Picure by D's foster brother, aged 7

Today, I had a meeting booked with my Supervising Social Worker (SSW). She was coming to visit D and myself in our home. These visits happened about every 6 weeks, and we arranged them at a mutually convenient time for us both.

D had had contact this morning, so I’d planned a time after that, but before the school run, so we could chat with D present without the distraction of the big kids. Visits usually involved my birth children, as it is good for them to feel that any concerns they have are listened to too.

My SSW arrived at our home and D excitedly went to greet her at the door. He loved to open the door when he heard the doorbell, then stood back and called ‘come in, come in’!  This always gets a giggle from our visitors as he is very insistent that people come in quickly, before he firmly closes the door behind them. We always ensure we keep the door locked when D is in the house, as he is so eager to open the door and often races toward the door before we can get there.

Pre Covid-19, our SSW would come into our home, but we have had to change a lot of our reviews to telephone and virtual methods since the pandemic. Here, I talk about a pre Covid-19 review.

As I made some hot drinks, I left D playing happily with the SSW. I popped our drinks down, up high out of reach of little hands, and sat down next to D on the floor. He often became shy initially when he saw people, so he came over and sat on my knee whilst we talked.

These meetings are a great opportunity for support and being able to discuss D’s care and any updates or movement in his pathway. It was very informal, and I felt it was a great support and reassurance to talk through any issues. I had had a tricky morning today and I talked through the scenario. It was so reassuring to hear my SSW reassure me that I had managed the situation well with care and maintained professionalism. I certainly didn’t feel confident at the time, but now I felt that I could move forward, and I felt reassured that I was doing a good job. We talked through other ways of managing future similar situations and I felt my tool belt was full of managing strategies!

D was getting restless so had wandered off to the box of cars and was busy running them along the side of the sofa. It was then that D had noticed the SSWs bag next to the sofa.  He made a bee line for it and started to poke his hand in the top. I spoke to D to remind him that we shouldn’t go inside other people’s bags and he ran back over to me. This was a favourite habit, going through people’s bags and we were working hard to discourage this.

We continued to talk about Ds care plan and the SSW updated me of any progress she was aware of that affected Ds care. It was good to be involved with what needed to be done next and how we could help support D through any changes.

We talked about training and I updated the SSW on any training I had attended and future sessions I had booked. At the end of our meeting, we planned the next date to meet and I added it to my calendar.

As we said our goodbyes, D hurried to the door to help me open it. He shouted ‘bye’ loudly to the SSW and waved. He also loved to shout bye to anyone else passing on the street at the same time, he was growing in confidence day by day.

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Due to Coronavirus, our team our working remotly, but we are continuing to welcome fostering enquiries and applications because there remains a priority need for children to have safe and loving foster families. We are conducting information sessions, initial enquiries and home visits via WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams, and we are working closly with new applicants to progress their applications.

Please e-mail fosteringrecruitment@brighton-hove.gov.uk for details of our next virtual information session.