It has been suggested that children in foster care for longer than one year often achieve much higher grades than vulnerable children who stay with their families. The University of Oxford and the University of Bristol conducted a study, which showed children living with foster parents achieved better results than those who remained with their own families with social worker support. The results showed that foster children were gaining GCSE results that were at least six grades higher, with those in care for a longer period of time performing better.

David Berridge, Professor of Child and Family Welfare at the University of Bristol, said: “In interviews, young people said they could only do well at school once they felt safe and secure, that they mattered to someone and that their birth families were also being supported.”

At Acorn Care, our Fostering team believes that if properly trained and supported, foster families can provide the therapeutic and supportive environment our children and young people need to build their self-esteem and confidence. The ultimate aim of our fostering service is to help children and young people trust the adults in their lives to provide a secure base from which they can begin to explore their world safely and securely. In doing so, our foster families are also able to support our children and young people to develop their education and independence.

We offer our team of Foster Carers an excellent training programme, some of which is mandatory and must be completed within 12 months of approval, with the remainder of the programme being optional. Every one of our Foster Carers is fully supported so that we are able to keep our children in schools and help them to develop their knowledge and skills for a better future. Every foster family has a dedicated supervising social worker with access to 24-hour support from a duty worker together with direct access to our clinical psychologist for advice on any questions that they have regarding the children in their care.

We feel that investing in our Foster Carers is never wasted and that high quality training ultimately pays for itself in improving outcomes for our children and young people that otherwise would have been beyond their reach.