Learn, achieve, live, succeed: the perspectives of looked after children on success

This paper outlines a study which investigated the views of eight looked after children on what it means to be successful in school. The participants were aged 12-14 and lived and attended school in rural south west Scotland. The study adopted semi-structured interviews which were analysed using Framework Analysis. The analysis identified three arenas for success: Learn, Achieve and Live as well two types of success: Success-as-development and Success-as-goal. The impact of teachers on each of these arenas was evident and was considered most influential in the Learning and Achieving arenas. Factors affecting all arenas, such as the role of the classroom secondary teacher on provision for looked after children are discussed as well as implications of the research on future practice.