Foster carers want to help children with education

A new report published by the Fostering Network Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University shows that foster carers want to and should be more involved in supporting the children they look after to succeed in education.

Children in care generally have lower education grades than their peers and the report says that foster carers want help in building their skills and confidence so they can help fostered children to improve and achieve their potential.

However, foster carers say that they do not always receive proper recognition from social workers and others in the education system, which holds them back from giving fostered children the support they need.

The report calls for foster carers to be given more opportunity for ongoing professional training in understanding the education system and being able to provide practical academic support to the children in their care.

Maria Boffey, project manager at the Fostering Network Wales, said: “Children in care may not always see education as a priority as they have so much else going on in their lives and foster carers are ideally placed to help.

“Foster carers want to support fostered children academically and need to be given the recognition and training to do this. We hope this report will raise this as a priority with central and local government throughout Wales.”

The report also highlights that the Government needs to work with local communities to address the educational aspirations of the whole community and this should include the role of foster carers and looked after children.

Tweet