December has arrived in what will undoubtedly be a very different festive period for everyone this year, however we have a bumper edition of Fostering News for you, including the annual Role of Honour for our carers who have met big anniversary milestones this year, a message from our fostering service manager and an update on the success of this year's recruitment activity. Happy reading 😊.
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10 years' service
Pat and Alan Raper – North team
Fran and Richard Carr – North team
Russell and Ruth Holland – North team
Lisa and Mark Creasy – South team
Helen and Patrick Palmer – South team
Lin Whitehurst – South team
Jacqueline Robson – Family and Friends team
Violet and Tony Broughton – Central team
Jane Irwin – Short Breaks
Jacqueline and David Fisher – Short Breaks
Jackie Brooks – Fostering Futures
15 years’ service
Lee and Kirsty Broughton – North team
Sara and Paul Edlington – North team
Jane and Simon Smith – South team
Pam and Stuart Whitehead – Central team
Eileen and John Birch – Central team
Anthony and Zelda Machin – Central team
Jane Williams – Short Breaks
Angela Loughrey – Short Breaks
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20 years’ service
Gill and John Thomson – South team
Laura and Mick Redfern – South team
Lorraine and Pete Chappell – South team
Susan Williams – Short Breaks
25 years’ service
Jane and Christopher Simpson – Central team
Gina and Alastair Morton – Central team
Terry and Eric Hardy – Central team
45 years’ service
Jan Reeves – Central team
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If you haven't already, please take the time to fill out our survey for foster carers by this Sunday, 6 December.
As a thank you, everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love2Shop voucher, which will be sent to the winner on Monday 7 December!
By completing this survey you’re helping us to meet your needs as a foster carer and to find more people who could foster children across Nottinghamshire.
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A message from Melissa Blockley, DDP Practitioner and Social Work Practice Consultant (Therapeutic):
Polyvagal theory and how it relates to social cues:
‘We are wired for connection and, in order to help us survive, our bodies are designed and prepared for observing, processing, and responding to our environment’
I came across this article (link below) and I thought it would be good to share with our fostering community. I’ve been referring to the Polyvagal theory in my work with foster carers and their looked after children and young people. This is a theory developed by Stephen Porges who explains the 3 different parts of our nervous system and their responses to stressful situations. It is essential in our understanding of trauma. We all still find ourselves in uncertain and scary times and I’ve found this a really good theory which helps us to start thinking about our own responses to our current environment. This theory is considered as part of the resilience training available for all foster carers, which has been rolled out throughout the year.
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Some of our fantastic Christian foster carers have started a Facebook group and welcome existing and potential foster carers to join. This is a safe place to request prayers and share information with one another. If you would like to be a part of this online community then please follow the link to request to join.
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Introduction to PACE - A course for Foster Parents, Adopters and Other Professionals who wish to understand the difference between 'standard' parenting and 'therapeutic' parenting. This course is essential for anyone wishing to progress to other courses relating to P.A.C.E, Attachment, and Effects of Trauma.
This event is mandatory for newly approved foster carers as part of their first year training journey and is a pre-requisite to all foster carers accessing “promoting resilience and recovery through therapeutic relationships” as part of their two year learning journey.
This will be on Wednesday 9 December 2020 from 10am-12pm via Zoom*
*Please note: those who were previously booked on for 9 December will need to rebook their places, we apologise for any inconvenience!
Unfortunately, the 14 January and 12 March dates have had to be cancelled. If you were booked onto either of those dates you will be automatically transferred onto the 9 December date.
Look out for Assisting and Moving additional training dates for 2021 to be added soon:
- 25 January – Refresher - Short Breaks carers only
- 10 and 11 February – 2 day course, Short breaks only
- 22 February – Mainstream foster carers
- 11 March – Refresher 2 day course, Short breaks only
The Children’s Centre Service’s Health Promotions work group has devised a creative and fun way to get lots of health messages out to families during December, using the ever popular but sometimes naughty Elf on the Shelf. Each day in the run up to Christmas, the cheeky little elf gets himself into also sorts of mischief, but the Children’s Centre Service team helpfully point him in the right direction to sort out his problems.
Covering issues such as alcohol misuse, debt, healthy eating and home safety these posts are an innovative and accessible way of promoting important public health messages launched on 1 December with a Covid-linked post reminding people of the Hands, Face, Space message during the Festive Season.
Take a look at your local district site:
Top Tips for Carers with Under Fives
We know that lots of parents and carers have found the pandemic to be a challenging time, so to make life a little easier, we’ve been putting lots of information on Notts Help Yourself, under the Parent/Carer Zone section.
Topics such as behaviour management, sleep routines, child development, school readiness, healthy lifestyles and fun activities to do at home together are all covered.
Why not take a look at:
Nottinghamshire County Council secures membership with The Fostering Network for all of our foster carers. This includes access to an Advice and Mediation Worker called Caron Heath, who offers Independent and confidential information, support and advice should you need it. Caron can be contacted on 0133 295 9980. Please save this document which contains her full contact details and the range of advice and information she can assist with.
As strange and scary as 2020 has been for all of us, we can share with you the good news that we have had a positive year when it comes to finding foster carers. The Fostering Recruitment and Assessment team has been up and running for a little over a year now and in that time it has grown in size as the demand for initial visits and assessments has increased. We now have five full time supervising social workers to conduct visits and it is predicted that in this current financial year we may approve as many as 47 new fostering households. This is a real boost to the service and means better matching options for both carers and children, and more support available for our existing carers who access support care. We would like to offer a very warm welcome to all of our new carers and hope that it won't be too long before we are able to hold our next foster carer conference so that we can meet you all in person! Until then, we wish you and your families a merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!
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A message of thanks from Ty Yousaf, Fostering Service Manager and Sophie Eadsforth, Group Manager:
"We hope this newsletter finds you well. We wanted to take this opportunity to say a massive ‘thank you’ to all of you for the truly remarkable care you provide and tasks you undertake in providing care and support to our looked after children and young people. Again, thank you!
"It is without doubt a truly extraordinary and challenging year, that none of us could have predicted. The fact that lockdown meant we have had to make major adjustments to our daily lives and additional pressures it has caused only demonstrate how resilient you all are. We are aware that a number of you have stepped in to provide placements for children on an emergency basis as there has been a big increase in the number of placements needed since the first lockdown period. We are so grateful to you for being foster carers for Nottinghamshire County Council.
"We have heard some very heartening stories of the support provided to children and young people in your care. It has been a pleasure to hear how creative you have been too in efforts to rouse the spirits of the children and young people in your care during the lockdown period and continue to do so.
"Despite lockdown, the fostering service has adapted to providing support by virtual meetings and keeping in contact with you using WhatsApp. We have used risk assessments prior to undertaking home visits to help ensure your safety and for staff and continue to do so. We are particularly delighted to have trained our staff in therapeutic relationship and strengths-based practice approaches and are in the process of rolling out the training to our foster carers, as we develop as a therapeutic fostering service.
"We would like to wish you all a merry and peaceful festive period, and a happy New Year."
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