Care to Go Higher CPD launched for teachers
Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) recently ran its first ever condensed Care to Go Higher programme for teachers. The usual 12-hour programme was adapted to help the new audience know how to support care-experienced students transition to higher education (HE) via a two-hour session. The rationale for this was wanting to spread the valuable information within the programme so we can promote additional support for care-experienced students via multiple avenues.
With a new audience comes a new challenge of making sure the content is relevant for those in attendance. The original Care to Go Higher programme focuses on children’s home workers, foster carers and personal advisors who don’t have experience of HE so for teaching staff much of the course content would no longer be relevant. To make the session valuable, the focus was split into different subject matters.
One focus was information that may seem like common knowledge to the attendees but may not be known to care-experienced students. The session dispelled myths about HE that included topics such as HE being specifically for those who excel in academic study rather than the reality of creative and practical courses also being offered. In the regular programme this is often useful new information but for the designated teachers it is to challenge preconceptions that everyone starts with similar base information.
The second focus was on the challenges, such as isolation and cognitive load, and skills related to care experience, such as resilience and maturity, to demonstrate how these can impact students both positively and negatively. Being able to discuss these topics helped the attendees to encourage students to make use of their strengths as well as prepare for challenges when applying or transitioning to HE.
The final focus was on the support systems in place at HE providers for care-experienced students. We concentrated on different styles of support such as 365-day accommodation and application support. We also discussed what styles of education and learning are available to demonstrate that the right combination can leave care-experienced students in a situation where they can pick the institution and course that suits their own needs, including degree apprenticeships.
The programme was well received by delegates, who described it as “very clear and comprehensive” and “excellent”.
With the support of the local virtual school we are hoping to run another session later in the year. If you’d like to find out more, feel free to contact Dominic House at d.house@leeds.ac.uk.
Dominic House, GHWY Care to Go Higher Delivery Officer
