What It’s Like Being a Foster Sibling: The Joys and the Challenges for Families to Consider
Mia Winfield - 15th October 2025
When you decide to foster, your whole family becomes part of the journey — not just you as parents. Your children play a vital role in welcoming, supporting, and sharing their home with another child who may have experienced trauma or instability. For many families, fostering is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it also brings changes that can be deeply felt by everyone, including your own children. Understanding what it’s like to be a foster sibling can help you prepare, support your family, and make the fostering experience as positive as possible for everyone involved. The Positives: How Fostering Can Enrich Your Children’s Lives 1. Building Empathy and Compassion Fostering offers children a powerful lesson in empathy. They see firsthand
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Ofsted rate Eastern Fostering Services OUTSTANDING
Lucy Stevens - 4th December 2023
We always believed we were outstanding but now it’s official! All fostering providers are governed by legislation, regulation, standards and statutory guidance. To ensure they comply with these regulations and standards, they are inspected by Ofsted, the regulatory and inspection body. A long week Amongst other institutions, Ofsted also inspects schools, nurseries, childcare providers and Local Authority children’s services. It’s not uncommon for some of these organisations to have an inspection over 1 or 2 days. For small, independent agencies, the inspection generally lasts a whole working week. The team at Eastern Fostering Services was feeling positive when the notification of inspection was received, but we knew that every file, every process, every decision would be under the microscope. This
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Musings of a foster carer – Waiting for the child to arrive
Katie Walton - 12th August 2022
The bed is made, clean, fresh, corners tucked in. The bedroom dusted to within an inch of its life. The fridge is able to cater for a range of tastes. I’ve even managed to make cookies which are in the oven as we speak. For me, nothing says welcome more clearly than the smell of baking. I look at the clock. They are late. Nothing unusual as that. I fidget and find things to do with my restless hands. The clock hand moves so slowly. It always does. But here’s the thing, no matter how many children you have fostered, how many clocks you have watched, it is always unnerving waiting for a new child to arrive. The fostering rollercoaster
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Power in the every day
Lucy Stevens - 11th May 2020
Power in the everyday #ThisIsFostering #FCF20 This time of being shut away Has brought to mind the every day The fragile joy, so quick to wane Which glimmers softly in the mundane The world has shrunk, it seems to strain Against the pain it must contain The children press their palms to glass Interred with thoughts that cannot pass But power lies within these walls Its whisper louder than the squalls You’ll find it in the side by side Needle thin, infinitely wide It’s present in the sticky dough In hands that knead and stretch and throw A glimpse you’ll see in pungent soil Where brand new shoots start to uncoil It bubbles in the pancake batter punctuates the aimless
Tags: #FCF20, #ThisIsFostering
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