1 Introduction

Introduction

Welcome to this Corporate Parenting course: your opportunity to develop your skills and understanding of care experience to become a better Corporate Parent.

This course uses the voice of Care-Experienced students in Scotland to enhance your understanding of how you can support them in your role. We hope that by listening to their stories you will be able to see how, as a proactive and committed Corporate Parent, you can transform the lives of our Care-Experienced students.

The course provides opportunities for you to reflect on what you’ve learned and relate it to your own practice. These activities are optional, there are no ‘correct’ answers and you will not be marked on what you write. Only you can see what you write in the text boxes provided but you may prefer to use a learning journal to keep track of your thoughts. If you have colleagues working through the course as well, you could discuss your learning with them.

In each section, external links are provided if you would like to find out more about the data we use but you are not expected to do this in order to complete the course.

The course is designed to take 1–2 hours but this will vary depending on your prior awareness and your engagement with the learning materials and activities. You do not have to complete the course is one go as your progress will be saved. On completion of the course, you will have the opportunity to take the End of course quiz, and receive your digital badge and Statement of Participation to recognise your learning. You will need to enrol on the course to save your progress and to access the quiz.

You can access the course in an alternative format for accessibility or for use offline. These options will appear on the first page of each section.

This course was written and co-produced with Care-Experienced students, Who Cares? Scotland and the Open University in Scotland in collaboration with several institutions and organisations. Visit the Acknowledgements  for the full list.

Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand what Corporate Parenting means for you, your institution and in collaboration with other Corporate Parents

• describe the impact of care experience on the student journey from pre-entry to graduation, and into employment.

• reflect on your own practice and how you can contribute to better outcomes for Care-Experienced students

• articulate your role in supporting Care-Experienced students

• provide a more informed response when engaging with a Care-Experienced student.

Now continue to Session 2 What is Corporate Parenting?