Improving Educational Outcomes

1
Improving Educational Outcomes
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• A child who comes into care, at any age, for
  whatever length of time, is at risk of
  educational failurethe probability of falling
  behind at school is significantly greater than
  for a child from a similar socio-economic
  background who does not come into care
• Jackson (1994)

2
Commitment to Education?
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Education is crucial too often, a child in care
will possess innate talents or abilities that are
squandered through system failures. We will
IMPROVE opportunities at every stage. ensuring
that they have the opportunity to go to the best
schools and aspire to university with an
additional bursary of 2000 for every Young
Person in Care in higher education. We will also
improve access to opportunities for work with the
provision of training and apprenticeships. Secre
tary of State, 2007
3
Factors influencing educational outcomes
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• Impact of traumatic life events
• Disrupted education
• Low teacher expectations
• Low aspirations for young people in Care
• Lack of self-belief
• Not always lack of opportunity BUT
• lack of KNOWLEDGE of opportunity

4
Rationale for developing training
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• Staff lack knowledge of current educational
  opportunities
• Staff lack confidence in their ability to Inform,
  Advise and Guide
• Staff dont always recognise the significance of
  maintaining high expectations of learning
• Staff see education as a problem not an
  opportunity
• Increase participation in Higher Education

5
How to Go Higher Training
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• A one day training workshop for staff working
  with young people in Care
• Staff includes Social Workers, Personal
  Advisers, Foster Carers, asylum teams, designated
  teachers in schools and colleges, school
  governors, ALL who have an interest in young
  people in Care
• Training raises awareness of educational
  opportunity as a positive role model for young
  people in Care

6
Outline
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• 1 day workshop with group individual work
• Preferably with a mixed group
• Progression routes beyond school 16
• Higher Education funding for young people in Care
• Exploration of barriers to HE for young people in
  Care
• Young people in HE talk about their experiences
• Challenge perceptions about young people in care
  and their aspirations to achieve through
  education training

7
Training delivery
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• 120 Personal Advisers from Rainer 16 Service
• compulsory training
• 80 Social Workers
• inc Senior Management Teams
• 25 designated teachers and college staff
• 20 foster carers
• 15 staff from residential homes
• delivered to 260 staff in total

8
Feedback
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• 100 of feedback was positive!
• 84 of attendees felt it should be compulsory
  training for all staff
• 96 felt it challenged perceptions and was
  highly motivating
• an excellent resource
• ALL foster carers should receive this training

9
Comments
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•  Designated Teacher, Secondary School
• All schools and 6th forms should be aware
  of this information
•  this should be core training for anyone
  working with Children in Care!
•   Residential Worker
•  Course was just fantastic and informative.
  Delivery of the content was fantastic
•   Senior Social Worker
•  Now I can communicate confidently and
  enthusiastically with my young people to
  encourage them with their education. Makes my job
  that much easier

10
Success?
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• Creating a culture of HIGH expectations
• 4 months after training, staff stated they had
  more confidence in ability to advise and signpost
  about education 60 contacted
• Increased awareness of higher education as an
  option for young people in Care
• More Surrey young people progressing to higher
  education 11 in 2006, 22 in 2007

11
Issues
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• Senior level buy in to training
• Increasing numbers of non-UK educated nationals
  working in Childrens Services
• Staff and foster carers recognising the
  importance of their role in creating high
  expectations
• Taking time out for training - especially
  teachers and social workers!
• Need to update training on regular basis

12
What next?
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• Training programme is being developed as a kit
  for organisations
• To include annual updates on funding and
  progression routes
• Two local authorities already interested in
  taking this forward

13
Care Matters
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• We aim to create a care system that provides
  every
• child with a safe happy healthy secure and loving
  
• childhood, nurturing their aspirations and
  enabling
• them to fulfil their potential
• Care Matters Time to deliver for children in
  care DCSF March 2008
• Carers Social Workers need to have a greater
• interest in childrens learning, set high goals
  for
• children to achieve and help children make
  important
• choices about their education
• 
  The Childrens Plan Dec2007

14
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• If there is anything we wish to change in the
  child, we should first examine it and see whether
  it is not something that could better be changed
  in ourselves
  
• Carl Jung

15
Pi-Coaching
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• Glyn Hibberd, Education Adviser
• glyn_at_pi-coaching.com
• 07766 912051