Welcome to the online space to access resources and presentations which were part of the national ‘From Poverty to Flourishing’ conference in March 2022.  This was a national conference jointly hosted by Education Scotland and the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP) and Scottish Division of Educational Psychology (SDEP).

On 25^th March 2022, Education Scotland, ASPEP and SDEP jointly hosted a national conference with the theme ‘From Poverty to Flourishing’. The online conference brought together educational psychologists, researchers, educational practitioners and practitioners from across children’s services. The aim of the conference was to share research and ideas around improving outcomes for children and young affected by poverty.

This resource draws together the presentations and workshops from the conference. It provides access to the resources, ideas and approaches explored. There is a mixture of recordings and PowerPoints of the presentations and workshops.

See 'From Poverty to Flourishing' programme.

Welcome

The Chair of Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP), Nick Smiley, welcomed everyone to the conference and set the tone of the day for sharing ideas around poverty and social justice.

Video: Introduction from Nick Smiley, ASPEP

Keynote presentation:

"The cog that is educational psychology in the wheel that is addressing poverty in Scotland’s schools: what practitioners need to know in 2022"

Our keynote presenter was Professor John McKendrick from Glasgow Caledonian University. He is co-Director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University. In this work, he is primarily concerned with informing the work of practitioners and campaigners who seek to tackle poverty in Scotland. He co-edited Poverty in Scotland 2021: Towards a 2030 Without Poverty? (CPAG) and writes a column in the quarterly Scottish Anti-Poverty Review.

Video: Presentation from Professor John McKendrick, Glasgow Caledonian University

Workshops

Educational psychologists from across Scotland delivered nine workshops on subjects related to improving outcomes for children and young people affected by poverty and disadvantage. They covered the following subjects and were a mixture of practitioner enquiries from the National Action Enquiry Programme for Educational Psychologists 2020-22, doctorates in Educational Psychology and practitioner research:

Practitioner wellbeing: key themes and learning

Charlotte Murray and Sandra Menary, Renfrewshire EPS; Marek Rzepecki and Mary Jo Laing, Angus EPS; Gail Nowek and Xanthe Wylie, North Ayrshire EPS

PDF file: Practitioner Wellbeing (1.3 KB)

What do children experiencing poverty need from their education and how do we go about providing it: A story of school improvement

Ruth Miller, East Ayrshire EPS

David McIlwraith, Onthank Primary School

Julie McCulloch, Inclusion Manager, East Ayrshire

PDF file: East Ayrshire workshop (1.7 MB)

Healthier minds: supporting and promoting mental wellbeing for children, families and practitioners throughout the local community.

Chris Artherton, East Renfrewshire EPS

PDF file: Healthier Minds (1.5 MB)

Emotionally based school avoidance: a context specific response to schools and support agencies

Alison Woods and Larissa Cunningham, Glasgow EPS

PDF file: Emotionally Based School Avoidance (843 KB)

The experience of poverty and bereavement: what comprehensive grief support can offer to reduce inequities

Lisa Forsyth, Glasgow EPS

PDF file: Whole School Approach to Loss and Bereavement (13 MB)

PDF file: The experience of poverty and bereavement: What comprehensive grief support can offer to reduce inequities (2.3 MB)

PDF file: Bereavement and Loss poster - NES (370 KB)

Increasing meaningful participation of care experienced children with an aim of enhancing engagement with school.

Laurence Reilly and Lisa McFadden, Inverclyde EPS

Presentation - coming soon.

The compassionate and connected community: trauma informed practice and practitioner enquiry.

Stephanie McNicol, South Ayrshire EPS

PDF file: The Compassionate, Connected Community and Positive Psychology (5.2 MB)

PDF file: Positive Psychology Project - South Ayrshire (1.8 MB)

Co-production and inclusive practice - a local authority approach to supporting inclusion within schools

William Corral and Gwen Hobbs, Stirling EPS

PDF file: Co-production and Inclusive Practice - a local authority approach to supporting inclusion within schools (1.9 MB)

Exploring the participation of young people in Child’s Plan meetings

Jenny Fraser - Smith, University of Strathclyde and Highland EPS

PDF file: Exploring the participation of young people in their Child’s Plan meetings (2 MB)

Setting the scene

Using psychology to recalibrate social justice and equity

Dr Laura-Ann Currie, Head of Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities, Education Scotland, set the scene for the networking session for practitioners. She explored the impact of our social justice values on our policy making and the implementation of this policy and the intersectionality between those children who are impacted by poverty, Additional Support Needs and other protected characteristics.

Video: Presentation from Dr Laura-Ann Currie, Education Scotland

Networking:

Exploring the wicked issues

Participants were randomly allocated to breakout groups and had the opportunity to network, share practice around a series of wicked issues. The padlet below illustrates discussions. Please note there are names attached to some of the comments within the padlet, however these are colleagues who were kindly scribing for their group and are not necessarily representative of their views.

Padlet: Networking feedback

Themes coming from network sessions

Alison Crawford, Principal Educational Psychologist, Glasgow City Council draws together the themes being discussed in the networking sessions and how we can move forward together to support children and young people affected by poverty.

Video: Presentation from Alison Crawford, Glasgow EPS

Improvement questions

1. What are the current challenges within the system around our theme ‘From poverty to flourishing’ for:

• learning and teaching
• mental health
• supporting families and communities

2. In what ways can educational psychologists support the education system to work in partnership with others to close the poverty related attainment gap and to support the mental health and wellbeing of families and communities affected by poverty?

3. How can we work together more effectively and what can we do next?