, which is looking at   relationships. As you can see, relationships  are at the heart of a lot of what we do. And moving forward, this is still in development,  but we want to develop some webinars and most   importantly, podcasts, to reach out to the parents  and carers who have, sort of – who are living,   every day, living that in their daily lives. So,  we originally started off doing some training,   but, you know, knowing these parents, a lot of  them actually work or they’re visiting different   appointments. They’ve got lots of meetings on that  they need to attend. So, we wanted to find a way   that could be equitable, like we said, so that  they could access our support online, as well. So, we’re hoping to develop some  podcasts on the teenage brain,   which is always a hot topic. Looking at how  we can, you know, support those challenging   conversations, so through skills like active  listening, emotion coaching, like I said, online   safety. Wellbeing, which is key, and wellbeing, as  well, won’t just focus on that individual child,   but also the parent and carer’s wellbeing.  I’ve done lots of sessions on that so far,   with lots of research by Joanna Griffin’s  book, which has been really well received. Maintaining connections when they’re not  there. So, for a lot of our parents and carers,   often when the child’s home, they see behaviours,  you know, they can be okay, actually. They can   engage better. They feel more calmer and  regulated in their environment. However,   when they go to school, they may not keep that  connection because they’re not together. So,   we look at different ways, such as the invisible  string, so on, so forth. And also, emotional-based   school avoidance, which seems to be really  keen following on from the COVID-19 pandemic. Okay, so, one of the final things that we,  sort of, do within our model that I want to   discuss today is our parent/carer drop ins.  So, this is new, as part of our Tonnau Model   that launched in September. It’s a way for parents  and carers to share what is happening at home. So,   historically, in order to get support from  an educational psychology service member,   a parent or carer would have to request  with the school that their child’s in to,   sort of, seek support from an Educational  Psychologist. However, we know that for a lot   of children who’ve experienced those challenging  upbringings, that support isn’t always as easily   accessible and they can, you know, explain –  express their behaviours in a different ways,   which can sometimes be quite hard to manage.  And we want to support parents to show that,   you know, we are curious about what could  actually be underneath that behaviour and   help them potentially reframe or reflect  or look at things through a different lens. So, we often have a chat about what’s working  for their child. It’s really important that   we’ve used that strength-based approach,  and we look at what their strengths are,   what their interests are. And then, we apply the  psychology to find different ways and different   strategies that could be helpful for their child  at home. And then, hopefully, moving forward,   they’ll be able to use, or apply, some of those  strategies. So, if they need a bit more support,   they could listen to our podcast, as well.  And normally that, well, normally that leads   – we’ve had some lovely feedback, then,  with a sense of hope and a way forward. So, following on from that parent/carer drop  in, then, we give our parents and carers a   phone call after around six weeks, to see  how things are going, “What – how are things   going?” How have the strategies worked,  or not worked, in some cases? And then,   we look at different ways, moving forward,  of how we can support them. So, that could   involve us becoming a little bit more involved  with that child, but it could also mean that,   “Oh, things are working well. I’ve done  a little bit of emotion coaching and my   child’s reg – emotional regulation has improved.”  So, we look at different ways we can do that. So, just on a final note, and I hope it wasn’t  too much of a waffle about all the things that   we do in our service, but I’d like to leave  on this final message. That just remember,   everyone here today ha – you all have  that ordinary magic at your fingertips.   That ability to make children and young  people smile, feel heard and listened to   and have a sense of belonging, and to – you can  support them to thrive in their communities. I think a lot of what we’ve talked about today  isn’t actually reinventing the wheel or looking   at things completely differently. I bet a lot  of you are doing lots of these things already,   but sometimes, it’s just about sharing  the practice and making sure people   understand why it’s really important  that we’re applying these approaches   for children and young people who  are looked after or have grown up   in challenging backgrounds originally. Because it  helps them feel safe, it helps them feel secure   and it helps them develop that psychological  safety within their vir – environment so   that they can engage in education. So, just  remember, you all have that ordinary magic. Here are some references from what I’ve, sort of,   talked about today or alluded to today, and  yeah, thank you. Thank you for listening. Katy Edwards Thank you very much, Lowri. I  particularly like how you mentioned that you,   kind of, use the language of, “How can we make it  a little bit better?” with, kind of, professionals   and parents. So, it’s, kind of, minimising their  expectations, but potentially, maximising the   change that they notice, particularly after,  kind of, Kathryn’s discussion and her research,   showing that there is a difference noted with  parental warmth, but it does take the four years   that they, kind of, research for, for that to be  noticeable. Which I know can be quite frustrating   when you, kind of, go to see these  professionals and you expect a,   kind of, quick fix, then. So, I think that  was really good and I think that it, kind of,   ensures realistic expectations are in  place, which I think is very important.