National Network for the Education of Care Leavers Conference
7 December 2017
University of York
Inform – Connect – Support - Champion
Workshops:
Delegates will be able to participate in two workshops during the day. These selections will be made in the questionnaire section of the booking process.
Please read the workshop descriptions below before registering. We will endeavour to match delegates to their session preferences but cannot guarantee everyone will receive their first choices.
AM (11.45-12.45)
What next for the Propel website?Sarah Young,Become
Propel is the website that provides a window for children in care and care leavers into what’s available for them in higher education, how to access support, and encouragement that they can go to university and succeed.
We have been running Propel for 3 years now and 94% of universities and three quarters of FE colleges provide information on the website. We’ve recently commissioned research on how people are using Propel and what improvements people would like. We’re now at the point where we are asking: what next? In this session, we will be looking at what Propel offers now and asking your views on how can we use Propel to help more care-experienced young people to get into higher education and to succeed in their courses?
Success4life: Lessons Learnt from 5 years of running an after school project for LaC
Emma Lewis-Kalubowila, University of Manchester
Success4Life (S4L) is a high-intensity project delivered in partnership by The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University for secondary school pupils in local authority care. Success4Life is a widening participation programme with a difference; although the project includes a session based on higher education, which encourages the learners to talk about their future educational plans and ask questions about university, the sessions emphasise the transferable nature of the life-long skills developed during the project and how these would help the young people throughout their education and career, rather than focusing exclusively on progression to higher education. It seeks to develop positive self-image, confidence, presentation and teamwork skills, through a range of group work activities and themed sessions. Pupils work alongside positive role models (current University students, some of whom are care experienced) and University staff.
The project works with a small group of targeted learners, on a very intense scale. Feedback from pupils, social workers and carers is consistently positive; some quotes are given in the additional information. In post-project evaluations attendees responses consistently indicate an increased desire to stay in education after GCSEs and increased intention to apply to university. S4L is one strand of a range of activities the Universities in Greater Manchester deliver in partnership for looked after children and their carers and advisors. Young people have the opportunity to attend S4L in subsequent years, should they wish to do so, and pupils have chosen to return to the project year on year. This workshop will explore what we’ve learnt from running the project, share good practise and project resources, and give colleagues the chance to ask questions – if they’re interested in setting up similar schemes in their own institutions.
New Practitioners Workshop
Claire Edden, University of Warwick and Phil Bakstad, Liverpool John Moores University
The session is aimed at those who are new to this area of work, we’ll explore some of the challenges, opportunities and examples of good practice from both an Outreach and a Student Services perspective.
Delivering high ambition: how institutions can use access agreements to improve higher education outcomes for care leavers ***SESSION FULL***
Rachel Wright and Jack Smith, Office For Fair Access
Details to follow
Emotion Coaching
Penny Boyd, Leicestershire Virtual School for Children in Care
Emotion coaching is a way of responding to young people in the heat of the moment. It helps them to understand and manage their emotions and to find helpful ways to deal with difficult situations. It is a simple, three step approach that costs nothing and can be used by all. Emotion Coaching is an approach promoted by Leicestershire Virtual School that has shown benefits for young people and adults alike.
Developing successful multi-agency working to create educational opportunities and raise academic aspiration for care experienced young people.***SESSION FULL***
Helen Davies, South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership (SWWRWP), Swansea University
The voice of care experienced young people has been at the heart of the ‘Diamonds’ project run by the South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership which has been designed to raise academic aspiration and attainment for care experienced young people.We will explore how we have worked in partnership across schools, social services, careers services and Further and Higher Educationto deliver tailor made interventions from primary school through to Higher Education and beyond. We will share best practice in multiagency working and in particular explore how our biggestchallenges have become our biggest successes.
Appropriate for practitioners embarking upon multi-agency working in order to improve educational outcomes for care experienced young people.
PM (2.45-3.45)
“The Golden Thread of HE Progression”How can universities support care experienced young people from Year 7 to Graduation?Ben Toleman – Widening Participation & Outreach, University of Liverpool
This workshop aims to share good practice with regards to Outreach activities for care experienced young people, focusing on 4 key components;
-Identifying and recruiting LAC/Care Leavers to participate with interventions; Best practice and developing professional relationships
-Early intervention and continuous engagement; Starting engagements at first year of secondary education and continuing to work with individuals throughout their time in school/college
-Transition to Higher Education; what can be done to ensure a successful progression into university?
-Access does not stop with entry; Supporting care leavers during their undergraduate studies.
The workshop will demonstrate our successes, and failures, of engaging with LAC/CL during their school studies and allow WP practitioners to debate best practice when working with this cohort. The session will also provide an opportunity to debate key discussion points relating to HE progression for care experienced young people including Fees and Bursaries, Accommodation and working with Local Authorities.
Go Further, Go Higher: A collaborative approach to working with Looked After Children. ***SESSION FULL***
Sarah Adams, University of Sheffield and Aidan Begley Jade Bytheway, Sheffield Hallam University
The Go Further Go Higher project is a flagship programme of activity, delivered in partnership and dedicated to raising the aspirations of young people under local authority care. The programme provides targeted, sequential and innovative events, all of which utilise literature written collaboratively to support transition and choices for care leavers. The events have now widened in scope to target those young people who are estranged from their families and young adult carers – recognising not only the need to engage with young people, but also continuing the universities’ commitment to emerging priority groups and continuing with our joined up approach. The main programme includes:
- Year 10/11 Summer School
- Routes into Further Education (RIFE) for Y10/11 students and their supporters, delivered in conjunction with local colleges and apprenticeship providers
- Discover Uni events aimed at Y12/13 and their supporters
- CPD Event for anyone supporting students who are estranged, from care-experiencedbackground and young adult carers.
- Over 200 students have attended events since 2008
- Participating LAs have seen an increase in young people considering and participating in HE since the development of this project
- The reputation and insight from the project has been shared as best practice across the sector through national and regional networks
Supporting Transition of Care Experienced students into higher education***SESSION FULL***
Christine Colson, University of Greenwich
Greenwich Friends peer mentoring scheme – An example of best practice
The University of Greenwich utilise current 2nd and 3rd year student ambassadors who have undergone specific training to support care leavers and care experienced students as they transition into university life, supporting the student from application through to registration and during that first 100 days, to help them settle into university and support them financially, academically, and socially and general wellbeing.
Enabling Positive Transitions in Learning and Work ***SESSION FULL***
Nicola Aylward, Learning and Work Institute
This session will showcase the materials and resources that Learning and Work Institute has recently developed to support care leavers to make positive transitions in learning and work. We’ll talk about our early work on the Care Leaver Covenant, our Really Useful Book of Learning and Earning for Care Leavers (RUBLE) and our Skills Support website. Attend this session to find out more about these free resources and how they can help you to enable the care leavers you work with to secure good outcomes.
The Stand Alone Pledge Susan Mueller, Stand Alone
The Stand Alone Pledge: What does it involve and why it is important? What are the most common misconceptions about how it works? To date (September 2017) 34 universities have taken the Pledge and the workshop will look at the change that has happened across those universities and the sector, possibly with some feedback from students. Delegates will be encouraged to talk about their own experiences and discuss obstacles, difficulties and solutions in bringing about change in support for estranged students within their institutions.