Care to Go Higher: Five years of innovative training
Young people may face numerous challenges when they leave the care system, from housing or to worries about financial stability. In order to help address these issues, Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) has been running its innovative Care to Go Higher CPD programme for the last five years.
The free training gives the key influencers of care-experienced young people the tools they need to support informed decision making in relation to Higher Education (HE).
Ahead of registration opening for our next programme, we look back at how it has developed and adapted to the needs of its participants.
Programme audience
The programme is aimed at foster carers, personal advisors and children’s home workers, as these individuals provide continued support to care-experienced young people.
Initially delivered within West Yorkshire, it has been offered nationally since 2023 in response to growing demand.
The programme’s continued success has also seen it adapted for other audiences, including Virtual School Staff and Youth Workers.
Programme delivery
The programme has constantly responded to feedback to meet participant needs and improve content delivery.
First delivered in person over six two-hour sessions monthly, when Covid hit it adapted to circumstances and moved online. It also responded to feedback and compressed session delivery to every two weeks.
Post-pandemic, a hybrid delivery has been adopted. Sessions are delivered once a week, in response to participant feedback that favoured a tighter timescale.
Programme content and guest speakers
Each session includes information about HE, resources, activities and guest speakers. This enables participants to be more informed about the interaction of care-experience and HE, which they can share with those for whom they are providing care. In previous posts we have discussed some key points from the programme itself. You can find these articles here.
Recent guest speakers include the Unite Foundation, talking about its charitable offer and research on care-experienced students, and the John Lewis Partnership, discussing its Building Happier Futures employability programme for care-experienced applicants.
The speaker is tailored to complement the topic covered in the session.
Course evaluation feedback
Each programme is fully evaluated to ensure it meets the needs of participants, and that it successfully helps them to support their young person to make informed decisions about their future.
You can view our most recent evaluation report, including some of the areas where participants increased their knowledge, here.
The course has been consistently well received. One recent participant said: “I thought I was quite knowledgeable already, but [Care to Go Higher] helped me learn more and feel more confident when supporting young people. Highly recommend.”
Another participant said: “Great programme. I liked that each week had a focus, making it more manageable to take all the information in, and sharing resources to reflect back on. I liked that each week there was a key speaker.”
Register for Care to Go Higher
Register to participate in the next Care to Go Higher Programme, which will be delivered between June and July. Sign up here.
