Wrexham schools help pupils with prisoner parents

By Brendon WilliamsBBC News

Ioan’s mum was jailed for five years for drugs offences

Teenager Ioan was left heartbroken when his mother was locked up for drugs offences when he was just 13.

The Wrexham schoolboy was left bereft when she was jailed for five years.

“You want to be around your mum, especially if you’re close to her like I was,” Ioan, now 15, said.

Ioan is backing a new Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) scheme to help support affected pupils in Wales, including class discussions to help remove the stigma over imprisonment.

After serving half her sentence, Ioan’s mum is set to be released later this year and he can’t wait to wrap his arms around her when he sees her again.

Having his mum in prison had been “heartbreaking”.

Ioan said: “They’re the years you mostly want to be with your parents. You need to see them as much as possible at that age.

“The moment they’re gone, that was the hardest part for me, because I had to get used to not seeing her as much, and not being allowed to speak to her for a while because of the phone situation.”

He had, he said: “adapted to it a lot”.

As his mum’s release date draws closer, she is allowed days out with her family.

Ioan said: “It’s just like a normal day out. When she goes it’s a sad ending for the day because I wish she could just stay for a few months.”

The teenager, pictured with grandmother Barbara Evans, is now looking forward to his mum’s release

Ioan knows exactly what he’ll do on her release: “Big hug. And I won’t let go for an hour.”

He wanted some good to come from what had happened.

Ioan added that he hoped: “She won’t do anything bad again and just won’t leave me – stay with me forever.”

His mother’s case attracted media coverage and he agreed pupils in his class at Ysgol Bryn Alyn, in Wrexham county, should be told.

There were some “mean words” but not many.

Once people knew, “everybody was quite good about it”.

But he knows how difficult life can be for children with parents in prison.

Ioan’s grandmother, Barbara Evans, 69, said her whole family had been “unbelievably shocked” by her daughter’s imprisonment.

Ioan, she said, had coped “wonderfully” thanks to support from his school and friends.

Pact’s Aimee Hutchinson said some children with a parent in prison were embarrassed by it

Ioan is backing the Pact programme, which includes new guidance for schools to support children and resources for teachers to help discuss the issue in class.

His grandmother said Pact had already made “such a difference,” to them.

She said: “We didn’t know the surroundings of the prison and they took us. We went on private visits to get used to the environment – unbelievably helpful.”

Ioan’s school is one of two the trust worked with in Wrexham to create a way to teach children aged three to 16, about the effect of having a parent in prison.

Books, a jigsaw, a board game and an animation are among tools it is hoped will encourage children to discuss imprisonment to reduce stigma and shame pupils may feel.

If a child wants to talk about how they have been affected by a loved one’s imprisonment the PACT scheme is designed to help teachers and pupils discuss the issue in class.

Pact’s Aimee Hutchinson said many affected are embarrassed about it, and fear being bullied.

She said the scheme aims to encourage understanding around the matter, which she hoped would cut bullying and increase empathy.

“The prison population is at a record high and it stands to reason that more children are going to be impacted by a parent in prison,” Ms Hutchinson said.

“The current estimates are that around one in 15 school-aged children will be affected by the imprisonment of a loved one at some point in their school career. So that’s at least one in every class.”

Ysgol Bryn Alyn and Gwersyllt Primary School, both in Wrexham county, worked with Pact to design the scheme.

Ysgol Bryn Alyn’s deputy head teacher, Johanna Ebrey, said there were several pupils who had relatives in prison

After its roll out in Wales it will be introduced to England.

Ysgol Bryn Alyn deputy head teacher Johanna Ebrey said some teachers would be spending a day in a prison to help them understand what pupils go through during visits.

“We have several students who are impacted by family members in prison, and as teachers our knowledge base of that situation was very small,” she said.

Welsh Education Minister Jeremy Miles said the Pact scheme was a valuable resource which would help school staff support children, overcome negative feelings and understand that they can get support.