Celebrate National Siblings Day

Celebrate National Siblings Day

To mark National Siblings Day on 10 April, the Community of Practice for Siblings is holding its next event. 

The online session will hear perspectives from sisters, brothers and all those with sibling-like relationships of loving connection on what those bonds mean to them. 

Also on the agenda is decision-making processes and how they best nurture sibling and sibling-like relationship. A panel with a range of perspectives will be sharing their thoughts and answering our questions.

We’re also delighted to be joined by Drs Helen Whincup and Paula Jacobs for an exploration of what the Permanently Progressing Phase 2 Findings tell us about our work across Scotland to keep the promise to sisters and brothers.

Register for the event.

Community of Practice for Siblings online event - National Siblings Day - Thursday 10 April 2025 at 10:00am

New Horizons

New Horizons

The Community of Practice for Siblings Planning Group is reaching out! If you are an area that might be interested in getting involved in one of our New Horizons tests of change, please get in touch! 

The Community of Practice for Siblings Planning Group is interested in hearing from any local authority areas/community planning partnerships who might be interested in getting directly involved in one of the three ‘New Horizons’ tests of change, launched at the last Community session on 23 January. 

New Horizons – Innovation Tests of Change

The Community of Practice is looking to develop three key Innovation Tests of Change given that broad agenda, and our learning from our work together over the past two years:

Kinship Care and Housing:

A focus on kinship care and exploring how collaboration in local areas could enable quick, impactful responses to housing adaptation/extension needs that would have significant positive impact on the lives of kinship carers and the children they care for.

That’s in a context where Kinship care is now the most significant form of care for children and young people across Scotland, growing rapidly. There is some helpful background information on why this theme is so significant within the context of kinship care – and in the guides at the bottom of that Report.

Data and Telling the Story of Change locally

Building from innovative work in West Dunbartonshire and Aberdeenshire, how do we better understand, evidence and share progress in keeping the promise to sisters and brothers? This theme also has links to the national activity to enhance the ‘CLAS’ data that is provided by Local Authorities to better reflect sibling relationships, and The Promise Progress Framework with its focus on siblings.

Decision Making Processes and nurturing Sibling and Sibling-like relationships

This theme has close links to Hearings for Children and how implementation of those recommendations is progressing. But it also has a broad focus on all decision-making processes in a local area in the journey of a child, sibling or family, from the earliest solution-focussed or Family Group Meetings through to adoption. 

Please just get in touch if you’re interested. We’ve already got active interest from some areas, for example from Aberdeenshire (and a number of the relevant national bodies) on theme 1; from West Dunbartonshire on 2; and from East Renfrewshire and Glasgow on both 2 and 3.  

On each theme, the provisional plan for the initial stages is:

  • To have an initial ‘development’ session, probably online, with interested/connected folk;
  • To follow that up with a full-day in-person development session hosted in one of the LA areas that’s interested in exploring/advancing the theme.

This work very much reflects the recommendations within Staying Together and Connected, key aspects of the promise, and work to further develop the route maps for Plan 24-30.  

Watch this space for more information!

Family Connections Assessment and Plan launch

Family Connections Assessment and Plan launch

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership’s Family Connections Assessment and Plan, and associated guidance has recently been updated following a period of evaluation. 

The original assessment was received positively and a number of children and young people now have stronger connections and have plans which will help maintain their connections in an enduring way. The pilot did highlight a number of areas of improvement and the new versions have been adapted to incorporate this. 

Changes include:

  • A two stage approach to allow a quick stage one assessment when children become looked after
  • Inclusion of wider connections
  • Inclusion of life story approaches in assessment and planning
  • A section to include direct conversations with children about who is important to them
  • A My Connections Plan to ensure we communicate the plan directly to children as well as those who look after them.

A Dream Come True: STAR’s new barn

A Dream Come True: STAR’s new barn

After over a decade, Siblings Reunited (STAR) is overjoyed to share that their long-dreamed-of barn is almost complete! 

This magical new space represents so much more than bricks and beams—it’s the heart of new opportunities for STAR and the families they support.

Karen Morrison said: “Having this barn opens up endless possibilities for creating lasting memories. This December, we celebrated its first major milestone by hosting our first ever Christmas Craft Fayre, which was open to the public and a resounding success! Seeing the barn filled with festive cheer, creativity, and community was truly special.

“Looking ahead, the barn promises even more exciting events. We’re planning a Burns Night celebration, additional craft fayres, and, most importantly, providing another welcoming space for our siblings to enjoy time together.

“This barn symbolises the power of dreams, community, and love. We can’t wait to see all the wonderful moments it will hold for STAR in the years to come!”

 

New resource launched to support parenting care-experienced siblings

New resource launched to support parenting care-experienced siblings

Adoption UK Scotland with the support of AFKA have developed a new resource to support those parenting care experienced brothers and sisters.

The Padlet tool is in two parts and is now available online and is free for anyone to use.

Part one looks at understanding and supporting sibling relationships, while Part two covers protecting sibling relationships when children experience distress.

Speaking at the Community of Practice for Siblings webinar on Thursday 21 November, Dr Chris Jones who led on the development of the new tool, said it would be of interest to adoptive parents, foster carers and kinship carers, as well as professionals who support these families.

She said: “The Padlet draws together into one place a range of topics that families and professionals may need to engage with at different points when thinking about sibling relationships. It provides information in bite-sized chunks and signposts to additional resources. We wanted the resource to apply to, and help real life situations and we wanted to ensure that the voice of children, parents and carers was prevalent throughout. We hope it provides a language and a framework of ideas that families and professionals can use together.”

At the session, delegates got to hear how the resource was developed, they also had a chance to look at the information within it (there wasn’t enough time to do it justice!) and then everyone had the opportunity to consider and discuss a series of questions in breakout rooms.

Heather Moonlight, Kinship Care Consultant from KCASS co-chaired our recent event. Speaking afterwards, she said: “Thank you so much to Chris for coming along and telling our community all about the Padlet. What a wonderful resource for our Foster Carers, Kinship Carers and Adoptive parents – and our community as a whole. I am very excited to see how the resource will be used and how practice will develop as a result!”

Translate »
Skip to content