When a young person joins one of our residential child care services the immediate goal is to create safety. Many will have experienced challenges around engagement in learning, developing gaps that impact their self-esteem and confidence as a learner. Supporting the fantastic work of Care Visions carers, by helping them uncover creative ways to re-engage a young person in learning, is a truly fulfilling experience.

In the case of one young person in particular, the pure joy found in rediscovering learning could not have been clearer.
When a six-year old boy joined one of our residential child care services, the team quickly created a nurturing environment and were keen to re-establish education in his life. However, they were aware the young person had faced barriers to learning in the past. To succeed, learning would have to be made fun, exciting, and meaningful; challenge accepted.

At Care Visions, we place those we care for at the centre of their own care plan. In this case, by understanding the boy’s existing interests and hobbies we were able to tailor an individual ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ learning plan; with exciting topic-based activities the team could carry out with him. Everyone learning together.

The experiences and outcomes of the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ were attached to each activity, along with ways to assess and (crucially) celebrate progress. This ensured that local authority partners were supplied with clear evidence of his improved educational outcomes.
Revisiting the case four months later, it was so heart-warming to see all the wonderful work that had been created and beautifully presented by the young person. Photos and models of ‘erupting volcanoes’, fact-sheets on dinosaurs, labelled drawings about outer-space, and wonderful pieces of writing were all on display.

Having been so disengaged just a few months before, it was amazing to listen to this young person speak with such enthusiasm about his learning and express how he now wished to start attending primary school. It certainly did not happen all at once, but for this young person his small steps had led to a big outcome, re-discovering the happiness learning can bring.