Last week, we spoke to six care experienced young people aged 12 to 18 who are involved in two different children in care groups. They told us about what they’re planning as lockdown is easing and what they’ve found positive.
Logan said that with lockdown the whole college year had changed. He’s in year 13 at College. He has found it “difficult, peculiar, and satisfying”. It’s been satisfying that he has been able to follow a daily routine. He has been trying hard for all his subjects, but he doesn’t feel like his work will be wasted.
Cara felt quite relieved not having to go to College. She hadn’t finished all her exams when lockdown started. It felt like a break from it all then. She has now had some of her College work via Microsoft Teams. She’s also started a lockdown project. She is selling cakes. And she is thinking about what to do when everything returns more to normal, for example running tea parties.
Finlay also felt relieved when he heard schools were closing. He has been doing College work, but he doesn’t really mind not being able to see or talk to many people.
Georgia didn’t think that too much had changed for her in the last few weeks, she has still been able to go out and do her lessons. She had her lessons via zoom, five a week, and most of her classmates have been attending the lessons, too.
Michael felt similar to Georgia. He gets sent his schoolwork every week and uses email to keep in touch with his friends. In a way, he prefers doing his work this way. He can get on with his schoolwork without being bothered by 30 other people in the class.
In another children in care council, the young people are running a “Come Dine with me” group, cooking and eating together. Now, they’ve started doing these online. They’ve all received vouchers to buy their ingredients. Sarah said she loves cooking.
They also had some plans for the next few weeks. When lockdown eases more, Cara wanted to see whether she could work as a waitress in a Café as she’s saving up for a car. Logan hoped that in July he would be able to go back to his sports clubs. And Michael wanted to concentrate on his learning.
Also the #Blacklivesmatter protests were on the group’s mind. You read it just everywhere Sarah said.
There were a few things that have been positive over the last few weeks, too. For Sarah, contact with her social worker has got much better. Normally, it seems that her social worker is busy all the time, but now it has been possible to speak more. They also found it positive that they were now able to have a chat more easily with different people – like the one we were just having then. You can get people to talk to each other easily, without having to catch buses.
*All names were changed*