Young refugees and asylum seekers have created an art exhibition inspired by their journeys to Kent and hopes for the future. The project was launched at Turner Contemporary in Margate to mark Refugee Week before being put on a show at libraries across the county. The collection features 20 paintings, drawings, sculptures and murals by…
Kent County Council (KCC) is looking to recruit 150 new foster carers to provide loving homes to vulnerable children in the county. The council is backing the national recruitment campaign Foster Care Fortnight 2019 (May 13 – 26) and calling on residents to get in touch to find out how they can change a child’s…
Kent has secured £1.3m from the Government’s Supporting Families Against Youth Crime Fund to help prevent young people becoming involved in gangs and youth violence. The award will enable a partnership of Kent County Council (KCC), Medway Council, Kent Police, Met Police and the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to deliver a collaborative two-year project…
Pupils, families, staff and special guests marked the opening of a new £1.9m building at The Craylands School with singing and the ceremonial passing of a giant pair of scissors. The brand-new block will allow the Swanscombe school to expand from a 1FE (form of entry) primary school to a 2FE one. The two-storey building,…
Kent County Council (KCC) has relaunched its website for children in care and care leavers to make it more accessible. Kent Cares Town was launched in 2012 as a one-stop shop for young people and professionals to access a wealth of information around being in care. The website is run by Virtual School Kent (VSK),…
Two Kent social workers have been selected as finalists in the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2018 in recognition of their outstanding work with vulnerable people in the county. Kerri Davies, a care manager based at Brook House in Whitstable, has been nominated for Newly Qualified Adult Social Worker of the Year. Heidi Turtle,…
All children deserve a loving, permanent home, regardless of their circumstances. That’s why this National Adoption Week (15-21 Oct), Kent County Council (KCC) will be focusing its efforts on encouraging more same-sex couples and single people to adopt. In Kent, we particularly need adopters who can consider single children, boys aged between 2 to 6…
The cost of the Young Person’s Travel Pass is to go up £10 to offset an increase in bus fare prices rises. The scheme, introduced by Kent County Council in 2014, offers free use of bus services Monday to Friday between 6am and 7pm. It was announced last month that children using Arriva buses would…
Children at a Maidstone nursery have devoted 1,000 hours to improving the environment and making the world around them a better place. Youngsters at Smarties Nursery transformed plastic bottles into plant holders, created an upcycled home for a toy owl and enjoyed stories as part of a challenge designed to make them more aware of…
The Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, has personally congratulated a Kent couple who’ve been awarded MBE’s for their services to children in the county. Ron and Rinie Upton have fostered a total of 151 children and were invited to County Hall to discuss their career as foster carers that spans an astonishing 32…
In a recent interview with Theresa May, BBC‘s Nick Robinson made reference to Kent schools during a discussion about grammar schools. Saying: “The highest number of underperforming schools in the UK is in Kent where they have grammar schools.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. This was a rather clumsy use of statistics because Kent is also…
The government has today said £10 million will be given to help vulnerable refugee minors in Europe. The Home Office said it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions. Recent world events have led to a huge increase in the number of Unaccompanied…