Voices of Fostering

Corrina - From Teaching to Fostering

• National Fostering Group • Season 3 • Episode 16

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We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the stories of our foster carers in our Voices of Fostering podcast, and in this episode, we take you through a day in the life of a foster carer! Host Helen sits down with Corrina, a primary school teacher who, alongside her husband, began fostering during the pandemic. They are now providing long-term care to two boys attending senior school.

In this episode, Corrina opens up about their motivations for fostering, the fostering process, and, most importantly, the everyday realities of life as a foster carer – from their morning routines to their bedtime rituals. This is a fantastic episode for anyone curious about the day-to-day life of fostering.

If you would like to find out more about fostering please visit our website here.

If you have any questions that you would like to be answered on our next episode email podcast@nfa.co.uk

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Helen:

Hello, and welcome to this episode of Voices of Fostering, where today I'm delighted to be joined by one of our lovely foster carers, Corrina. Welcome Corrina.

Corrina:

Hi, good morning.

Helen:

Hello, I'm good. Thank you. How are you doing? I'm doing well. Good stuff. Well, today we're going to be talking about your, your day in the life, really. We'd love to know the ins and outs of, of what a normal day for a foster carer like yourself looks like. But before we get into that, um, let's just have a little chat about, about you really, Corrina, and how you started out as a foster carer. So am I right in saying it was during COVID, wasn't it? If you take us all the way back there.

Corrina:

Yes, it was. Um, so I am a. Primary school teacher, I'm an early years teacher and I was still working at the start. I worked through COVID throughout. I was sort of in and out of school all the time, but my husband, who's a chef at a children's activity center, he was furloughed. And, um, I think he just started to get bored. He applied for jobs through Amazon and all sorts. And then eventually, um, through a lot of scrolling, um, An NFA, um, advert appeared because we had talked about fostering for quite a while. Um, and I knew we'd do it eventually, but I just didn't know that that was when we were going to start. Yeah. Um, so he had time, time on his hands, so he filled out the application forms, made the initial, Um, phone calls. And before I knew it, we were well on our way through the process.

Helen:

So as we all know these days, when you, when you search something, you get bombarded, don't you? So what was it about, about the National Fostering Group that, that made you want to come on board with them?

Corrina:

I think it was just the fact that it's not, it's, It's a group of fostering agencies. So you, we weren't just connected to just maybe the local authority or an independent. There's so much support behind the National Fostering Group. If you don't know something, there is someone who will know. I mean, just a really tiny example is when you're filling in your self assessment tax form at the end of the year, when you're not quite sure, you just send off an email and within minutes, You've got four people who know the answer and what to do, and I'm like, wow, that's amazing. And it's just the ability to have so much advice and so much support on things that you don't even know you need support on yet. I mean, the things I've asked for help from. All of these wonderful people, I didn't even know they existed in 2020 when we started the process.

Helen:

Yeah, so there's just a lot of support for you. That's fantastic to hear. So, Corrina, 2020 then, what was it like doing the whole process? I imagine mostly online. It was all online. Wow. And, um,

Corrina:

I know a lot of people don't like doing things online, but we, for us, it was, it was a godsend actually, because I was still in school, um, but I was only teaching to, we had four children who were vulnerable who would come into school, so it was a bit intense. It was myself and three other adults with four children, but it enabled me to do a lot of the training and a lot of the, uh, the, the conversations in school. My art, my head teacher was so understanding. She was like, Corrina, there's only four of them. Whatever you need, just go and do it. You know, just sit in the room, make sure you can sit in that. It was just amazing, the support I got from school, and the ability to do all of the things that I would normally have had to book time off for, or maybe just Stuart go on his own. I was able to attend all of the meetings, all of the, um, training, and it just, it was brilliant. It was

Helen:

Corrina? How did you find it? It was quite,

Corrina:

it was quite interesting because we had previously thought about adoption. And we'd gone through our local council. Um, and I didn't find that process as supportive. Which is why we're not adopters, we're fosterers. Um, there were little things. My father was in the military, so we moved around a lot. And I was asked to provide 18 years worth of good conduct. evidence from the police for every country I'd ever lived in. Okay, um, and when I didn't get that information back within a four week time frame, um, they were really not, not really understanding. I just thought, oh, this is a horrible thing. Kind of really put me off the process. Through fostering, um, With the, with our supervisor and social worker, things like that. They were just, it was easily, um, it was easily overcome because everything was online, um, provide that I had sent the emails off and we were just waiting. And do you know what? We don't actually need that information. You know, you're in, you're nearly 50. Why do we need to know what you were like when you're 15? You've got a DBS check. You've lived in this country for 20 years. I was like, yes, thank you. It was just a much more level headed approach. Um, I just felt, I went in feeling really like, oh this is going to be intense, this is going to be awful. But I actually, I loved it. I really loved the process. I loved our Kirsty, who we worked with when we were doing our application. She was just brilliant. Um, just everybody we've, we've ever had any interactions with have just been so positive and helpful and it was a really nice experience. In the middle of 2020, which was probably the one of the worst years ever. Yeah,

Helen:

I mean, it's, it's wild to think that that was five years ago now. Like, it sort of feels like a million years away, or ago, and only a couple of minutes ago in the same way, in the same time, doesn't it? It was such a weird time. So, then of course you were, uh, approved, um, panel, I imagine. How was that?

Corrina:

Uh, again, it was really surreal because it was online as well, um, and we just saw these little faces and pop up with a question and pop up and people were coming up for about a year afterwards going, oh, we saw you at panels, I was like, you did? Oh, because we knew there were just names and faces on this tiny little screen, okay, so nice to meet you. Um, I think because we were in our own home and we were sitting there with our peanut butter and toast and our cup of coffee, it didn't feel quite so intense. It just felt like an extension of the whole process with Christy, where we just sat, chat about ourselves and, you know, the things that we hope to do and the things that we've learned. It just felt formal, but yet also quite cozy. It just was, it was just a really nice experience. I, it was one of the good things to come out of COVID, I think, for us, personally. It was just such a nice experience.

Helen:

And then when did you get your first child or young person come to live with you?

Corrina:

So we were approved in the November 2020. And then we were, we were suggested for quite a few different sibling groups. I think it was after, I think they asked for us to do respite for Christmas. But I was still working and it, there was, I think there was an issue with, one of the, one of the girls had COVID or her, her carer had COVID and they needed someone to do respite, but the girl wouldn't take a COVID test. And I was like, well, I'm not, I'm not, um, I'm not shielding, but I'm also an asthmatic and I'm working. So she's like, Oh, I don't know. I don't know. So we kind of, um, We gave ourselves Christmas to get over Christmas 2020. And then in the January, we were, we were suggested for a sibling group of very young children, three children under the age of five, and then two boys who were a little bit older. And I thought, oh, I'm early years. I'm gonna, I'm gonna naturally want to do the little ones. That's where I am. That's what I do. It's fun. you know, my, my livelihood. And then Stuart went, yeah, but if you took older ones, they'd go to school. And I went, Oh, right, after a year, after a year of COVID, maybe that's not such a bad thing. Um, so we, we sort of went with, we decided to go for the two boys. And actually they arrived and they just fit in perfectly with us. Um, they are, they were eight and nine, but they were exactly where. I would pitch my teaching at. So we were in need of fine motor skills. We were in need of stories, nursery rhymes, routines. So they actually got more from me being an early years teacher, because I couldn't, I didn't know how to teach big ones. So I just, I'll just dumb it down and now if I need to, I'll, I'll take it up. And so we had set up the kitchen like a little, in early years class, we had Play Doh, we had sand tray, a water tray, all of the stuff that they probably needed. I needed, they needed, and it just, it works really well. And we've, we've just worked, we've worked like that ever since. We've just worked from where they're at rather than where they, where they're at, what their age is, where they are chronologically. We've worked from where they are developmentally. And they love it. So do

Helen:

you still

Corrina:

work,

Helen:

Corrina, alongside Fosterim?

Corrina:

In theory. As far as the boys are concerned, yes I do, but no I don't. I am planning to go back but we always said we'd give the boys a couple of years to settle into secondary school because we had all of that transition, um, and then my husband wanted to do some things from his work, um, so yeah. I will go back to school. And they love it. They love the fact that I'm a teacher because when I give them some advice, it's coming from someone who knows what they're talking about. Yeah,

Helen:

they really respect you. That's really lovely. So what does a, uh, a typical day look like for you then? Um, you know, talk us through that. What, what's your day like as a foster carer?

Corrina:

So the day I, I thought they'll be in school. Great. Get a lie in, drop them off at school. Pick them up a few hours later. Have some fun. Bed. No, that's absolutely, I don't think I've ever done that. If I did that, I think something had gone wrong. Um, so I actually get up pretty much exactly the same time as I do when I'm teaching. Um, so I'm up at about between 00. Um, because I'm not a morning person. And I, it was the first thing I said to the boys is that I am not a morning person. Never have been, never will be. And you can talk to anyone in my family and they'll go no. Don't speak to her. I'm for at least an hour. So I have to get up early just to be pleasant.

Helen:

Yeah, warm yourself up for the day.

Corrina:

God, I've got to be awake and then, um, you know, get myself ready. And then we do have this nice little tradition and it's taken a few years to get to this. I wake them up in the mornings and then, You know, they get a nice, great, big bear hug from me, both of them, you know, they're 12 and 13 and it's the first thing and I always say, so the first thing you get in the morning is you get greeted by a smile and a hug. That way, after that, if it all goes downhill rapidly, at least you know we started with a

Helen:

hug and a smile. And then do you end with one as well? Yeah.

Corrina:

Yes, yeah, we do the same thing in the evening. So, the day's bookended with love. So

Helen:

between the two hugs then, what happens in the middle?

Corrina:

Well, we've, we've taken, it's taken years, but we've finally got a lovely routine going. So one of them will get himself ready, the other one goes downstairs and sorts his breakfast out, and then they swap over because they're at the age now, or if they're in the same room together, it gives about 30 seconds before they start arguing over whatever they can decide to argue. So that's it. Our morning routine, it takes an hour, so from 6. 30 till we have to leave at 7. 30. It's a very slow morning for them, but we found out after years of trial and error that they needed longer time at a slower pace. So as much as you want to do, like, get up at seven and leave at quarter past, they can't do that. It just doesn't make for them. It doesn't make for them a good day. Days like that will usually end up with a phone call from school for whatever reason. So we have to have a nice big chunk of time in the morning where we can slowly get ready. And I'm not complaining because I like that as well. Um, yeah. And then we, we just, we just sort of like tootle off and we've got a few little routines that we have. So we listen to a story on the way to school. They came to us not knowing the joy of books. They were something that they had to do, it was homework. Whereas now, um, the eldest particularly, he doesn't want people to know this, and I'll probably get told off for saying this, but he's a reader. Um, he will sit on the sofa. He'll get up early on a Sunday, grab his book and a blanket and just sit and read. Oh nice, he's become

Helen:

a little bookworm.

Corrina:

Yeah. So we, we're currently making our way through all the Harry Potters, as an audio book. It's Stephen Lawrence's voice in the mornings and it just sets us all up, it sets us all up nicely for the day. So then I'll, I'll drop them all off. And then the, the day of a foster carer where you think you're just going to be able to sit on your, your sofa and drink cups of tea starts. So it can range from meetings, uh, meetings at school, meetings with social workers. Um, meetings with other foster carers, medical appointments, medical reviews, um, then there's training. There's, there is something always, there is always something to do. I've actually only, I've actually been able to once have a day where I've gone, right, I'm not doing anything. And I thought, okay, I'll, I'll be doing that at least once a week. Now it's probably maybe once a month I have a day where I just do nothing. And it is rare, but there is always something. And even if you haven't planned something, you'll get an email that needs attention. Straight away or you'll get some, I mean, I, I talked to their mum and dad during the weeks as well. So I'm always like catching them up and sending them messages and things. So it is every single day there is something going on that I just hadn't even realised would be a thing. Um, I think Sundays is my day of rest. I've just decided. I just picked a day where I knew that my husband wasn't working. I thought that's the day. That's it.

Helen:

Yeah, definitely. Sunday sounds like a good day. So then what happens after all of that then? Meetings, busy, busy, busy, then school run time, yeah?

Corrina:

Yes, yeah. Um, school run time and we, they, their school is in the nearest town, so it's about half an hour away. So I get there and we have become quite, Well known amongst their friendship group. So we're the car that in the summertime always has an extra lollipop. And I don't do that on purpose, just because that's what, you know, there's only three in the car, but the box normally comes in as a four, so there's always an extra lollipop, so they'll bring a friend with them, or there's a friend who wants to come and have a chat, because I'm a teacher and a foster carer, so they come and have a little chat and have a little whinge about their mum and dad, and do you think I should get in touch with social services? No, I think it's just normal, just relax, you're fine, you're just a teenager. So we've become kind of like the social car, where they come and they have a little whinge, and then the boys come The boys come back and we've kept this routine since the very beginning. They come back, they have some snacks, they get themselves all sorted for the next day and then they go out to play. So they have like an hour, even now, I think it's more important now because of the time of year that we're in, with the winter. They go out and get as much sunlight as they can. As you can up in the north of England. Um, and then they do their personal learning. Um, and we just sort of do a decompression from the day. How's your day been? And we, well, we used to have asked that, but now we don't ask that anymore because we realize that particularly the eldest will say I've had a really good day because in theory he has. There might've been a massive incident at lunchtime, but on the whole, it's been a great day. So we just ask, are we getting any phone calls? No, no phone calls today. Not unless they're good ones. And then they'll just offload what's been going on in the day. Yeah, we just, we sort of like problem solve. Try and get them more to do the problem solving, but they're still quite young and new to the world. And do either, do either

Helen:

of them have any like, uh, after school clubs or hobbies or anything?

Corrina:

Well, we did, they both were very active in football and rock climbing things, but they've got, um, to the stage now where they've joined the air cadets, the local air cadets. So they can still do the football and the rock climbing things, but there's other activities they get involved in, so they do that twice a week. They do that on a Tuesday and a Friday. Friday, but because it's such a long session, especially the Tuesday one, it gets, it goes way past their bedtime and you can tell because they get really ratty. Um, we've kind of kept everything else low key. They used to do something pretty much every night through, through school, not through us. Um, but yeah, we've, we've cut back now. Maybe, maybe when it gets a bit lighter and a bit warmer, they might want to start doing a few more things. But I think at the moment, just for the moment, I think two nights of the week, two hours air cadets, I think is fine. Um, they enjoy it. Oh, they love it, really. Saluting everyone and stuff like that. But yeah, they're looking forward to seeing passing out or grading out, I don't know what it's called, where they become official cadets and then they can start going on camps and they and I'm looking forward to that. So, back to the Friday and back to

Helen:

Sunday. So, back to the weekdays then. So, we're getting into the evening time now. What, what usually happens? What's bedtime like? What's your

Corrina:

So bedtime has always been quite a big thing for the boys. Um, they never had bedtimes. Um, they were with their parents for six, seven years, and they just, they, they did the whole falling asleep on the sofa thing. There was no routine for them. Um, and then their previous foster carer had a different routine where they would, you know, Um, watch a movie and fall asleep to a movie and I thought, no, I can't do that. I just don't think that's setting you up for, for life. So we have a very specific routine and we've done a lot of research. I get the boys involved in a lot of research because particularly as they're now teenagers, they have their own opinions and I've always said if they can find a government backed organization that agrees with what you're saying that you as a teenager only need three I'll think about it. And have they found anything yet? No, every single website they go on to agrees with what I'm saying.

Helen:

Maybe you're right, Corinne, maybe you are. Yeah, three hours sleep isn't anywhere near enough, really, is

Corrina:

it? No. And I would point out the fact, you know, Would you have got into trouble today if you weren't tired? No!

Helen:

Alright! So yeah, you've got them into a nice routine then. So, so what does that look like?

Corrina:

So we, so like I said, they go outside and they play. Um, between an hour, depending on, depending on what they're up to and depending on how they're getting on. So if they're getting on well, they could be out there for a couple of hours. Um, they've got free range of the, the housing estate that we live on. But we've also sort of said that they can go out to the parks. But they never do because I don't think they like the children at the park, so I'm not getting involved in that. But when we moved here, when the boys moved in, there were quite a few families with children of a similar age, but they've all moved out and now it's kind of, they've got all very much older teenagers, so it's not quite so, um, it's not quite so busy. So they kind of rule the roost now, they don't have to listen to other people, so I think they quite like being in charge. Of the area. So they go out on their bikes, they go out with their little guns, and they go out with their little sticks, and they build dens and things. Just proper playing.

Helen:

Yeah. Like we all used to do. Well yeah, it sounds like our childhoods really, doesn't it? Like, playing out. Yeah. Great.

Corrina:

And I just, because we realised, um, they both get grumpy when it gets darker. So we had to include as much daylight into their day as possible. Um, and this way they can just do it and then they come back and they do their homework and we have our dinner and then we either play a game or chill out and watch a bit of television together, baths, showers. And then we watch, we all get together and watch like a comedy show. Now, they think I just put random stuff on, but I've actually picked very wholesome, um, TV shows that are good examples of children in dire situations, but get through it in the end with gusto and bravery and all the stuff that you want children to do. through experience. So we've watched things like, um, I think Sheldon, the Fuller House, um, we're watching Sweet Tooth at the moment. So it's just kind of like trying to give them little examples of children who, who've overcome adversity. Yeah, positive role models. Yeah. Occasionally something else will slip in that they like, but I'm not usually the one that's watching that. But they love Marvels and stuff like that. So then we watch, we watch that. And then this, this is the bit of the routine that they keep arguing about, but actually this is the part of the routine they like. They go to bed, technically they do go to bed earlier than their friends, but we have to get up at 6. 30 to get them ready for school. So they need to be sort of like winding down by about nine. So they go to bed about half eight ish, quarter to nine, and then they read. They can read, they can draw, they can colour. Yeah. There's some quiet activity that isn't going to wake somebody up. And then we have the timer lights. And when the timer light dims, it means it's going off soon. So really, like, get ready. Time to go to sleep. And then it goes off. Yeah. Yeah, and then I say, I'm not expecting you to be asleep when the light goes off, but I'm expecting you to be getting ready to go to sleep. We're not trying to sleep, we are sleeping. And it has taken years, but we, I think we're kind of there now. Yeah.

Helen:

Corrina, I really like that. I might adopt that myself. I might get myself a timer light and dim it slowly. That sounds great.

Corrina:

I mean, we have it in our bedroom, and I say I've never actually seen the dim down because I'm always asleep anyway.

Helen:

So that's a weekday then, Corrina. So what about the weekends? I mean, we've already established that Sunday is your day of rest. But what about a Saturday? What do you get up to with the kids on a Saturday?

Corrina:

We, um, we, We very early came up with this little routine and it just works really nicely. So the boys, because they're looked after children are entitled to, um, tutoring through the virtual school. And the only days they could offer was Saturday or Sunday. So we, we all picked a Saturday just because my husband works on a Saturday. So he's not always home. Um, so it's not as if we're going to go anywhere. If we go somewhere, we'll go on a Sunday. So we get up, we just chill out, potter around, you know, they, they do their, their laundries. We do, we all do our chores. We've all got chores that we do on a Saturday, dusting the TV and things like that. Um, and then we make a breakfast, a nice breakfast, and it's a really slow morning. It's complete opposite of a normal day. And then we get to, we'll watch a movie or somebody gets to choose a couple of episodes of something. So we went through, I think the last summer holidays we watched. All of the Marvel movies. in chronological order.

Helen:

That sounds great.

Corrina:

I, I, I sit in the corner with my laptop doing all my admin. I am watching. Oh, look at that dangerous. And then kind of, then they do their tutoring and then we go out for the afternoon. So we'll go for big, we like to go for big walks. We like to go up the hills around here and things like that. So the eldest. We'll use that as an excuse for, Oh, I'm not tired. I'm not tired because we didn't do a big walk. So I was like, right, well, we're going for a big walk. And, you know, he's like, regrets ever saying that now because we, We came up with a plan to walk the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Not in one go, just chunk it up. Get the train in. So we're kind of working our way through that. Um, and then we come back for a nice meal and then some sort of Saturday evening TV. Or if, if they've been quite intense, then we do something called a string your own night where they get their little Kindles and they can go and watch Disney or Netflix in their room for an hour or something. And then we do the bedtime routine and it works really nicely. Um, and it means that when Strictly's on, It's the only TV show I ever watch in the whole year. I don't have to share it with teenage boys. Yeah,

Helen:

you just got some peace. Nice.

Corrina:

Yeah.

Helen:

Um, it's the only year that I do that. And what about connecting with, with other fostering families? Corrina, do you, you know, is there a lot of community there? Do you do a lot of things together?

Corrina:

Yeah, we, um, we haven't in the past few years. I just, I don't know why it's what's happened, but, um, I think maybe a lot of children have aged out, but we used to meet up with the local families. Um, and we'd say things like, well, we're going to the local nature park on a, on this day. Does anybody want to come? And people, yeah, I'll be there. I'll be there. You know, we, we kind of, we will be going anyway. If anybody else is in the area, come and meet up. Um, but a few of my friends have started fostering. So we sort of get in touch with them as well. But we do attend if our agency put on anything. We do attend it, we are regular attenders. The only times we don't is when they're at school, because they're at a different local authority to where we live. Our holidays don't always match up. The eldest, sorry, is very, very happy to tell people. Well, yes, this is my foster care. I'm fostered. You know, he will go up and introduce himself to anyone. And if, if they're not fostered, then he's, um, not so sure about them.

Helen:

So do you find that, do you find that really helpful, Corrina, being part of that community, getting that support from people who were, you know, having the same sort of experience as yourself?

Corrina:

I mean, we, we are not always in the same place, but there was a foster carer who's going, who went through what we are go, what the kind of issues we were, we are going through currently because of puberty. She went through a couple of years ago and I'm just, oh, and what did you do? Then I'm just taking advice from her and then I'm kind of passing that on to the people coming up behind me with the ones who. Just turning 10 and just turning 11 and it is like shuffle the information backwards and forwards. So, Corrina, it's been

Helen:

fantastic learning about, you know, your, your, your day to day, a day in the life of a foster carer. Thinking back to before COVID, you know, five years ago, when your days look totally different, you know, is it just mad to think how, how things were so different?

Corrina:

It, it really is. I mean, my, my parents bought the house next door last year because they're getting old and they want it to be nearby. And I don't think they realize just how lucky they are that I'm a foster carer, because before I was a foster carer, I would leave the house at six in the morning and I wouldn't get back until about six, six 30 at night. Then I just crash out for a couple of hours and then start all over again. I didn't actually. see this house. We bought this house a couple of years before COVID. I didn't actually see this house until 2021. There were bits of it. I was like, Oh my God, how long has that been? I just, I never saw my house because I was working. Whereas now I've got, even though it is quite intense and the moment, the big moments are really big and they, you know, they take, they can take a lot out of you when you're dealing with, Um, children who are going through puberty and they have all their traumas, their emotions are huge and massive and, and it, even though you're not the reason that they're feeling that way and you're not the cause of it, but you're the one that they feel safe around so they let it out on you and you're like, I'm gonna take it, give it to me. The, the, like, the ability I have afterwards to just relax in peace and quiet, I mean, it's just incredible. I think, somebody once said that, Early years teachers make more decisions minute by minute than brain surgeons. I'm like, well, that's rubbish. But now, I think, yeah, you're right, because when it's intense, fostering is very intense, but that is just a tiny part of it. The rest of it is filled with so much love, so much joy, so much peace. I mean, these, I think, the boys foster, uh, social workers said it, best. She, she was their social worker when they were in their previous setting, when they were their mum and then their previous setting, then they were there. She said, there is so much calm around these boys because they're with you than they, they have ever had in their life. And it's not fake calm because you can't fake calm. She said, even when they're irritated, it's just like, so. Well, I'm glad you see that because I don't. It feels quite immense, but she said you don't, I didn't get it. I didn't, I didn't get it at all. It's, it's taken me a few years to understand what she meant that because we, my husband and I are quite calm people. Peace is our, we know we don't like the drama, you know, we'll avoid the drama. We, that's the kind of what we're modeling to the boys. Peace and drama free is the way to be living your life. And I never had that. I didn't realize. That's how much I need that in

Helen:

Strathclymphosphera. Yeah, because it seems, Corrina, like your days are, are busy, but as you say, peaceful and fulfilling and, and you're really thriving.

Corrina:

Yeah. Yeah, I really am. I mean, I haven't spoken, I haven't met up with any of the teachers I used to teach with in a while. Um, yeah. Because I'm so busy, but when I do, um, they're all like, Whoa, look at you. You're like, you're like a, you're so chill. I'm like, am I? Yeah. Wow. One of them said, sometimes you have to poke me to make sure I'm still awake. Oh, okay.

Helen:

So if anyone was listening, Corrina, who's, you know, day to day maybe looks totally different to this at the moment, maybe like you, as you said, they're out 12 hours a day, they never see their house, you know, they're stressed, what would you say to them?

Corrina:

I think maybe, maybe take a look into fostering. I mean, I feel more fulfilled as a foster carer. My joy from my job as a teacher is always to be with the children without getting too political. That's not the case in education anymore. The children are kind of like not the priority anymore. So I've found a job where the priority is the children and the children are lovely and the children, even if the children are having bad days, their bad day is just still for me. Lovely. Not from them, because I'm helping them through it, but I feel at the end of it, I have helped them. I have given them support, I've given them love, I'm showing them what the world can look like. And you can't really, I don't think you can think, there's not many jobs where you can do that. Where you can actually make someone's day just by being yourself and being there. I mean, sometimes I don't even have to speak, I just have to sit and let them be. Poking, prodding, stroking. That's all they need is just

Helen:

For you to be there for them. Absolutely.

Corrina:

You don't need to say anything, you don't actually need to do anything, you don't need anything fancy. I mean, we're not big fancy people, we never have been. Um, but, you know, we're teaching them the world and I'm loving it. I'm really loving it. Oh, Corrina, it's been

Helen:

fantastic to speak to you today. So wonderful to learn about your day to day, what it's like to be a foster carer and, and what you are getting out of it, which is fantastic. So thank you so, so much and take care, Corrina. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Voices of Fostering. If you'd like to find out more, head online and search National Fostering group and make this the year you foster.