1.3 Course writers

This course has been created by a team of people from different organisations and by people who have lived experience of care. This team has come together to create a resource that is useful for a wide range of people.

Dawn Robb, who is the Learning, Evidence and Impact Lead at Staf, led on the course development and coordinated the steering group work and partnership with the OU in Scotland. Sarah Jane Thomson, who is a care-experienced Social Worker for children in care and care-experienced young people, led on the course writing, activities and quiz for this course, with support and course content from Dawn Robb; Kari-Ann Johnston, who is a Corporate Parenting and Children’s Rights Officer at East Lothian Council; Kim Bradie, who is an Educational Lead/Psychotherapist; and Liz Middleton, who is a Chartered Educational Psychologist.

Staf

Staf [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] aims to create a Scotland where the well-being and success of young people leaving care is in line with their peers in the general population. Staf works towards this by focusing on four key pillars:

• Influencing policy and practice.

• Amplifying the voices of care leavers and practitioners.

• Fostering networking and collaboration.

• Offering targeted learning and development opportunities.

Staf’s initiatives include focus groups, national projects, conferences, and bespoke training for the workforce, and all are designed to support and improve care leavers' lives across Scotland. Staf is delighted to have worked in partnership with The Open University in Scotland, the course writers, people with experience of care and people from other organisations, to develop this course. Staf hopes that many people will benefit from the learning the course has to offer.