At Halesowen College we recognise that students have different living circumstances. Some may live with parents, family members, carers or may be living independently or with support. We want to make sure that our students are given the right support from the moment they apply to study with us.

What does Halesowen College mean by care experienced?

We use the term care experience to cover a range of different living circumstances young people have. You may have heard of the following terms:

• Looked after child/Child looked After

• Care Leaver

• Kinship Care/Living with relatives

• Foster Care

• Residential Care/Children’s Home

• Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child

You may have or have had, a social worker, a personal advisor (PA) an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) or maybe you remember attending meetings called Looked After Child (LAC) reviews or Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings.

If any of these sound familiar to you and your living circumstances, we at Halesowen College consider you care experienced.

Who will know I am care experienced?

We recognise that this might not be something all young people want to share, as they may be worried about who will know they are care experienced.

At Halesowen College, we pride ourselves on making sure all young people feel they can share in a safe place. Only the key people at college will know that you are care experienced this will include our Safeguarding team link here. Your Head of Student Support, Personal Coach, and key members of the Learner Hub. All they will know is that you are or have been care experienced, but they will not know details of your individual journey unless you choose to share.

DESIGNATED TEACHER & DDSL-MANDY DOWNING

As a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) the designated teacher ensures that any safeguarding concerns are responded to effectively. They have the responsibility for ensuring college staff understand the things which can affect how care experienced  and previously care experienced young people learn and how the whole college supports the educational achievement of these learners. As a DDSL the designated teacher ensures that any safeguarding concerns are responded to effectively. They monitor attendance and any disciplinary processes for these learners. The Designated Teacher and the Looked After Children Coordinator are also responsible for the coordination and monitoring of the PEP. Ensuring that all on course support is detailed throughout the PEP and made available throughout the academic year. Offering participation activities to increase inclusion in college life and beyond. They also work closely with college staff, the virtual school, social workers, parent/carers, and the young person, ensuring high aspirations are encouraged and the plan for their future success is fulfilled.

Contact:

Mandy Downing – mdowning@halesowen.ac.uk | Tel: 0121 602 7762

Catherine Caseley- ccaseley@halesowen.ac.uk Tel 0121 602 7777 Ext 8111

What do you offer care-experienced learners?

Once you have declared you are care experienced you can choose to take up a range of services we have on offer. At Halesowen College, we welcome your ideas and suggestions, if you feel we could offer more or a different service, please let us know. We are committed to improving the services we offer to care experienced young people and want to make sure that the services we offer meet the different needs of our learners.

Financial Support

At Halesowen College we recognise that having care experience can bring on many financial challenges. We offer a bursary of up to £1,200 per year to all care experienced learners aged 16 – 19 years. For more information, click here

All Uniform, Equipment and Trips (up to £500 a year) will be provided. You will need to have access to your own bank account.

We also offer support with applications for additional funding from charities who support care experienced young people in education. Some of our learners have received grants of £2,250 from the Helena Kennedy Foundation whilst others have received support from the Rees Foundation who offer both financial, and employment opportunities for care experienced young people.

At Halesowen College we are committed to growing our networks with organisations who offer support for care experienced young people and we are dedicated to locating these organisations to support you whilst you are studying with us.

Enrichment

At Halesowen College we offer a range of enrichment activities that meet the needs of our diverse learners. Some of these will be targeted for our care experienced learners.

We work closely with universities, employers, and other services to offer you the best programme of activity whilst you are studying with us. This includes trips and events that support your education and offering fun and engaging cultural capital experiences. (Cultural capital experiences include; visiting another city to watch a West End show, visiting another city to explore a popular establishment such as a football stadium or museum)

Information Advice and Guidance (IAG)

Our teams in safeguarding, learner hub and careers, offer specialist advice and guidance for care experienced young people. This focuses on rights and entitlements as a care experienced young person in education. This also includes information on matters that are important to you and require you to make independent decisions in your life. Such as accommodation matters, staying with carers (staying put), moving onto independence, financial entitlements whilst a learner or apprentice and many other areas of importance. This also includes support for learners seeking asylum and for those with discretionary leave to remain.

There will be University Visits to dedicated Care Experienced events to ensure that you are informed of all the additional support that is available during your progression to Higher Education. 

Do I have to get involved in all of the services you offer?

The simple answer is no. We offer these services all year round with no obligation for you to take up. But, we do know from feedback from other care experienced young people just how beneficial some of these services have been for them. You can also get involved in some and not in others. We just want you to know what we offer and that our teams are here for you if you want to get involved in anything.

What should I do now?

All you have to do is declare on the application form that you are care experienced using the tick box. If you have already applied or you are currently studying with us but have not declared, you or your social worker can still declare by emailing Mandy Downing.

Contact:

Mandy Downing – mdowning@halesowen.ac.uk | Tel: 0121 602 7777 Ext 7762

Catherine Caseley- ccaseley@halesowen.ac.uk Tel 0121 602 7777 Ext 8111