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.

Share Your Voice

Find questionnaires, forms and share our 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.

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 2021-2022:

7% of care-experienced young people left school in S4 or earlier compared to 12.4% of all school leavers.
4% of care-experienced young people left school with 1 or more qualifications at SCQF level 4 or better, compared to 96.4% of all school leavers.
8% of care-experienced young people moved on to a positive initial destination once leaving school, compared to 95.7% of all school leavers.
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;
- 9 percentage points in reading
- 32.0 percentage points in writing
- 27.2 percentage points in listening and talking
- 32.5 percentage points in numeracy

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.

School Through My Eyes aims to educate and inform 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 local authorities and educators 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 education providers 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.

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.