News, events and training - children in care

What and how are our young people doing?

Headline results for 2011/12 academic year

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) outcomes for children in care showed an improvement this year and, in particular, for Bristol CiC attending Bristol schools which has seen an 18% improvement.

Key stage 1: the results were less good than last year’s in Reading, Writing and maths.

Key stage 2: there has been an improvement in English, maths and in the percentage of pupils gaining level 4 and above in English and maths combined.

Key stage 4: there has been an 8 percentage point improvement this year in children in care gaining five A* to C including English and maths.

Read the Council's press release about 2011/12's key stage 4 outcomes for children in care. Pippa John, The HOPE's Head teacher, was interviewed about the improvement in the key stage 4 outcomes on BBC Radio Bristol on 12 December 2012.

Events and activities

The Mary Palmer prize for poetry

We are running a poetry competition again this year and the theme is' Living in the City'. The competition is open to pupils of The HOPE in key stage 2, 3 and 4 and we would love to receive lots of entries. Further information is available from the Rvoice website. The competition closed on 8th April 2013 and the entries are now being judged.

Previous competitions

We had three winners for our 2012 competition to design a logo for The HOPE (Bristol's virtual school for children in care). We are working on amalgamating the winning designs into one logo which will feature on the RVoice website when the logo is completed.

We ran a competition to name the virtual school for CiC. Members of the virtual school council were involved in selecting the winner which was  - HOPE!

We also held a poetry competition; the first Mary Palmer prize for poetry. The winners were announced at the celebration event for children and young people in care that took place in March 2011.  Find out about the winning entries of the Poetry competition on the R Voice website.

News updates

Good ways of keeping up with news of The HOPE (Bristol's virtual school for CiC) are to read The HOPE Briefing (see related documents) and HOPE Newsletter and to take a look at The HOPE blog on the R Voice website. Information specifically for schools and/or governors sometimes also appears in Heads Up, the online briefing for schools (only available via Bristol City Council's intranet) and the governors' newsletters and bulletins.

2012 carers' survey

The HOPE (Bristol’s virtual school for children in care) ran a survey for carers in late 2012. Bristol City Council (BCC) carers and Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) carers were invited to participate.

This was the first carers’ survey we have undertaken and its purpose was to find out carers’ views on their foster children’s education and what training or information on education carers would like.

Thank you to the carers who participated in the survey – your responses have been read and we appreciate you taking the time to complete it.

Unfortunately, there was a very low response rate; only 42 (11%) eligible carers responded. However, the carers who did participate had foster children of a wide variety of ages and we learned some useful things. You can read a summary of the key things in this document (pdf, 7 KB) (opens new window).

Results of the second HOPE online pupil survey
During the 2010/11 academic year we conducted an online survey for CiC in key stages 2 to 4 to find out a number of things, including how they felt about their education, what help they received with school work, any problems they faced at school and whether they took part in out of school activities. You can read what we learned on the R Voice website.

Corporate Parenting Panel report to full council - November 2012
The November 2012 Corporate Parenting Panel meeting focussed on the 'Enjoy and Achieve' outcome. The report was subsequently discussed by the full Council.

Training

Named governors training

The dates for this academic year have now passed. Please check dates for the new academic year in Term 6.  Alternatively, further information about next year's courses and how to book a place will be available on the Governor Development Service web page.

Social care staff training

Are you working with a child or young person who is looked after? If so, do you know:

• what ECLAS/the HOPE do?
• why ECLAS/the HOPE are required?
• how ECLAS/the HOPE work?

 We have two short sessions which will answer these questions and more.

Learning Outcomes:

• To have a clear understanding of the importance of education and the impact of a positive educational experience for children in care.

• To gain confidence in supporting CiC and their carers to raise attainment or when there are problems at school.

•  To have a good working knowledge of language associated with the National Curriculum and an understanding of the PEP process and Pupil Premium.

Session 1:

Date and time: Tuesday 21st May 2013 from 09:30 - 12:30

Venue: Barton Hill Settlement, 43 Ducie Road, Barton Hill, Bristol BS5 0AX

Session 2:

Date and time: Thursday 27th June 2013 from 13:30 - 16:30

Venue: Barton Hill Settlement, 43 Ducie Road, Barton Hill, Bristol BS5 0AX

Information on how to book is available for Bristol social care staff on The Source.

If you are a foster carer, please contact your support worker for the form and approval.

Designated teachers training

Supporting and promoting the education of children and young people in care

The dates for this academic year have now passed. Please check for the new academic year in Term 6.  Alternatively, further information about the course and how to book a place will be available from the CPD pages.

Experienced designated teacher for Children in Care training course

This is a NEW half-day course is aimed at designated teachers who have attended the initial designated teacher training course and want to review their school’s practice. It looks in depth at school systems and structures, induction processes and PEP quality. Course participants have an opportunity to share what works in their school/setting. The 2012/13 academic year course has now taken place but we hope to run another course in the new academic year. Further information about the course and how to book a place will be available from the CPD pages.

DT learning hub meetings

The learning hubs are an opportunity to share good practice and receive up to date news on educational issues relating to CiC. They are suitable for DTs, social care staff and IROs.

After feedback from DTs, a decision has been taken to hold phase-specific meetings twice a year.

Documents from the current year's DT Learning Hubs are available by following the links in related documents. Documents from previous years are available on the Designated teachers in Bristol schools page.

Primary DT learning hub meetings

No more planned for the 2012-13 academic year.

Secondary DT learning hub meetings

Venue: The City Academy

Date: Thursday 23 May 2013 from 4pm to 5.30pm

Please email Chloe Jones: chloe.jones@bristol.gov.uk or call her on 0117 377 3056 if you wish to attend any of the learning hubs.