1. Introduction Lews Castle College UHI serves the communities of the Western Isles and has campuses on four of the islands – the main campus is at Stornoway on Lewis with other centres on North Uist, Benbecula and Barra. As part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, the college leads on several online courses and so has Further and Higher Education students from across Scotland, the UK and in a few some instances some courses are delivered internationally. Covering an island chain 130 miles in length, dominated by remote and rural populations, we offer courses from SCQF level 1 up to level 12. In order to provide a broad range of curriculum for a relatively small population base, we mostly have small class sizes and there is an emphasis on personal support from tutors to the students. Community is also key, as people often know one another through other means. This can have its disadvantages as well, as people’s circumstances are often common knowledge. Our Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Report 2013 to 2017 details our commitment to creating a positive environment where students can study and achieve their full potential. Our aim is that anyone can study here at a level that is appropriate to them and receive the encouragement and learning and teaching experience to enable them to achieve their maximum potential in education before going on to a positive destination where they can continue to contribute effectively to society. Current Statistics In 2015-16, Lews Castle College UHI had seven care-experienced students at FE level who disclosed their status and one identified at HE level. However, through informal non-recorded means we were aware of a further seven at FE level and another three at HE level. The pattern is similar for 2016-17. Care Leaver Disclosures: FE formal FE informal HE formal HE informal Total 2015-16 7 7 1 3 18 2016-17 6 4 7 0 17 Our responsibilities and what we are doing about them As Corporate Parents, we have responsibilities as defined in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 as “the formal and local partnerships between all services responsible for working together to meet the needs of looked after children, young people and care leavers”. In practical terms, this requires us as a college to take all the actions necessary to promote and support the well-being of care leavers in order to achieve the best outcomes for them before, during and after their time at our college. 97% of care-experienced young people were either abused or neglected by their parents. They, as children, did nothing wrong. They may have moved several times whilst in care, at short notice, and may have been separated from siblings. There may not have been any stable adult relationship in their lives for a long time. A care experienced person can be someone who was looked after in various ways: Someone who has been in residential care Someone who was in foster care Someone in kinship care, living with a family member other than a parent Someone who is looked after at home, with Social Work support In simple terms, a corporate parent is intended to carry out many of the roles a parent would and give the kind of support a parent would. This support is necessary because children and young people who are care experienced have the poorest outcomes of all children and young people in Scotland. Evidence suggests that 33% of young people and 31% of adult prisoners self-identified as having been in care as a child. 45% of 5 to 17 year olds living in care were assessed as having a diagnosable mental health issue 40% of care experienced young people leave education with 1 or more qualification at SCQF level 5, as opposed to 86% of all school leavers Only 5% of looked after young people went on to higher education after leaving school, compared with a national average of 40% 9 months after leaving school, 29% of care experienced young people are classed as not being in a positive destination, against 9% of non-care experienced peers. The sad reality is that currently care-experienced young people are more likely to end up in prison than at university. Our job is to do what we can to change these figures positively. In order to be sure we are doing all we can, we need to first identify our care-experienced students and applicants. We can make improvements in how we explain questions asked on forms relating to being care-experienced and how that information is used. We can ensure that all staff are aware of the obstacles and issues that care-experienced applicants may be encountering and we are developing ‘contextualised admissions’ designed to help people who have protected characteristics, with a view to including care-experienced young people in this work. Disclosure and improving our disclosure environment are key, as is staff development around the responsibilities we all have towards care-experienced applicants, students and leavers. Most of our plan is concerned with addressing these issues and the steps we are putting in place and the monitoring of these for effectiveness that we are doing. Currently students may disclose their status as care experienced at application and enrolment. However, the two application processes (FE and HE) ask the questions in different ways and the wording is not designed to encourage disclosure. Some of the wording is prescribed by maintaining consistency with UCAS and the SFC. Therefore, if we cannot alter the wording, we need to improve how we explain what we are asking and why. The Student Funding Officer deals with all applications for bursary and EMA funding at the FE level. This is often where informal disclosure occurs, due to requirements regarding standard questions relating to ‘parental income’. She is very experienced in the requirements of the bursary system and can provide a bespoke personal service to anyone who is care experienced, helping them to complete the form appropriately and ensuring that they are receiving the most appropriate form of funding. At Higher Education, notification of any UCAS applicant who has declared that they are care-experienced is now sent to the Student Services Manager and she is in a position to advise students of the SAAS funding that may be appropriate, as well as other potential sources of funding. Students and their appropriate adults can also access drop-in sessions held throughout the summer for help and advice around these issues. The online application for Discretionary Funds currently does not ask if a student is care-experienced, but this will be amended for the next academic session across UHI. The Student Services team of two and a half also is heavily involved in the Induction and Enrolment process at the start of the academic session. On-site students have the opportunity to talk one-to-one with Student Services staff and initial contacts can be made and follow up appointments made for the first few weeks of term. The named contact for care-experienced young people is Kate Mawby, the Student Support Services Manager. The plan is the responsibility of everyone in the college, including teaching and support staff. Health and Welfare The Student Services Team at Lews Castle College handles financial, welfare, disability and student engagement issues for our student body. We take a person-centred approach, and may well deal with a student on a variety of interlinked issues; one student may be eligible for childcare support and discretionary funds have a disability requiring a support plan and be referred for counselling, all within our office. Students are not a tick-box exercise for us, they are complex people with multiple strands of their lives and we may provide input into some of them in their time with us. For anyone who is care-experienced, we offer one-to-one meeting with Student Services to make sure that they are aware of the range of support we can offer and find out what they feel they might need. Financial advice is not limited to FE and HE government funding but includes a broader perspective of student funding queries at FE and HE level. This includes benefits advice for students, issues of eligibility, debt management, and signposting to third parties is used where appropriate for specialist advice and support. Welfare issues may mean we refer to external third parties or partners such as Western Isles Foyer, CAMH, Western isles Women’s Aid, and our local Who Cares Scotland co-ordinator etc. The Student Services Team are involved in supporting students with mental health issues, and have all undertaken the Mental Health First Aid course. We have a college counsellor who is external to the college staff, and we have modified the referral process to ensure the confidentiality, which is so crucial in small communities. We are able to issue vouchers for the local Food Bank and work with a variety of partners locally to improve student knowledge of and accessibility to sources of support. Similarly, we have good relationships with the local Homelessness staff in the council and the local Lone Parent Advisor at the Jobcentre. We have some laptops that can be loaned out to student to give parity of access to ICT. Students can also use the open access PCs across the college, in the Learning Resource Centre and at the various centres across the islands. This can be helpful for students from poorer backgrounds who cannot afford PCs or broadband and in many places across the island; connectivity can be patchy or non-existent.