Voices from Care | Academic Experiences at School
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- Attitudes towards school and attendance
- Additional help with learning
- Expectations, programmes and academic outcomes
- Outcome of state exams
- Conclusion
“I had a really big issue attending school. Honestly, it wasn’t my fault because it got to a point where, like I was moving placements so much that …. like as soon as I settled, and then I started going back to school, I’d have to move again. And I got really frustrated at one point, because I thought like, I wasn’t being kept in the loop of what decisions were being made about my own life.”
“…. maybe when you have young people who are care-experienced and they’re experiencing trauma, so maybe their level of attendance at school is very poor, but that doesn’t reflect their dedication at all to education. I don’t think anybody isn’t interested in education. Everybody is interested in education.”
“All the help they gave me … as much help as I needed, like you know, and I even asked for more on top of this, the stuff that they gave me. I you know, I had grinds for nearly every subject in my Leaving Cert, you know? And my free classes. I made sure that I found a teacher who was free that could help me to learn a bit more, you know? So, I had enough support. Yeah, and I suppose my attitude always was like, you know, if you don’t ask for help, then nothing’s gonna change, you know, so.”
“For me, it was not being afraid to ask somebody for help because of their reaction, … we were always like fight or flight, you know. We’re always kind of looking out for ourselves, especially from day one. We’re always looking out for ourselves. We always had to do our own things, so asking somebody for help, it feels weird, it feels odd. You’re not used to it, because you’ve never been actually offered help before. Like there was no help actually offered, there could have been help offered.”
“Kids are not expected to, I guess enjoy or like, you know, engage in education. But I think for the most part, it’s because they don’t get the actual assistance that they need in regard to the education.”
“I wasn’t like, incredibly happy, with my Leaving Cert results. Sometimes it could get a bit tired, kind of. Except the things are the way they are. Like when you get this grade cause like even when I was in foster care … and like I was switched different foster homes and just five foster homes in the past 18 months… like that really did impact my grades and everything.”
“For me, from first year to 3rd year I kind of struggled because I have dyslexia and there wasn’t kind of that much support. My foster parents had to really push for support and to get supports into place for me. But then once I got into 4th and 6th year, I did pretty well. I did everything higher level, got 420 points in my leaving Cert, so that was pretty a good year, I think.”
“[I did] mostly higher-level subjects for my Leaving Certificate, but maybe one or two…. I took two ordinary maybe, and feeling I could do well.”
“To be honest, I just did not care. I had too much on. I turned 18 in the July, so I had really too much on my plate. But like you finished your exams like close June? I literally had a month to get my act together and kind of move and stuff for that, and that was really [tough].”
Academic Experiences at School
Existing research has highlighted the role of personal circumstances of care-experienced young people’s lives that impact their educational outcomes. This chapter has considered factors that influence young people’s attitudes to school and their experiences. The interviews conducted for this study showed that young people’s attitude to school is often influenced by changes in the care placements and school changes, learning difficulties, insufficient support with schoolwork, not feeling as smart as other students, and mental health issues. Some of these issues were also associated with poor school attendance. It is important to note that poor school attendance and lower grades do not necessarily reflect lack of interest of a young person in education but is often influenced by circumstances beyond their control.
In line with international and Irish research, the interviews in this study showed that some adults in the lives of care-experienced students had low expectations of them. While young people can be very motivated, challenges associated with being in care, often impacted their academic achievement. In some cases, lower expectations can be observed when teachers guide students toward specific second level programmes, despite the resistance by the young person. Stereotypical negative attitudes about children in care can sometimes result in difficulties finding schools, due to care changes of the young person.
Having learning difficulties, insufficient help with leaning and mental health issues shaped the attitude towards school for some people. Care placement changes may result in students missing school and finding it hard to catch up afterwards. Second level school can be particularly stressful time for young people due to the high stakes Leaving Certificate exams. If this coincides with personal challenges at the time, and drawing up a care leaving plan, it can be a particularly difficult time for young people in care. Young people ‘in third level’ and ‘interrupted third level’ groups shared some similar experiences. In both groups there were young people who endeavoured to do well at school. However, their aspirations were sometimes impacted by more immediate issues such as care and school placements which also impacted on their school attendance. In both groups there were young people who’s foster parents supported their education. However, the ‘interrupted third level’ group had more people with learning difficulties and who experienced the stress associated with placement and school moves and preparation for the state exams more acutely.