Care To Foster?

Last year, there were 55,200 children in England living with foster families. Sarah Tarrant is a supervising social worker for Slough Children’s Services Trust in the fostering team. Sarah Rodi asked her to bust some of the common myths about fostering...

What are your favourite bits about the Royal County?

The diversity of the county – with countryside, villages, town and city life. I love living near Windsor with the River Thames and the castle, the cultural mix of Slough, the wonderful countryside for walking and National Trust properties to visit.

Tell us about your career up until now…

I was originally a Medical Physicist as a Research Assistant, then worked for a national charity for people with disabilities before having a career break to have my family. I am married with two adult children who are both at university, one in Somerset and the other in the US.

I fostered for Slough for nearly 14 years, looking after 35 children on a short term, emergency and respite basis before retraining to be a social worker on the Berkshire Step Up programme through Bracknell Forest Council.

I joined Slough Children’s Services Trust in the fostering recruitment team as an assessing social worker for new foster carers and short break carers for disabled children in 2017. I have remained in the fostering team but am now a supervising social worker supporting existing foster carers.

What is fostering?

Foster carers look after children or young people who cannot live with their own families. This could be due to reasons that include illness, relationship breakdown or concerns about their welfare. Foster carers provide children and young people with a safe and nurturing family environment, caring for them as though they were their own children.