Bring educational success to region

I WAS born and brought up in Bensham, poor but well supported by the State – fed enough by rationing and later a great education at the grammar school for girls – treated well, respected and well taught by very interesting women and a headmistress – Dr Francis Yates with a voice like cut glass and lovely shoes, but a determination to see us all progress and succeed.

I went on to university, trained as a teacher, worked in various interesting settings with very deprived and vulnerable children and then went on to train as an educational psychotherapist at The Caspari Foundation, determined to understand why so many children failed to learn and to develop socially and emotionally.

This led to research and PhD thesis which revealed the significance of early years in the context of relationships and family informed mainly by Attachment Theory (Bowlby) and the impact this has on emotional and cognitive development. The book I wrote – ‘Attachment in the Classroom’ – has been acknowledged as making a significant contribution to teachers capacities to engage and support vulnerable children in the classroom more successfully.

The current reporting of lack of educational success in the North has been very troubling to me and so I want to make a contribution.

Organisations such as the Nurture Group network have been doing this work in schools for many years and now plan to bring their supportive interventions to Gateshead early next year. I look forward to this event, possibly in March, and hope that teachers will respond by attending and taking part.

Dr HEATHER GEDDES