WHEN Connor Chalmers was taken into care as a deeply troubled and violent eight-year-old it was a hug from a stranger that started the process of rebuilding his life.

The son of an alcoholic father and a mother who couldn't cope with looking after five children on her own, Connor was spiralling out of control and had already been suspended ten times.

He was angry and confused and blamed himself for what was happening, but as he arrived at the care home where he would live for the next nine years a member of staff came up to him.

Connor, now 20, said: "It is one of the things I always remember. That very first day I moved into the unit I had my bags with me and I was unpacking and this woman came up to me and just gave me a hug and she said to me: "It'll be all right".

"Up to then that hadn't been something that had really ever happened to me. Most of the physical contact I had had was to restrain me, so that was a really good thing to happen."

It was also a good omen. Although Connor still had a long road ahead, the care home in North Lanarkshire gave him the love and support he needed to piece his life back together.

And rather than using his fists to settle arguments he began to avoid trouble, made new friends and started to enjoy being at school. Looking back at the change to his personality he now questions the support he got at primary school before he was taken into care.

"Despite the fact I was disruptive and I had been suspended so many times I did enjoy school, but there was so much fury in me that when situations occurred the only way I knew how to react to them was by using verbal or physical abuse," he said.

"That was the kind of thing I had been used to seeing in my home and if there was a problem that was how it was dealt with so I just did that. I got myself into a lot of stupid situations because my natural reaction to any sort of challenge or difficulty was to be violent."

"But I felt the school just didn't want me anywhere near them. School viewed me as a problem and there wasn't the support there that I needed - I was suspended ten times but nobody wondered what was happening in my life."

Once at the care home, Connor made significant progress, aided by being sent to a small school for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties where class sizes were small.

By S1 Connor was invited to go part-time to a mainstream secondary school, eventually leaving with a number of Standard Grades and Intermediates.

However, this positive progress came to a halt when he went to college to study an HNC in business, found the course too difficult and dropped out.

After a year of unemployment he went back to college and his new lecturer noticed his written work indicated he may have dyslexia. A check with his social worker revealed he had already been diagnosed with learning difficulties when he was taken into care and should have had much greater levels of support at college.

Now, with the extra support, Connor is once again progressing with his education, but Scottish charity Who Cares? Scotland argue his experiences are a crucial lesson.

Duncan Dunlop, chief executive of Who Cares? Scotland - where Connor is now working as a policy adviser - said: "Connor is bright and articulate, yet struggled with education post school when the supports he needed were brought to an end and because he did not know about decisions that were made earlier in his life.

"If we are to avoid this happening time and time again, we must ensure that looked after young people understand their rights and are meaningfully involved in any decisions that are made about them. This is just another example of this group being prevented from having a voice, rather than being supported by their corporate parents to succeed."

Mr Dunlop's comments came as Scottish Government ministers are under pressure to act to ensure councils improve the way they educate children in care.

Lawyers from Govan Law Centre have written to Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, calling on her to intervene.

The move comes after it emerged many councils are not following legislation designed to ensure pupils who come from a care background are given adequate support.

Only 12 per cent of school-leavers from a care background secured one or more Highers in 2013/14 compared to 59 per cent of the rest of the school population.

Under 2004 legislation every looked after child with additional support needs must be assessed for a co-ordinated support plan (CSP) - which guarantees them extra classroom support.

However, figures gathered by Govan Law Centre show of 12,533 looked after children with additional support needs, only 6,374 have been assessed for a CSP.

Iain Nisbet, head of education law at the centre, said: "These duties have been in force for nearly five years and councils are still failing to live up to their legal duties.

"In fact, we suspect many of those the authorities claim to have assessed have not been given their full legal rights, illustrated best by the total absence of any appeals."

He added: "The system is failing thousands of children right across Scotland, leaving them to the poorer educational outcomes and life chances we know looked after children face."