Supporting care-experienced students over the summer
It is important to support care-experienced young people all year round due to the impact of a lack of family support. This can be especially important during the summer as it is a long period of time when students may lack their usual routine/support and, as a result, may feel more alone.
The support you provide for care-experienced students in Higher Education (HE) over summer will depend on your role and your organisation, be that within a HE provider or a Local Authority (LA).
Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) is a partnership of 13 HE providers that work with LA stakeholders. We suggest six ways to offer support.
Signpost to relevant information
The type of information you signpost to can vary according to where you work and your role. This could include signposting to summer work so care-experienced students can earn money and gain experience; support services available; summer opening hours of buildings (for both HE providers and LAs); and free events/activities in the area to keep students busy. For instance, Leeds University Union has a useful Sway on Summer in Leeds. It mentions parkrun (available at all LAs in West Yorkshire) and taking up a new hobby or skill.
Use time to meet with students
Summer can be a quiet time for some departments, such as those providing careers support. Why not use this quiet time to meet with care-experienced students over the summer? You can get in touch with the named contact at your HE provider who should be able to share this invitation and encourage students to use this time to have an appointment with a support service.
Language plays a role
Language plays an important role when communicating with care-experienced students. Avoid using language that assumes everyone has the same experience. You should cover all situations e.g. “Whether you’re staying in the area or not, there are good ways to spend summer, such as learning a new language.”
For those who work in marketing/communications at a HE provider or an LA, ensure your language is inclusive and not just focused on students moving out or going home for the summer. Thinking about signposting to relevant information (see first point), you can also promote what is on in the local area.
Monitor building usage over summer
Some HE providers will have reduced opening hours for facilities over the summer. The last thing you want is for students to feel isolated. As well as communicating summer opening hours well in advance, it might be a good idea to monitor building usage over the summer. Is there a case to open later and/or close later if that is when you receive the most traffic for example? This will help to maximise building usage in summer whilst supporting students.
Educate yourself with resources and learning
School may be out but the summer can provide a good opportunity for staff to find the time to educate themselves and become familiar with resources/learning to support care-experienced students. GHWY offers the collaborative Care Leaver Covenant and our free e-learning to better understand and support care-experienced / estranged students. It can also be good to educate yourself about all the support services to signpost students to.
Recharge and provide coverage over summer
It is vital to take care of yourself so you might want to take time to recharge with annual leave over the summer. Your out of office should tell students who to contact for queries instead so they are not left waiting for a response. You also want to make sure you have staff coverage within your team so it is good to co-ordinate annual leave so that not everyone will be off at the same time.
Tahera Mayat, GHWY Collaborative Outreach Officer
