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It's been a busy few months for the NSG, alongside the usual busy period of Summer schools, Open Days, Clearing etc... At our September meeting at the UWE in Bristol we discussed changes to our governance and communication structures which will strengthen our position and make NNECL sustainable and relevant in the long term. These discussions are on-going but we hope to have them completed by December for you.
We also discussed the Buttle UK legacy and whether the HEFCE SPoC funding could provide an exciting new opportunity for NNECL to meet some of its aims with this funding. This is all at very early stages of exploration and certainly not a given but all our fingers are crossed (collaboratively of course!). More information will follow, but please do feel free to get in touch if you have thoughts on this! We are also seeking your feedback on the NNECL Guide as we are looking to improve and add to this over the next few months so please do contact me so we can ensure this great resource continues to be relevant.
The biggest thing I would ask you to do now is to block out the 16th December 2014 in your diary. Our second annual FREE NNECL event will be hosted by De Montfort University in Leicester between 10am – 3.30pm. Again, we are in the planning stages for this at present but I would welcome any suggestions on what you would like to see at our conference.
If you have any suggestions or ideas, please e-mail them through to NNECL@salford.ac.uk or you can contact me as the chair personally at a.pile@salford.ac.uk.
I hope you all get through September,
Arron Pile
Interim Chair, NNECL
You can find out more about what NNECL and the National Strategic Group do here.
Notices:
Please can you let your regional reps know about any events you have planned for National Care Leavers Week (26th-31st October). Contact details for your reps are at the bottom of the newsletter!
In this Edition Read Articles about:
National Care Leavers Week
Sector News
Emotion Coaching Training
Regional Update - South East
Regional Update - North West
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This year's National Lecture 'New Belongings - Exploring Care Leavers Experience of Transition' takes place on Tuesday 28 October, 18:00 start at Leeds Becket University.
The lecture will be delivered by Belinda Bluff, supported by Lemn Sissay. The event will close with a question and answer panel chaired by Craig Whittaker MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers.
Belinda is a care leaver currently completing her PhD at the University of Huddersfield where she was the first reciepient of of the Lemn Sissay Scholarship. It is particularly fitting that following Belinda’s lecture that Lemn Sissay will share the platform and provide an input.
For further information and a link to book is available via the HEART website. If you require any additional information about the National Lecture please contact the NNECL Yorkshire & Humberside Strategic Group representative, Ian McGregor Brown (heart@leeds.ac.uk).
The National Lecture is just one of the many events taking place during National Care Leavers Week (NCLW). For more details about the development of NCLW please click here.
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Emotion Coaching Training was delivered to over 90 professional colleagues that work with looked after children and care leavers from Kent, Medway and South East London. The training outlined that the majority of young people who are separated from their parents and taken into care will experience strong emotions linked to their care experience. It explained how: emotions are linked to behaviour; they are highly likely to have a negative impact on a young person’s education; and an established practical model, detailed in the training, can be utilised to enable any colleague to support young people manage their emotions through 'self-regulation'.
Please click here to read the full article, which includes further details about the training and future plans for practitioners from Local Authorities, Further and Higher Education institutions to work together to support the on-going dissemination of this training.
For further details of this work, please contact Will Calver, Chair of Designated Member of Staff group in Kent and Medway w.calver@gre.ac.uk or 0208 331 9282
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NCLW - What will you be doing?
Please let your Regional Reps know what you will be doing during NCLW. We know Sheffield Hallam University will feature a blog post about the week.
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The newly formed South East Network comprises FE, HE and LA colleagues from Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. The first meeting took place in early February, with members sharing information on their local networks and examples of best practice for working with care leavers and their advisors.
Group members agreed to undertake work in two key areas, namely the appointing and communicating of named care leaver contacts in each partner institution and the development of county-based working groups for care leaver contacts, where these do not already exist. Members have subsequently submitted details of their care leaver contacts, and a working list of South East practitioners is in development.
County news:
Kent – the Care Leaver Progression Partnership in Kent and Medway ran a successful practitioner event in June 2014 focused on the emotional support for care leavers in continued education and training. The event sparked desire for the offer of emotion training for care leaver contacts. Please see the article from Will Calver, University of Greenwich, for more information.
Sussex – A Pan Sussex Care Leavers event – ‘Thinking About University?’ was held on 3rd July 2014 for. The day was focussed on giving young people -17 to 24 - information, advice and guidance about progressing to FE and HE, including information about student funding and finance. The young people were also able to hear from and speak with current university students with care experience and visit the universities of Brighton and Sussex.
Hampshire – The Hampshire Universities Group continued to meet to share practice relating to children in care/care-leavers. The University of Winchester continued activities with Hampshire Children’s Services, including taster days and an annual residential. Another cohort of care leavers attended for a 3 day work-ready programme prior to taking up traineeships with Hampshire County Council.
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North East - Megan Lunn
North West - Arron Pile
Yorkshire and Humber - Ian Brown
West Midlands - Kirsty Jones/Baljit Gill
East Midlands - Jenny Dunstall/Melissa Page
East of England - Lee Byrne
South West England - Di Stone
South East England - Felicity Dunworth/Sarah Hurrell
London - Kirsty Wadsley
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Sign up to the newsletter
NNECL News is intended for anyone working to support care leavers into higher education.
The newsletter will be sent out quarterly and will include information about the work of the executive group and news from across the sector. To sign up and receive the newsletter by email click here.
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New education guidance for looked after children has been released by DfE, further details available here.
The Education Select Committee has published a report as a result of its inquiry into 16+ Care Options. There are important headline recommendations around transition to independence, accommodation, support for all care leavers up to the age of 25, and extending Staying Put. To read detailed information about this report please see the committee page.
Staying Put best practice guide has been released.
There has been updated guidance on care for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and trafficked children available on the NCAS website.
Finally the DfE are consulting on the knowledge and skills needed for a children and families social work, please click here for more information and to contribute to this.
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Two of the institutions were rated at ‘exemplary’ level in February 2014; the University of Salford and Blackpool & The Fylde College. The University of Cumbria was also recently awarded the Quality Mark for the first time. Well done!
At Blackpool & The Fylde College there is a designated HE Care Leaver Co-ordinator. Care leavers – both new and continuing - are invited to attend 'Flying Start’ summer school to prepare for HE. Click here for more details.
In Greater Manchester, the four Universities – Bolton, Manchester Metropolitan, Manchester and Salford continue to work together to offer a full programme of events for young people, local authority staff and foster carers as well as bespoke joint events and training to anyone who asks! Please see here for details. They are also getting lots of nominations from the ten local authorities for the 2014 Greater Manchester Care Leaver Awards which will be held during National Care Leavers Week on Thursday 30 October at Salford’s Media City Campus. It will be even bigger and better this year!
The University of Manchester has launched their new Care Leaver Support Package which includes pre-arrival support, welcome, finance and careers guidance sessions in addition to ongoing support, a welcome voucher to eligible first year students, flexible accommodation options and support at Graduation. A website is in development.
The University of Salford continues to lead the Salford specific multi agency partnership, Salford CAN which raises educational and employment aspirations of 16-25 year old care experienced young people in the city. This year the concentration is on the aspirations of young people in Salford who are not currently in education, employment or training. After a successful pilot with students at the university working with designated teachers in 6 schools to create one to one mentoring opportunities, this is being expanded to all 16 secondary schools and children’s homes in Salford this year
The University of Cumbria has been running training at social services centres based on access to HE, this has been very well received by staff and young people. Cumbria also continue their work with community groups who support young people in care and care leavers making use of workshops and aspiration raising activity. Cumbria recently celebrated the graduation of Natalie Atkinson, a young care leaver who studied criminology with us who appeared on BBC3 documentary ‘banged up and left to fail?’. Natalie graduated with a first and won the NUS student of the year award.
In Cheshire, the WPCGroup - Keele, Staffordshire, Chester, Derby, MMU, Reaseheath College, Somerville College, Oxford, and Harper Adams Universities deliver two events annually from member institutions with regional Virtual Head’s for aspiration raising and IAG.
The Greater Merseyside Care Leavers Into Higher Education network of Local Authorities, HEIs and Further Education providers has continued to meet during 2014 / 2015, with our most recent meeting including a guest presentation from Nat O’Brien from NCAS Catch 22 regarding their Children’s Homes project. Liverpool John Moores University has developed a new Outreach initiative for current Looked After Children, LJMU Aspire, which will engage young people in Year 12 in local schools and colleges on Greater Merseyside in aspiration and attainment-raising activities. The project will launch in October 2014 to coincide with National Care Leavers week.
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