It is recognised that children in care can struggle to access education and reach their potential. This is often the case despite being offered extra support and intervention to meet their learning needs. For many children in care their barriers to learning arise from difficulties with attachment and relationships.

Many children in care also experience feelings of low self-worth which affects their confidence, motivation and identity as a learner. The most common barrier to learning expressed by schools in relation to children in care is “failing to engage”. Unless these issues are addressed many children in care continue to be disengaged and fail to make progress.

The mentoring project developed by the Educational Psychology and Behaviour Support Services is offered to all schools with children in care as an intervention aimed to support children with these difficulties through a model of mentoring specifically developed for children in care and drawing on research from fields of attachment, solution focused coaching and mentoring, to enable them to move forward with their learning and reach their potential. Through each child working towards personalised targets the aim is to support children to develop their resilience and general wellbeing and be included fully in school.

The project is focussed on improving progress and attainment and GCSE results in maths and English of children in care in year 10 or 11, to improve their wider educational outcomes, improve communication with mentors and gain better access to career guidance through the issue of mobile tablets.

The tablets are issued to each child in care at the start of the academic year and allows students to access the internet when working outside school, to photograph notes and record advice from teachers and use specific apps to help with revision.

Schools provide action plans in relation to the use of the tablet and how it will meet the project aims and are invited to access further support through the mentoring project.