We believe that care-experienced children and young people are experts in their own lives, and are therefore based placed to inform corporate parents about what’s working well and what needs improving in their service.
By using either of the two Bright Spots surveys or New Belongings Plus, local authorities can hear directly from their children and young people. Their views help you to think strategically and make effective service improvements which will have the biggest impact on the issues which are most important to them.
Survey for children in care aged 4-17yrs;
Split into 3 age groups (4-7yrs, 8-11yrs & 11-17yrs);
Different length of survey depending on age group.
The Your Life, Your Care survey asks children in care what is important to them and what makes their lives good. It is split into three surveys, one for each age group (4-7yrs, 8-11yrs & 11-17yrs). The questions in the 4-7 survey are replicated across all surveys to enable comparison between age groups.
Survey for care leavers aged 16-25yrs;
More questions about issues relevant to care leavers like ‘living independently’ and ‘feelings about the future’.
The Your Life Beyond Care survey asks care leavers about what is important to them and what makes their lives good. Some of the questions from Your Life, Your Care are replicated in the care leaver survey to enable comparison between the two groups.
New Belongings Plus is a 12-month programme which supports local authorities to improve their leaving care service by embedding the voice of young people in development plans.
It uses learning and tools from the Bright Spots Programme as well as more direct work with young people and key partner agencies to provide a platform for local authorities to improve co-production.
The Bright Spots team support you to use these tools throughout the project cycle, helping you to achieve high response rates and hear from a wide range of children and young people. Read more about the individual project cycles below:
1. Distribution – The Bright Spots team work with you to create a bespoke distribution process. We focus on key questions like:
When will children and young people be answering the survey?
How do you achieve a high response rate?
How do we reach less often heard from groups?
2. Analysis – When your survey period has come to an end, we collect and analyze your data to create a bespoke report with key findings. We compare your data to other local authorities nationally, as well as to findings from children and young people in the general population. If you are a returning local authority we also compare your data to previous Bright Spots survey findings.
3. Dissemination – The Bright Spots team present your report findings and facilitate a conversation with your local authority colleagues.
4. You said… We will… – We encourage local authorities to set targets for service improvement based on what your children and young people have said is important. This action plan can take the shape of a ‘You said…We will…’ type document.
5. Implementation – Over to you to implement the action plan. We recommend a whole service approach so that findings are embedded across the service.
6. ‘You said… We did…’ – a chance to feedback to your children and young people on the changes you have made.
7. Repeat the survey? – What difference have your changes made? Although not a requirement, many local authorities find that repeating the survey helps to further embed good practice and highlight areas for improvement.
1. Establishing New Belongings Plus in your local authority
Gaining commitment from senior managers, elected Members;
Setting up a ‘young person reference group’;
Briefing leaving care service, partner agencies, wider leaving care community about NB+.
2. Hearing the voices of your young people
Bright Spots ‘Your Life Beyond Care’ survey;
Analysis of survey findings and dissemination to staff and key findings video for young people;
Gathering of young people’s priorities and ideas for change.
3. Planning and co-producing change
Feedback meeting of survey findings and young people’s priorities for key stakeholders;
Agreement on key issues / areas to be addressed;
Agreement on young people’s involvement in planning.
4. Engaging partner agencies
Facilitated discussions with partner agencies on two issues identified by the local authority;
Develop solutions based on young people’s experience.
5. Embedding longer-term change
Work with the young people’s reference group and participation workers to ensure sustainable arrangements are in place;
Discussions with senior leaders to ensure the model of co-production is built into longer term planning.
Why take part in the Bright Spots surveys?
By taking part in the Bright Spots surveys we:
Help you to systematically listen to your children in care and care leavers about the things that are important to them. By doing so, this can influence your service development and strategic thinking, which is a key requisite of Ofsted.
We work with you to tailor the survey distribution and ensure that you achieve the best possible response rates from care experienced children and young people.
The Bright Spots surveys are unique in that they are:
The largest surveys of their kind allowing you to compare your children and young people’s subjective wellbeing to other local authorities & to the general population.
The only surveys co-produced with children and young people – the surveys are based on what 170 children in care and care leavers said was important to them.
Strongly evidence based – the surveys are a robust research tool, developed over seven years together with the University of Oxford, drawing on international research reviews, focus groups and rigorous piloting.
Get involved
Costs: £9,950 to do one survey or a discounted rate of £17,900 if doing both.
