Josie Scammell

Education (2020 cohort)

My DPhil project is in collaboration with Villiers Park Educational Trust – a national charity
specialising in improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged young people. The main aim of the project is to devise and evaluate a new educational enhancement programme for young people with a history of childhood trauma, with a particular focus on those who are – or have been – in the care system. 

I will be exploring the implications of childhood trauma in education, how existing programmes can be adapted to best meet the needs of young people with the legacy of trauma, including training and support for relevant professionals, and what ‘success milestones’ might be used to evaluate the long-term impact of the adapted programme on a young person’s propensity to access higher education or other positive pathways.

My broader research interests lie within supporting vulnerable learners in schools, the impact of attachment and trauma theory in schools, and social justice in education.

I completed my BA (Hons) degree in English at Oxford Brookes University and worked simultaneously with various NGOs in Oxford supporting those facing homelessness and those within the prison systems. I then completed my MA degree in English literature and focussed my thesis on the effect of new technologies on democratic participation. I subsequently taught at a specialist SEMH school in Oxford for a year before gaining my PGCE in Secondary English at the University of Oxford. Since then, I have spent several years working in a secondary school in Oxford as an English teacher with the whole school responsibility of Designated Teacher for Looked After Children, where I have worked closely with the Oxfordshire Virtual School in supporting the schools Looked After Children.