Keeping The Promise in 2025
Member blog
30 Jan 2025
With 2025 marking the halfway point for The Promise, our Head of Engagement and Learning, Simon Massey, highlights the activities and opportunities to help #KeepthePromise with Children in Scotland throughout this year.
Back in August 2023 I wrote a blog reflecting on how care experienced children and young people had been a thread throughout my career and personal life. I also talked about some of our plans to help #KeepThePromise, work we had been doing since the launch of the Independent Care Review.
Now, almost 18 months later, I’m really pleased (and excited!) to pull together the different strands of work happening now and in the coming months, as well as opportunities for the sector to get involved.
Pupil Support Staff learning programme
Ongoing until May
Funded by The Promise Partnership and developed in partnership with care experienced young people and pupil support staff, the learning programme launched in November 2024 with live events running until May 2025.
Aimed at pupil support staff and free to access, the learning programme consists of:
- Four in-person events: Dundee (passed); Inverness (February), Edinburgh and Glasgow (both May)
- Eight online practice sharing sessions (six to be delivered between February-May)
- Three eLearning modules (all launching by March)
The Dundee event in November 2024 received great feedback, you can watch a video of the day here.
If you are pupil support staff, please have a look at the programme here and book your free place on one of the events or access one of the eLearning modules (once they have launched). If you know any pupil support staff – please point them in our direction!
Insight: The Promise interviews
March
The next edition of Insight, our bi-annual Member publication, will include interviews with Fiona Duncan, Independent Strategic Advisor of The Promise and the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don-Innes, as well as a lead topic discussion bringing in the views of our member organisations.
It will explore what has been achieved by The Promise so far and what are the priorities for the next five years and will set us all up for some of the discussions at Children in Scotland’s Annual Conference this May.
There will also be all the usual Insight features including sector news, member voices and key policy and practice issues. It’s free for Members, non-Members can subscribe for £10 for two issues.
More information on Insight, including subscribing and free access to back issues is here.
Member event: Online session with Declan Andrews
April
Shaping our future: Empowering those who are care experienced will provide the chance to learn more about what it’s like to be ‘looked after’ and consider ways to better support care experienced children and young people. Declan will be using his own personal and professional experiences to facilitate the learning and discussions in this online session which is free for members and low-cost for non-members.
Annual Conference 2025: Making space for voices
May
This year’s Annual Conference (28 & 29 May, Glasgow) has got a Promise strand in recognition of 2025 being the halfway point of The Promise’s ten-year lifetime. This will include:
- Fiona Duncan – Co-chair on day two
- Fraser McKinley, The Promise CEO – keynote on day one
- Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children, Young People & The Promise – keynote on day two
- Various workshops – practice sharing from organisations at the frontline of delivering services, including the voices of children and young people; both days.
- Exhibitors from across Scotland (and beyond). Many of them doing direct work with care experienced children, young people and families.
There will, of course, be lots of networking and other keynotes and workshops across both days, plus a panel discussion. They will cover education, UNCRC Incorporation, equality, diversity and inclusion, mental health and stigma from the perspectives of children and young people, parents, carers and families, and professionals.
Navigate
June
Funded by The Promise Partnership, Navigate is a new project being developed by our Enquire service. It will launch in June, providing a free-to-access digital toolkit focusing on care experienced children and young people’s education rights.
To follow progress on Navigate, sign up to Enquire’s newsletter
Reach
Ongoing
About the Author
Simon Massey is Head of Engagement and Learning at Children in Scotland
Meet our team
Pupil Support Staff Learning Programme
An exciting learning opportunity for pupil support staff working across Scotland.
Find out more
The Promise
Find out more about the promise Scotland made to care experience children and young people.
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Our membership offer
Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland
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Our services
We offer a range of services that provide support, advice and representation for children and families
Click here for moreReach, part of the Enquire service, provides advice to children and young people about their rights to education and what support is on offer. They have a great section on care experience specifically written for children and young people. You can access it here.
As you can see, there is a massive range of things happening. I really hope you can join us and access some of the advice, learning or development on offer.
Only by coming together, sharing our knowledge and skills and improving our understanding, will we be able to move forward with our commitment to #KeepThePromise to children, young people and families in Scotland.