Moving On: First pilot feedback for ASDAN's new course for care leavers

ASDAN’s new course, Moving On, has been designed for young people aged 16+ who are preparing to live independently for the first time. They may be leaving care, moving out of their family home or moving away to university.

In May 2023, ASDAN launched its Moving On pilot. The process will ensure that the course content, resources, training and delivery systems are fit for purpose and equip young people with the knowledge and skills to successfully ‘move on’ to the next stage in their lives.

We are delighted that the pilot consists of nine ASDAN members and nearly 80 learners. Six members have completed the Moving On training so far and we’ve received brilliant feedback to take forward, and further shape how members access our resources.

Why choose Moving On?

The initial focus group meeting was held via Teams, where our pilot members introduced themselves, their motivations for choosing Moving On for their young people and the wide variety of settings in which they’d be delivering the course.

One member shared how they offer bespoke residential education placements for children who have experienced trauma and exploitation. “A lot of our children haven't really had the opportunity to learn a lot of the kind of skills that are involved in Moving On,” said the pilot member. “We're hoping to build that into our packages to give them that base starting point to help them move towards semi-independence in their future.”

Another pilot member expressed their reasons for delivering Moving On. “We're piloting a new way of working with young people who are just on the cusp of leaving care by providing therapeutic residentials.

“Moving On has come at a really lovely time,” said the member, “because we were looking at a way of providing accredited certificates for those young people taking part in the residential courses. We're really excited about it.”

ASDAN’s new training approach

Moving On’s online training is an exciting new step for ASDAN as it consists of pre-recorded training videos, which can be accessed by members at any time. We asked our pilot members to complete a short survey about their experience with the Moving On training. We were pleased to hear that members appreciated the flexibility of the videos and were able to fit in a chapter here and there around their work.

Members have suggested that they would have liked more opportunities to ask questions or interact with ASDAN during the training, as one would in a live training session. We’ve taken this on board and are thinking of solutions for ways of training to be easily accessible, without time and date constraints but also provide personal support to members, if needed.

Modules to build independent living

Moving On contains the below five modules. We’re thrilled that each module has been chosen by our pilot members to be delivered at least once, with Building a home being the most popular module so far.

Building a home – tenancy, home maintenance, laundry, cleaning and home safety
Being healthy – physical health, emotional wellbeing, healthy eating and healthy living habits
Starting your career – further and higher education, training, exploring job opportunities, applying for jobs and being an employee
Managing money – budgeting, borrowing, saving and spending
Relating to people – identity, healthy relationships, boundaries, support and being part of a community

Next steps

Our next focus group session will be held at the end of June 2023. We’ll be asking our pilot members how they have got on with creating their cohorts within our website’s members’ area and ordering materials. We’re also eager to hear feedback on the functionality of Moving On’s progress tracker.

Our next meeting will be our first chance to capture members’ thoughts on the design and content of the course booklets, which include bright and meaningful illustrations to guide young people through the modules.

Our Moving On pilot will run until December 2023 and registration to take part has now closed. We may still consider applicants on a case-by-case basis, if you are interested in participating you can get in touch with our Design and Development team at design@asdan.org.uk.

You can also download the Moving On information sheet and join our mailing list for regular updates on ASDAN course developments.