In 2023, as media headlines exploded with headlines about an ‘attendance crisis’ in the UK’s schools, I began to gather research by Adoption UK and other organisations as well as data collected by the Department for Education in England (this data is not available in other nations) to try to uncover how previously looked after children fitted in to this emerging story. I reached out to those with lived experience and was immediately inundated with heartbreaking stories. Stories of children who had been unable to attend school for months and even years; parents who had unwillingly decided to ho ..read more

We were delighted to welcome the Scottish Adult Adoptee Movement (SAAM) to Adoption Week Scotland 2023. SAAM is a group of adult adoptees working to change the narrative around adoption and give a voice to adoptees in Scotland. Fiona Menzies-Henderson, from SAAM, explains why it’s so important to listen to adult adoptees and how working with AUK Scotland is an opportunity to share their lived experiences of adoption. Why do SAAM want to be involved with Adoption Week Scotland this year? Earlier this year, the former First Minister of Scotland gave a "sincere, heartfelt and unreserved" apology ..read more

Adoption Week Scotland (AWS) is an annual event to promote awareness of adoption and its complexities, and to celebrate families. This year’s theme focuses on the critical need to listen to individuals and families about their experiences, acknowledging the need to support our adoption community through learning directly from those within it. To achieve this we have been striving to ensure that we're elevating voices of out adoption community. Our programme of events offers a variety of different opportunities - webinars for parents and carers, an adoption fair for practitioners, parents, and ..read more

Stable Homes, Built on Love, the strategy published in February has much of value – a focus on early help for struggling families, investment in kinship and foster care, proposals to invest in the social care workforce and measures to free up social workers to spend time with families. These proposals are valuable and desperately needed. Where the proposals fall short is adoption. Birth family relationships The government plans do reference the vital work already underway by the National Adoption Strategic Team to improve contact between adoptees and their birth families, but there is so much ..read more

If, like mine, your children are participating in Reading is Magic events at home, you might want to do some follow up activities together to keep that magic going for a little bit longer.  As the ambassador for the event I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview of Cressida Cowell’s special 20th anniversary session where she answers 20 questions in 20 minutes about writing the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series, becoming an author and her future writing plans – she has exciting things in the pipeline!  The event is lively and entertaining, and Cressida is wonderfully engaging a ..read more

Those of us who have been on a long and sometimes challenging parenting journey may be tempted to walk past the general parenting titles in the bookstore, but I’d encourage you to pause and take a look at When the Parents Change, Everything Changes. It’s not a book about parenting children who have experienced trauma, but you might find much of it surprisingly familiar.  The alternative parenting approaches that many of us have honed over years of reading, attending training and learning from those who have walked our path before us are, at their heart, rooted in the vital importance of r ..read more

FASD Awareness Month is an opportunity to look back over everything that has been achieved and also to appreciate that there is so much more to do.    In March this year a conference was held in Salford FASD – Building on 20 years of progress | Adoption UK Charity. The FASD Hub shared their information and insights into what was helpful and what was still needed. It was great to hear some of the positive things happening for those with FASD in Scotland and across the UK. It is a tribute to the way the Hub has developed, in consultation with those living with FASD and their families ..read more

This has been a busy summer for Adoption UK with a range of events taking place all over the country – from forest school in Scotland to BBQs in Northern Ireland; from family days in Wales to a summer camp in Hertfordshire.   We were delighted to receive 150 free tickets to Chessington World of Adventures from Merlin’s Magic Wand this year, which we used for a family day in August. While I didn’t actually go on a ride, we had a lovely day meeting with lots of our members and seeing the happy faces of the children (and adults!) enjoying their day in the sunshine.   Before th ..read more

As a child I was a voracious reader. I sailed with the Swallows and Amazons, fell through the wardrobe with Lucy, giggled through midnight feasts with Darrell and Sally and explored the American prairies with Laura. I journeyed through the present and the past, in reality and fantasy. Stories could take me anywhere and show me things I could never have experienced.  Although my own children have faced their struggles with reading, we have always had books in the home. I have read many of my childhood favourites to them as part of our home education journey, and we have discovered newer cl ..read more

Last week news reports revealed that children who have made a serious attempt on their life are not meeting thresholds for mental health services. This bleak reality is not news to many children and young people with care experience and their families – adoptive parents, kinship carers and foster parents. The research carried out by The House Magazine and shared with The Guardian exposed some stark figures - one in four children are suffering with mental health difficulties, 250,000 are being denied access to services and in two trusts in England the waiting time for a first CAMHS appointment ..read more