Categories:
Pastoral Teams / Designated Teacher / DSLs / All Staff

Kinship Care Week - 6-12 October

Dear Colleagues,

We invite all schools to take part in Kinship Care Week 2025 to help raise awareness and understanding of kinship care – a vital but often overlooked form of caregiving that plays a crucial role in the lives of many children.

What is Kinship Care?

Kinship carers are family members or close friends who step in to care for a child when their parents are unable to do so. This may be due to bereavement, illness, imprisonment or challenges such as substance misuse. Kinship carers are often grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, stepparents or trusted adults who know the child well. Their commitment brings love and stability to children who have often experienced trauma.

There are many types of kinship care, including:

  • Informal arrangements
  • Foster care
  • Private fostering
  • Special guardianship
  • Child arrangement orders
  • Testamentary guardianship
  • Adoption

Since April 2024, the government has commissioned a new national offer of advice, information, training and peer support for all kinship carers via https://kinship.org.uk/, the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales.

You can find more information on our website

What Can Schools Do?

During Kinship Care Week (6–12 October 2025), schools can:

  • Share the short film about kinship care  (please distribute via your school’s communication channels)
  • Display posters and resources provided by Kinship to raise awareness
  • Host assemblies or PSHE sessions to explore the experiences of children in kinship care
  • Encourage staff training on understanding and supporting kinship families
  • Celebrate kinship carers in your community – a simple thank you can go a long way

More information about Kinship Care Week can be found on the Kinship information page.

Kinship Care Week is a chance to recognise the resilience and love that kinship carers provide, and to ensure that children in kinship care feel seen, supported and valued in school.

Thank you for your continued commitment to inclusive and compassionate education.

Oxfordshire Virtual School