School through my eyes | Fostering People

Transforming the education journey of care-experienced children.

School Through My Eyes is a child-led training resource for professionals who support care-experienced children and young people with their Education.

In late 2023, Fostering People Scotland was successful in securing funding from The Corra Foundation to develop a resource that would help Scotland improve its educational outcomes for care-experienced people in line with recommendations from The Promise.

School Through My Eyes aims to share insights with professionals on the common themes raised by care-experienced people in Scotland that need to be addressed in order to prevent any barriers to learning. Hearing directly from those who have a lived experience is very powerful, and we hope that all professionals who support care-experienced people across Scotland are ready to really listen to the voices of those with experiences of care, to learn about what needs to change.

Stories will be shared from those who have a lived experience, whether that be direct experience or experiences of supporting care-experienced people with their education to raise awareness of the common themes and barriers, and to share knowledge and advice about how we can approach things differently.

School Through My Eyes materials will consist of training videos from young people and professionals, case studies, activities, and lots of helpful resources to be able to implement recommended change.

We want to make School Through My Eyes as accessible as possible, to ensure all professionals who support care-experienced people across Scotland hear our stories, and commit to making a positive change for our young people. This resource is held online and is free to access.

Share Your Own Thoughts

Find questionnaires, forms and share your own thoughts and experience.

Training Resources

For Teachers, Support Staff, Social Workers, Foster Carers, Children and Young People.

Testimonials

Find out more about our service from the experience of others.

Read our latest News

Pupil Support Staff Training

We are holding a presentation about The School Through My Eyes project at the #Keep the Promise Pupil Support Staff Training Day.

Lights, Camera, Action

Read about our filming session talking to care experienced young people about their experiences in school.

Children in Scotland Pupil Staff Training Day

We were delighted to be asked to present at the Pupil Support Staff Training Day.

And that's a Wrap!

We are so excited to share, that filming for School Through My Eyes has officially wrapped. We are so thankful to everyone who has taken part and supported us in the creation of our materials so far.

The Promise

The Promise tells us that “schools and local authorities must do everything required to support children to build positive relationships at school and maintain attendance, engagement and learning in a meaningful and supportive way”. School Through My Eyes is an opportunity for professionals to hear directly from care-experienced people about what is needed in order for them to thrive in education, to leave school having had a positive experience, and to move on to positive destinations.

Statistics tell us that in Scotland, in the academic year 2022-2023:

65.6% of care-experienced young people stayed on in S5 or later compared to 85.6% of all pupils.
75.7% of care-experienced young people left school with 1 or more qualifications at SCQF level 4 or better, compared to 96% of all school leavers.
86.4% of care-experienced young people moved on to a positive initial destination once leaving school, compared to 95.9% of all school leavers.
97 cases of exclusion per 1000 care-experienced young people compared with 17 cases of all pupils.
84.4% attendance rate for care-experienced young people, compared with 90.2% of all pupils
A lower proportion of care-experienced young people achieve their Curriculum for Excellence level relevant to their stage compared with all pupils, the largest gaps are;
33.6 percentage points in numeracy (P7) 29.1 percentage points in numeracy (P4 and S3) 31.2 percentage points in writing (P4) 32.9 percentage points in writing (P7)

These gaps show us that more can be, and needs to be, done to improve educational outcomes and attainment for our care-experienced children and young people in Scotland.

We hope that you are willing to join us on our journey to making sure care-experienced children in Scotland have a positive experience of education. To find out more information, or about how you can get involved, please get in touch with a member of our team using our enquiries section below

The School Through Our Eyes project fills me with hope that in the future children who have come from care will see the support that is out there for them when it comes to choosing if they want to go to University or College. I am excited to be involved and see the development of this training programme.