Collaboration
Universities, like all Corporate Parents, also have a legal duty to collaborate with each other in order to best meet the needs of the Care-Experienced people for whom they are responsible.
In practice there are many forms of collaboration, both formal and informal, across the education sector, many of which date to before the legislation that made this a legal requirement.
The Hub for Success
The Hub for Success is a partnership project between colleges, universities, third sector organisations and the local authority in Edinburgh. The project was launched in February 2019 to provide advice, support and encouragement to Care-Experienced people to get in, stay in and return to education. The Hub can provide information about learning opportunities to people with care experience.
It is embedded within social work at the City of Edinburgh council and receives many referrals through colleagues.
The Hub aims to explore how the partner institutions can work with local schools to improve outcomes and raise awareness of educational opportunities among Care-Experienced pupils.
Benefits of the collaboration include:
- shared funding for the service provided to Care-Experienced people in the region
- regular sharing of good practice
- a shared platform for Care-Experienced students to voice concerns and ideas
- a wider reach in terms of the individual referred to the service
- a wider reach in terms of staff who have received training and information about Corporate Parenting duties
- link-up between social work and education sectors allows staff to address complex problems more coherently.
The collaboration also allows the opportunity for strategic discussion of Corporate Parenting duties at many levels: an Advisory Board of Principals and other senior leadership, a Steering Group of student support practitioners, and a Learner Advisory Board of Care-Experienced students at each partner institution.
Taking actions to improve