Education support

When you’re a foster parent, you need to know there’s expert help on hand with all the resources you’d expect from a foster care specialist. We believe every child and young person should have the chance to reach their full potential, whether that is through education, employment or training.

Committed to supporting children and young people

We are committed to supporting all our children and young people to achieve their educational potential. Research indicates that children and young people in care can be particularly disadvantaged educationally. They are more likely to have a disrupted education and additional needs which impact on progress, attainment and life chances. We recognise the significant role our foster carers and staff have in working in partnership with other professionals to promote educational achievement and positive outcomes for our children and young people.

Professional support

The Education Co-Ordinator maintains an up to date understanding of legislation and advice relevant to the education of children and young people in care. Under the guidance of the Director of Education, they disseminate information to carers and staff about education and share good practice to enable us to challenge schools with confidence, when necessary.

Working in partnership

Foster carers and social workers work in partnership with local authorities to ensure, whenever possible, children and young people have a full-time place in a school or other education setting appropriate to their needs. If, for any reason, a child or young person is not in education, we are proactive in liaising with the local authority to resolve this quickly, while supporting the foster carer with home education as a temporary measure.

Celebrating Success

We acknowledge exam results are not the only measure of educational success. We know our children well and how they have progressed from different starting points. We recognise their various educational achievements, academic and otherwise, and celebrate these with our achievement awards.

Role of foster carers and social workers

It is a core task of foster carers and social workers to promote the education of the children and young people in their care and understand the role of education in improving outcomes. Attendance, progress and attainment is regularly discussed in supervision, team meetings and reviews. When there are concerns about education, foster carers readily discuss these with the school and advocate for the child. Foster carers also attend Personal Education Plan meetings and other meetings with schools to ensure they are fully aware of their child’s progress and how they can support this at home.