BRAYTHORPE

Adoption & care-experienced education

TWO WORLDS.
ONE CHILD.

What happens at school and what happens at home can look very different. Braythorpe helps the adults around a child understand both — and decide what changes next.

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RESEARCH THAT MATTERS

THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR. THE RESPONSE MATTERS.

EXPLORE THE FINDINGS →

Different findings, one challenge: what changes in everyday school life?

ADOPTION UK · 2026

54%

UNDERSTANDING CANNOT BE ASSUMED.

Only 54% of responding adoptive parents agreed their child’s teachers understood adopted children’s needs.

WHY IT MATTERS: A school can mean well and still miss what a child needs.

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EEF · OCTOBER 2026

98%

ARE OUR ADAPTATIONS HELPING?

Of 3,000 teachers taking part in scenario-based professional learning, 98% said they sometimes or often made adaptations without knowing whether they helped.

WHY IT MATTERS: Training needs to reach the decisions adults make in the moment.

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DfE · OCTOBER 2026

5

BELONGING IS BUILT EVERY DAY.

Qualitative research across 16 schools identified five connected dimensions of belonging.

WHY IT MATTERS: Belonging is more than a policy statement or an attendance figure.

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Understanding is the start.
Practice is the point.

Founded by Dave Church, a former primary school leader and adoptive parent. Braythorpe works where school systems, everyday classroom realities and family experiences meet.

Where do you fit?

FAMILIES

For families

School meetings, difficult transitions, different accounts of the same child — get practical support without needing to become an education expert.

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SCHOOLS

For schools

Move beyond awareness sessions. Build shared adult responses, routines and follow-through that work on an ordinary Tuesday.

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PARTNERS

For trusts & partners

Commission practical programmes, work across school clusters or bring Braythorpe into an existing delivery partnership.

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Free tools. Useful from the first read.

Accessible online, with printable companions where they help. No email gate.

FAMILIES

Two worlds, one child

A home-and-school observation tool for families.

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TEACHERS

The adoption-aware classroom

Practical classroom decisions and a printable response planner.

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LEADERS

Knowing isn’t doing

A leadership implementation check with a 30-day action plan.

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OUR SPECIALISM

UNDERSTANDING INTO EVERYDAY PRACTICE.

Eight connected areas of adoption- and care-experienced education, from life story and classroom practice to whole-school implementation.

See what we cover →

THE BRAYTHORPE EDIT · FORTNIGHTLY

Better questions. Better practice.

Research, policy and practical thinking about education for adopted and care-experienced children. Free, every other Friday.

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Get The Braythorpe Edit →