Education in Foster Care

The Connect Team

I've been in the Connect Team for coming up to a year, working across Blue Sky. The Connect Team liaise with local teams to discuss any early indicators that a foster carer may be struggling and be in need of additional support. Then we work together to find ways to listen and support the carers to rectify any problems they have.

Sometimes just talking and making a foster carer aware that you know things are difficult can be like a release valve, providing them with the opportunity to talk openly and release the pressure. There are many ways to help a foster carer who is going through a difficult patch and being a good listener is an important skill. Sometimes this helps to identify another form of support that may be needed, such as respite. Being a social worker is all about talking to people and being able to find a level playing field. When people feel listened to and understood, then most matters can be resolved.

Sometimes just talking and making a foster carer aware that you know things are difficult can be like a release valve, providing them with the opportunity to talk openly and release the pressure.

Head of Education

My education role ties into my work with the Connect Team: if a young person is getting the right education and things are ticking over, it makes a positive difference in every other facet of their life.

Working as Head of Education probably takes most of my time, because I work across all the Blue Sky hubs. I've got a team of three that work with me in the education team and they're all fab. Tamsin, Mary and Sophie know their areas; they know their young people and how to support them. Together we make sure that all our young people have an education provision and that it's appropriate.

PEPs

Our young people have a meeting every term that virtual school [from the Local Authority], the education provider, the social worker and the education team will all attend, along with the foster carer. The meeting is called a PEP - Personal Education Plan – and we look to see how a young person is progressing in their learning and how we can help a young person meet their personal targets. Anybody who works with the young person will be involved or be invited.

A PEP is an opportunity to have a realistic look at how a young person is achieving. And hopefully, there will be a degree of celebration about their progress. AQAs are great at helping with that. 

A PEP - Personal Education Plan – looks to see how a young person is progressing in their learning and how we can help a young person meet their personal targets.

AQAs

AQA are a company that is well established in education, and they run a Unit of Work Scheme which offers over 18,000 differentiated learning opportunities for young people.

For instance, I worked with a young person who wanted to learn guitar, so I looked for a scheme of work on AQA and there was a group of six lessons. It was a good introduction to help him discover whether it was something he wanted to do more in the long term.

As we were working on the AQA guitar lessons together I was able to say, ‘As well as this guitar work, what can we do to help you in school? This young person was struggling with his maths. So, I said, ‘Well, okay, what about one week we do guitar, and then the next week we do maths?’ So, we did that. Eventually, I handed the guitar lessons over to someone who's a far better guitar player than me, but we carried on doing the maths. It was great because then when we went to his PEP we could say, ‘Okay, so this was his maths target. We've been working on that, and he's also completed this.

If a young person completes an AQA Unit then they get a certificate celebrating their achievement. The certificate celebrates that the young person has been able to engage in specific learning and complete their targets. This is useful evidence if a young person has been having a tough time in school, as it provides them with an opportunity to succeed. AQA’s are available across a wide range of subjects and at different levels, providing learning opportunities for all young people who are keen to engage.

Exclusion

Another aspect of my Education role is to look at what's happening if a young person is excluded from school. We advocate for the young person and the foster carer to ensure that alternative provisions are put in place – and as quickly as possible.

Very often home tutoring is suggested as an option, but I think a lot of people - myself included - prefer home and school to be kept separate: it keeps things on an even keel. If a foster carer is with a young person 24/7 they will struggle to cope very quickly because they don't get a break. As an agency, we are highly aware of that, which is where the education team can be chasing the authorities involved and saying, ‘Okay, what are we going to do?’

Because of their additional needs, many of our young people are supported in private education provision. It’s worth noting that a young person should attend a school that is rated as at least good by Ofsted. Any exceptions to that rule need to be carefully considered. The key is, if education is working, it's because it's bespoke to that young person's needs.

So much of the time it's about whether we can build the right education pathways around a young person. The Education Team are always involved in trying to get the best possible outcome for each young person we work with. Maintaining consistency amongst all the different parties involved in education makes such a difference. When it’s there, it's fantastic. But when it isn't, it just makes it harder for everyone. We strive to be a consistent thread for each young person at Blue Sky, and it’s something I’m very passionate about.

If education is working, it's because it's bespoke to that young person's needs.

Blue Sky Education Award

We are currently rolling out the Blue Sky Education Award, which will celebrate education success at all levels. A young person is designing the certificate. The nice thing about the award is it can be for anything. It can be for somebody who takes part in a spelling test – regardless of how many they get right. Or it can be for a young person who's made it into school for an hour for the first time that week. The idea is to ensure that all those young people who don't have a positive education still have something to celebrate. If a child comes from a deeply traumatic and disrupted background, then it’s not necessarily about big triumphs: it’s about steps of effort, celebrating each small move forward.

A Great Week Includes Working with Young People

Last week was half-term, and I was able to go out and see all of the young people I support as a Senior Social Worker. It was the best week of the year so far: I was able to sit down with our young people and talk to them, and we were able to chat informally about what is going well and where they may need support, sometimes whilst playing games.

That’s why I say I've got a great job: I get to work with everyone at Blue Sky from foster carers to Supervising Social Workers and Team Managers. Working with people who are seeking to do one thing – ensure a young person feels safe and secure. Then on a great week, I get to work with our young people, and that is the icing on the cake. When I have time to sit down with our young people and they are happy and in a positive frame of mind - and I know that I’ve played a small part in that happiness - well, that reminds me why I do the job I do.