Back to School Tips For Foster Families

September is just around the corner, which means the start of another school year is almost upon us! Whether it’s stationery shopping, labelling uniforms or getting away for a last-minute break, the final weeks of the summer holidays can be a busy time for many families but as a foster carer, this can be a critical period in helping prepare your foster child/ren for the transition back to school.

Why Is Back to School an Important Time For Children in Care?

While many children struggle to readjust after the long summer break, fostered children can find this time of year even more unsettling than most. This is because they’ll have already been through multiple changes and upheaval and the start of the new school year represents yet another transition.

They might find it difficult to adjust to a new routine, they may be nervous about the changes that come with starting a new school year or may be starting a new school altogether, which presents its own challenges.

Along with all the usual worries about making friends, meeting their teachers, waking up on time and managing their schoolwork, children in foster care will also have unique concerns, such as whether they’ll fit in at their new school or area, how much they want to share about their home situation with their classmates, what additional support they’ll need, and what will happen if they need to move on.

Understandably, all this can make going back to school a tricky time for many children in care.

Tips to Make Going Back to School Easier For Your Foster Children

Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do as a foster carer to help your child/ren settle back in at school and following these back to school tips for foster families can help make the process smoother.

Establish a Routine

For many families, bedtimes and wake-ups become more relaxed during the school holidays but as the start of term creeps closer, it’s a good idea to get back into a routine as close as possible to the one you’ll be following when school is back.

Starting to rebuild your routine earlier in the holidays means you can gradually adjust bedtimes and wake ups so it’s less of a shock for everyone on the first day!

Older children in particular can be resistant to earlier bedtimes but teens still need around 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Building good sleep habits like limiting screen time and caffeine before bed can help them wind down easier and get the sleep they need for a busy day at school.

Practise the School Run

Whether you’ll be driving them to school, walking, getting a taxi or catching a bus, you want your foster child/ren to feel confident with the route there. Practising it a couple of times ahead of the big day means you’ll have an idea of how long it takes, be able to troubleshoot any issues and will be prepared for any delays. Bear in mind that in most areas, traffic tends to be busier once schools start back and the weather can have an impact too!

Sort Uniforms & Supplies

As much as they might protest about wearing a uniform, having the right clothing can help children feel they fit in at their new school, and there’s nothing worse than turning up on the first day wearing the wrong thing!

Make sure you read the school’s uniform policy carefully and pay attention to any rules about what shoes, coats and jewellery can or can’t be worn. Try to get your foster child involved in shopping for their uniform if possible. Not only will this make it easier to find the right size but it also means they have some say over certain aspects of it. This helps them feel that they have a degree of choice and control, even if it’s just about which shoes and bag they’d prefer.

Don’t forget stationery, such as pens, pencils and maths equipment and any specialist supplies they need for their year group, like an apron for food technology or a mouth guard for sports.

Things are bound to get mislaid throughout the school year but labelling everything with your child’s name increases the likelihood of lost items finding their way back to you!

Build Confidence

You want to send your foster child/ren back to school feeling confident to face the challenges that lie ahead.

For younger children, you can build confidence by practising everyday tasks such as getting their shoes and coat on and off, opening and refilling their own water bottle, and knowing who to ask for help if they need it. Young foster children might be particularly anxious about school pick-up so make sure they always know who will be collecting them from school and what time.

For older children, building back-to-school confidence could be about practising catching the bus on their own, knowing what ticket to buy and what stop to get off at or printing out a school map so they know how to navigate the different school buildings and classrooms to get to their lessons on time.

Increase Familiarity

Ideally, your child/ren will have spent time at their new school or in their new classroom already, either when looking around the school or as part of the transition arrangements at the end of the previous school year. However, if this school is completely new to them and it’s not possible to arrange a visit before term starts, looking at the school website together and finding out as much information as you can will help it all seem more familiar when they arrive on the first day.

The school may be able to arrange for someone to show them around or they might have a buddy system where they’re paired with a classmate for the first couple of weeks until they’re settled. Many primary schools will offer staggered settling-in arrangements for younger pupils, where they do several half days in school before building up to full days, for example.

Safeguarding Considerations

For some foster children, it can be unsafe for members of their birth family to know their whereabouts, including what school they attend. As a foster carer, you’ll have received comprehensive training, including child safeguarding so will know all about the risks of posting photographs of vulnerable children online. However, other parents might not.

Schools should be aware of which children can and can’t have their photographs displayed on the school website and other places online, but it's always worth having a discreet word at the start of the school year so they can remind other parents not to share class photos or nativity videos on social media. After all, no-one wants a foster child who has just settled to have to face the upheaval of moving schools all over again.

Keep Communicating

Having a good relationship with the school and your foster child’s teachers will make the transition back to school easier.

Bear in mind that some foster children may not want their classmates to know about their home situation so talk to them about this ahead of time and decide on a plan of action. For example, what they’ll call you in the playground. Other children may be open and happy for anyone to know that they’re in foster care, it very much depends on the child.

If your foster child has a preference, make sure that the school is aware so they can be sensitive about their language and how they handle any situations that might crop up.

Good communication with the child is crucial too. Ask them how they’re finding being back at school and make sure they know that you’re there to listen and help if they’re having any issues.

As a foster carer, you may not know how to handle everything that crops up, but that’s where your social worker and the support of your fostering agency comes in. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or help if you need it.

Make It Exciting

Let your foster child/ren know that it’s normal to feel nervous about going back to school, especially if they’re starting a new school or have already had lots of upheaval, but try to focus on the positive aspects of starting back at school.

Whether it’s seeing their friends again or making new ones, getting a new bag, coat or pencil case or taking part in the lessons they love, remind them what they enjoy about school and reassure them that you’ll be there to support them no matter what the new school year brings.

Get In Touch

Here at Olive Branch Fostering, we wish all our children and young people good luck with the new school year and we hope these back to school tips for foster families help make the transition as smooth as possible.

If you think you could support a child or young person going back to school and would like to find out more about fostering in the North West, we’d love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call on 01706 558910 to speak to one of the Olive Branch team.