‘They are always in the top of our mind’: designated teachers’ views on supporting care experienced children in England
‘They are always in the top of our mind’: designated teachers’ views on supporting care experienced children in England
Care experienced children are at substantial risk for poor educational outcomes, so it is vital to understand where the challenges and opportunities may lie in providing improved support for them. Designated Teachers have statutory responsibilities within maintained schools in England to promote the educational achievement of care experienced children, but very little research has examined their views and experiences. Following purposive sampling, in-depth, online, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Designated Teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic to explore their experiences of the facilitators and barriers to supporting care experienced children. Four themes were developed through reflexive thematic analysis. Designated teachers enacted change through both systemic working, and the provision of targeted support to address individual child needs. Various facilitators and barriers to role fulfilment were identified, including multi-agency working and the impact of competing roles and responsibilities. Implications for professionals are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.
care experienced, designated teachers, looked after, multi-agency, virtual schools
1897-1914
De La Fosse, Lynn Catherine
0b343af5-f793-421b-8d5c-eb6b02e51b07
Parsons, Sarah
5af3382f-cda3-489c-a336-9604f3c04d7d
Kovshoff, Hanna
82c321ee-d151-40c5-8dde-281af59f2142
De La Fosse, Lynn Catherine
0b343af5-f793-421b-8d5c-eb6b02e51b07
Parsons, Sarah
5af3382f-cda3-489c-a336-9604f3c04d7d
Kovshoff, Hanna
82c321ee-d151-40c5-8dde-281af59f2142
De La Fosse, Lynn Catherine, Parsons, Sarah and Kovshoff, Hanna
(2023)
‘They are always in the top of our mind’: designated teachers’ views on supporting care experienced children in England.
Children & Society, 37 (6), .
(doi:10.1111/chso.12737).
Abstract
Care experienced children are at substantial risk for poor educational outcomes, so it is vital to understand where the challenges and opportunities may lie in providing improved support for them. Designated Teachers have statutory responsibilities within maintained schools in England to promote the educational achievement of care experienced children, but very little research has examined their views and experiences. Following purposive sampling, in-depth, online, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Designated Teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic to explore their experiences of the facilitators and barriers to supporting care experienced children. Four themes were developed through reflexive thematic analysis. Designated teachers enacted change through both systemic working, and the provision of targeted support to address individual child needs. Various facilitators and barriers to role fulfilment were identified, including multi-agency working and the impact of competing roles and responsibilities. Implications for professionals are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.
Text
DeLaFosse Parsons Kovshoff (2023) Always at the Top of Our Minds Author Accepted 11th April 2023
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
Children Society - 2023 - De La Fosse - They are always in the top of our mind Designated Teachers views on supporting
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 11 April 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 April 2023
Keywords:
care experienced, designated teachers, looked after, multi-agency, virtual schools
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477312
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477312
ISSN: 0951-0605
PURE UUID: b76ec6ed-553a-43eb-aa10-1e0231e34878
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 02 Jun 2023 17:14
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:23
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Lynn Catherine De La Fosse
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
