Adopted young people launch video for schools with support from Toby Anstis.

Adopted young people launch video for schools with support from Toby Anstis.

Adoption Tees Valley have worked together with local adopted children from both primary and secondary schools, to produce an emotive and engaging film around their experiences of being adopted.

The film, produced by local firm Digital Voice, is aimed mainly at professionals working within schools to give them a greater understanding of how it feels to be adopted from the perspective of adopted young people.

The idea for the film came from a children’s group for adopted young people, ran by Adoption Tees Valley.  The children taking part in the group felt strongly that they have been negatively affected within school because of a lack of awareness of adoption and how being adopted can feel for a young person.

Research from Adoption UK has shown that adopted children are 14 times more likely to be permanently excluded and almost two and a half times more likely to be suspended than the national averages for England. It is important that awareness is raised of adoption and how being adopted can affect a child in school, by doing so the young people in the film hope to change how schools can meet the needs of adopted children and ensure that they have positive experiences they deserve in education

Adoption Tees Valley are thrilled to have the support of Toby Anstis to introduce and share the film, it is fantastic for the children to have Toby involved in the video to share his own experiences of being adopted and act as a role model for the children.

Vicky Davidson Boyd, Service Manager at Adoption Tees Valley said “At Adoption Tees Valley we recognise getting the right support in Education is vital for our children and families, alongside the virtual schools we have created a post of Education Support Worker to improve the outcomes and help support our children and families.

We also recognise the importance of supporting adopted young people to have a voice and help enable them to communicate their experience of being adopted, it has been a pleasure to watch the young people in our children’s group form friendships with their peers and be able to so brilliantly articulate their feelings and experiences in order to help others.”

Thank you to Digital Voice and Toby Anstis for helping to make the film. 

www.digitalvoice.org.uk

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