Queen’s University Belfast: Supporting Care Experienced Young People

Background

Queen’s University Belfast is a Russell Group University with over 25,000 students. Amongst these 25,000 students are students who have experience of being in care. The current Queen’s definition of ‘care experienced’ is three months or more in care at any age. Whilst we work hard to support our current care experienced students (more on this later), we have also established a range of outreach activities that aim to raise attainment and achievement for care experienced young people from a young age.

I am the Named Contact for care experienced students in Queen’s. With a background of Social Work, and in particular working with care experienced young people, I have brought my understanding of the barriers of education for those with experience of being in care to the role, to continue to develop and evaluate our support offered to this cohort of young people and students.

Reading Together

The Reading Together programme pairs a care experienced young person (aged 9-11) with a Queen’s student mentor for a 12-week programme of paired reading. The young people are nominated by their Health and Social Care Trust, and the student mentors apply, interview, and undergo an intensive training programme prior to meeting with the young person. This is supported by academics from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s. 

As with most programmes, this went online during Covid, and results demonstrated that the impact was just as significant as when the programme was completed face-to-face. Having the sessions online means that the sessions can be done after school/study hours, thus making it more accessible to both the mentors and the participants. Additionally, saving costs on transport for mentors has also resulted in additional funds to have more participants. 

Each participant completes a pre and post reading assessment to track impact, but otherwise the sessions are participant-led. This includes picking a book of their choice (we’ve had some interesting choices- from books on drones to football annuals - but Diary of a Wimpy Kid continues to be a popular choice!), and the mentors will structure the sessions around the interests, abilities and wishes of the child. This includes games of hangman, sports quizzes, and even writing letters to authors with some very harsh book reviews. Underpinning all of this work is the importance of building a relationship with the mentor, hearing more about University life, increasing confidence and self-esteem, and along the way developing an enjoyment of reading and increase in literacy skills. 

Student mentors are supported through regular support meetings and additional top-up training where needed (such as on specific topics like Dyslexia), and at the end of the programme the participants are invited to campus for a celebratory event. This event includes meeting their mentor in real life, receiving a certificate and reward, a campus tour, a fun activity, and the chance to don a mortar board and gown and feel like a real graduate!

The event is widely considered as one of the best days in our Widening Participation Unit (WPU) calendar (by more than just me, honest!). It also provides the participant with the opportunity to experience a positive ending.  For many of these participants they have experienced abrupt or difficult endings to relationships, and thus providing an ending that is celebratory and child-centred is an essential part to the programme. Feedback on the programme is consistently positive; with accuracy and comprehension scores increasing, and both children and carers keen for the child to engage in other Queen’s programmes. 

We have recently extended this scheme of working to a pilot Numeracy Together programme (paired numeracy work for 12 weeks) and a pilot Steps to Success programme (paired working focussed on transition to “big school”) and we continue to monitor the impact and success of this.

Next Steps

Participants on these very early outreach programmes are also informed of other outreach opportunities delivered by the WPU in Queen’s. This includes Junior Academy (for secondary school pupils) and Junior Academy Sports (for secondary school aged male pupils). On both of these programmes, care experienced students are automatically eligible to be part of the programme and to continue their relationship with Queen’s.

Junior Academy offers students the chance to become more familiar with campus, get to know the courses and opportunities on offer at Queen’s, and receive additional support through targeted study skills masterclasses, English GCSE masterclasses, and Maths GCSE masterclasses. Junior Academy Sports uses sports as a way to build aspirations to University, as well as providing participants with a chance to gain an award in sports leadership. 

Post-16 options include Senior Academy and Pathway Opportunity Programme – two programmes that again prioritise care experienced applicants. Senior Academy provides an opportunity for Post-16 students to explore University life and all options for further study, whilst Pathway places a focus on a direct pathway to Queen’s.

At Queen’s

Our outreach for current students begins at “Tick the Box” stage.  We reach out in June to offer holders who have ticked the box to offer summer tours and pre-entry advice and information. The goal is to build a relationship with care experienced students as early as possible. 

Students are then offered a 1-1 support meeting when they commence their studies, with the goal of these meetings to explore any additional support that may be needed. Students are also encouraged to apply for the Care Experienced Bursary (for both UG and PG students) and to avail of Support Queen’s Care Experienced Students (SUQCESS). 

SUQCESS has been funded by private donors to provide support for care experienced students who may encounter barriers to their studies. This can include help with the cost of textbooks, or support to get to/from University or placement. Care experienced students are also a considered group for global opportunities, for career coaching and for industry mentoring. Students have access to the same named contact from pre-entry through to graduation (and beyond, if needed), and this provides a consistent approach.

Our ultimate goal would be to see a care experienced young person begin their journey with Queen’s from a Reading Together age, right through our outreach programmes and on to experience support and success as a Queen’s student. Although we still have some years to go to see this come to fruition, our belief that aspiration raising can begin at any age has seen us commit to a programme that provides so much, not only for the participants, but also for the student mentors who develop their own employability skills, as well as awareness of the challenges faced, and strength shown by young people in care. 

It’s an absolute privilege to work within WPU in Queen’s, and I humbly believe that our outreach programmes can be duplicated across the UK and Ireland to promote literacy and numeracy attainment, and ongoing aspiration raising, for our incredible care experienced young people. 

About the author

Sinead O’Kane is an Outreach Officer in Widening Participation the Named Contact for care experienced students at Queen’s University Belfast.  As a previous student of Queen’s, she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work in 2012 and has spent her career dedicated to supporting those with care experience to reach their full potential. This has included development of a School Social Work programme as well as working for the local Trust to support families in need. This passion for the power of education has transferred into providing support for care experienced students through early outreach programmes, as well as providing support, guidance and advice to care experienced students throughout their student life cycle.

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