New short film featuring children in care highlights impact of bullying in schools

Young people in Staffordshire have helped develop a new training resource and short film to help raise awareness of the impact of bullying on children in care at school.

The children, all with experiences of care, worked with Staffordshire Virtual School and Vamos Theatre to produce the film, writing the script, and starring in it themselves.

The 10-minute film ‘Misunderstood’ is based on lived experiences of young people being bullied at school due to being in care.  It highlights their feelings of isolation and being misunderstood.

The film and Resource Pack are now being used to help anyone working with care experienced children and young people to help improve their understanding of the issues they face.

The project, which is now being made available to other local authorities has also received praise from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel De Souza.

Rachel said: “It was a pleasure to watch this brilliant and incredibly moving short film, produced by a group of brave care-experienced young people from Staffordshire.

“The harsh realities of the online world and bullying are creatively portrayed in a way that can resonate with all young people, but particularly those from the care-experienced community. I want to thank this talented group of young people for creating this touching film, raising awareness as to what too many young people are facing today, and for demonstrating the role adults must play to support these children in a way which is sensitive to their lived experience.”

Mark Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Staffordshire County Council said: “This is a wonderful film and training resource and I’m extremely proud of our young people who helped develop it.

“The issue of bullying at school whether it’s online or in person, raised by our Children in Care Council is a serious one and one they wanted to do something about.  Since rolling out the training, we’ve noticed a better understanding of the matter by professionals and it’s great to be able to share it with other councils.”

One of the young people who starred in the film said: “It was a great project to be involved in and we all loved working on it together.  This is a big issue in schools and one we need to start talking about more. I know from my own experience that children in care are bullied more than other children. It has helped me to work through my own traumatic experience with the support from the Virtual School and Vamos Theatre.

Honor from Vamos Theatre said: “Most of the ideas came from the young people themselves based on their own stories and experiences.  We simply helped tell their stories.

“It’s quite hard hitting in places but sadly this is the reality.

The need for the film was highlighted by the Children’s Commissioner for England’s Big Ask children’s survey in 2021. Although the survey did not specifically address bullying, there were a few relevant findings that show how friendship and peer relations were more difficult for care-experienced young people.

The Resource Pack contains links and information about the making of the film, a commentary from outside organisations and links to additional support and advice.  It also includes quick and accessible exercises to encourage discussions on how individuals and organisations can adapt their approaches when working with care-experienced children.

People can watch a short clips of the Misunderstood short film here.

Anyone interested in using the resources should contact Staffordshire Virtual School by emailing virtual.school@staffordshire.gov.uk