Supporting Foster Care Fortnight 2020 Through COVID-19
Anchor Foster Care has been supporting Foster Care Fortnight 2020 despite the current COVID-19 pandemic.
A much-loved highlight within the two weeks was a virtual chick hatching activity. Foster carers and young people watched live as our director Alistair took us to see newly hatched chickens, mother hens and father cockerels in his garden.
The well-attended Foster Care Fortnight gathering was followed by a 'Q & A' session and then a creative activity, with children drawing their interpretations of the hatchling chicks.
The interactive experience kept attendees engaged for a cool 2.5 hours with participants listening intently and asking questions directly to Alistair. In fact, one attendee stated afterwards that it was 'magical', as the session took us on an adventure through the twists and turns of Alistair's delightful rustic garden.
Our Recruitment Officer & Learning & Development Coordinator for Anchor, said,
"We're proud of our event which brought so many faces together, old and new. For some this was their first time connecting with other young people in the Anchor family. It was touching to see our young people wave and say 'hi' to each other.
Along with observing unhatched eggs in incubators and talking about the life cycle of young chicks, Alistair also spoke to attendees about composting, keeping the fowl safe from predators and gave a tour of his organic vegetable gardens. We also learnt about recycling.
One of our Supervising Social Workers also got involved in responding to questions and providing information.
"It was lovely to see that supportive relationship at work, even from a distance. All in all, it was a great success and showed how much we could do when we pull together. Fostering is such a vital role in society. So, I was glad to be able to engage our carers and to share the joy of connection with them during Foster Care Fortnight. Hopefully, as carers, we also taught our young people a little bit more about life, and how we can all look after each other, and not just chicks.
It was beautiful to see the joy on our children's faces when they first saw the fuzzy baby chicks. The experience taught me that even in a virtual world, a sense of coming together and shared emotional experience is possible."
Questions from our youngsters and foster carers at the event included 'How do we know if there are chicks inside the eggs?', 'What do chickens eat and drink?', 'Where do they sleep?', and 'What breed are they?'
We also learnt amusing facts – for example – did you know that if a chicken has white ears, it lays white eggs, and if it has red ears, it lays brown eggs? We also all got a bit excited, shouting out guesses as we attempted to label the green vegetation that grew in Alistair's garden.
Our nature event enabled our young people to reconnect and see each other, plus meet new faces. Some of our staff also brought young people along, and there was much joy being able to see those who we had often heard mentioned but never met.
Foster Care Fortnight is a significant event for Anchor Foster Care, and 2020 was no different. Although most of the world has been indoors attempting to stay safe, keyworkers including foster carers have remained active. Celebrating foster carers in 2020, was more crucial than ever to ensure we uplifted spirits through what has been and remains a challenging time.
#FCF2020 this year allowed us not only to applaud foster carers and the tremendous role they play but to also involve them, fostered children, and birth children in positive activities. Our 'Meet the Chicks' event most certainly met that criteria.
As some of our attendees said,
"I loved being part of the Meet the Chicks event! Everybody felt so connected, and the whole event felt natural, despite being on Zoom.
It was great to meet some of our lovely, very bright and curious young people. It felt like it brought us all together." TS
and,
"It was interesting to learn how many chicks and chickens Alistair and Florence have and how they first came to have them. It was also interesting to learn that the colour of the eggs depended on the colour of the chickens' ears." MB
Top Tips
Children in Year R, Year 1 and Year 6 in England have been invited by the UK government to return to school. Until your child returns, some useful tips to remember when home-schooling are:
Children engage differently so offer a variety of ways for young people to learn. Whether it be through a hand's on or nature-based activity like the one described above or through watching videos, learning styles are key.
Allow opportunities to take the wheel; our youngsters engaged with our activity because it was unique, and it allowed them to get involved. Whenever barriers to studying go up, how about changing gears and asking young people what they would like to study for that day?
Lastly, have fun. Whether they talk and engage actively or prefer to absorb information quietly, the trick is understanding when the activity is no longer enjoyable, and the child has disengaged. Try to incorporate activities that will let the child gain satisfaction in between more challenging ones. If they can get some answers right or utilise pleasant aspects such as drawing, this will lead to more extended engagement.
When Foster Care Fortnight ends, there is no need to stop supporting each other or learning in creative ways - Covid-19 could be just the challenge we have needed to overcome our distances.
For more information about fun things children of all ages can take part in, please visit the 'children's section’ of our website, www.anchorfostercare.co.uk
For further information about Foster Care Fortnight 2020, please visit the Fostering Network's website.
