Bright Spots Survey 2021 Findings
30 June 2021
As part of the Bright Spots survey, we asked you some questions about what life is like for you. Thank you to all of you who answered the questions. It really helped to read about how you feel. Because of what you told us Devon County Council and our partners have decided to make some changes.
The survey was split into three age ranges: 4-7 years; 8-11 years; 11-18 years. Here is what you all told us, and what we want to do because of what you said.
4- to 7-year-olds
What’s good about being in care?
- All of you said you feel safe and settled where you live
- All of you said that you like your bedroom
- All of you said that you trust the adults you live with
- All of you said the adults you live with notice how you are feeling
- All of you said that you like going to school, and that you have fun on the weekends
- All of you said that you had felt happy the day before the survey
What’s bad about being in care?
- Not all of you understood why you were in care
- Not all of you knew who your social worker was
- Some of you didn’t have a good friend
We will
This is what we will do in response to what you’ve told us:
- Make sure you know why you are in care and how you can have time with your family.
- Support you to know about your whole life and to think about your future.
- Make the information we use at meetings clearer and easier to understand. We will write this down and share this with you.
- We know having good friends and adults you can trust is really important. We will try to make sure you can stay in the same place and in the same school so that you can make good friends and build strong relationships with your carers.
8- to 11-year-olds
What’s good about being in care?
- All of you trusted your carers
- All of you felt your carers notice how you feel
- All of you felt your carers are interested in what you do at school
- Almost all of you felt settled where you were living, and all of you liked your bedrooms
- Most of you had a pet where you were living
- Almost all of you said you felt happy and that your life was getting better
- All of you had a really good friend
- All of you had an adult in your life who you could trust
- All of you trusted your social worker, and knew that you can speak to them on your own if you want
- All of you felt included in decisions that social workers make about your life
- Nearly all of you liked school
- All of you said you do something fun on the weekends
What’s bad about being in care?
- Some of you felt afraid to go to school because of bullying sometimes
- Some of you didn’t get a chance to spend time outdoors
- A few of you wrote in the survey about wanting to see your family more often
We will
This is what we will do in response to what you’ve told us:
- Continue to celebrate your successes and to know what is important to you and how you feel.
- Having fun outside and seeing your friends is something to now look forward to. We will support this for you at home and at school. We will also run special activities in the Summer for you.
- We know it has been difficult to see important people as often as you would like this year. We will ensure that you are able to have more time with your family where this is possible.
- We are having more groups now and we have had lots of activities in the Easter holidays and we are meeting regularly ingroups again. Look out for all of the activities planned in the fostering newsletter and through Virtual School.
11- to 18-year-olds
What’s good about being in care?
- All of you liked your bedrooms
- Most of you had a pet
- All of you felt the adults you live with showed an interest in what you do at school/college
- All of you knew you can ask to speak to your social worker alone if you want
- Nearly all of you liked school
What’s bad about being in care?
- Some of you didn’t always feel safe where you live
- Some of you didn’t have an adult you trusted in your life, and some said you didn’t trust your carers
- Some of you didn’t trust your social worker, and many of you felt your social worker was hard to get hold of
- Some of you wanted to know more about why you were in care
- Some of you felt adults did things to make you feel embarrassed about being in care
- Some of you didn’t get help with things you were worried about
- Many of you felt afraid to go to school because of bullying, and some of you felt you got no support to cope with bullying
- Many of you didn’t get to do the same things as your friends
- Some of you didn’t spend time outdoors regularly
We will
This is what we will do in response to what you’ve told us:
- We want you to be able to get hold of your Social Worker when you need them. We are making sure there are enough Social Workers so they have more time to see you.
- We want you to be able to tell us if you don’t trust someone or if you are worried about something. We will make the information about our Advocacy Service’s easier to find. They can also help you if you want to complain.
- We understand that knowing about your life and your family is an important part of who you are. We will support you to know about your whole life and to think about your future.
- We will work with designated teachers in schools to make sure they are supporting you if you feel bullied and we are talking to schools about how to prevent bullying.
The survey was created together with children in care to ask about the things that are important to them. Coram Voice and University of Oxford have done the same survey in other local authorities and will use everyone’s responses to show what care is like for children across the country. Email brightspots@coramvoice.org.uk if you want to find out more.