Education plays a huge part in the lives of children and young people. For, children in kinship care, and for all care-experienced children, there are additional needs to be considered. Children who have experienced childhood trauma can have an overactive threat response and the school environment can present many triggers.
Educators may need information on the legal aspects of kinship care; information on how to access additional supports for care-experienced children or specific strategies to support children and young people as they move through the education system.
Help sheets will cover themes such as additional support, transitions, funding and behaviour (social and emotional development).
The checklist for educators is intended to help teachers to keep track of the supports and strategies they have used with the care-experienced child in their class. As the teacher introduces a strategy, it will take time to try it out and to evaluate the impact before introducing a new strategy. The intention is not to tick off every item.
There are education presentations on the Adoption UK Scotland YouTube page. There are various themes including moving on from secondary school and managing anxiety or non-attendance at school.
Education meetings
The education adviser is available to speak with professionals about education matters. If you are supporting a child living in kinship who is struggling at school, or you have a question about additional supports, you can email: education.scotland@adoptionuk.org.uk
Please note that conversations about individual children require prior consent from a parent or carer.
A referral can be made to request a meeting for a family with the education adviser, complete the education referral form also listed under help sheets, and send to education.scotland@adoptionuk.org.uk
The education adviser will try to establish the needs of the child, the supports that are currently in place and help you to work out what additional supports or strategies could be implemented. After the consultation you will receive a summary of what was discussed to help you move forward.
In addition to our education services, the FASD Hub team have also created factsheets, deliver training and offer advice to parents, carers and teachers supporting children with a history of pre-natal alcohol exposure. The support strategies are often applicable to children with a range of additional support needs including ASD and ADHD. You can explore education supports on the FASD Hub website.
Enquire, the Scottish additional support for learning advice service, also has a range of resources and a helpline service. Find out more by visiting their website.
