7.3.6 Education of Looked After Children

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This guidance applies to all Looked After Children.

It should be read in conjunction with:

Education of Looked After Children Procedure;
Shepwell Centre Admission Criteria Guidance in relation to Pregnant School girls;
Education of Young People in Public Care;
Click here to see the ‘Education Support Team’ contact details.

AMENDMENT

This chapter was amended in October 2011 to reflect the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations, 2010 and Associated Guidance. In particular Section 1, The Personal Education Plan (PEP) and Section 8, School Exclusions have been amended.

The Personal Education Plan (PEP)
When a Child First Becomes Looked After
When a Child Moves into a new Local Authority
When a Child Joins a new School
When a Child has no School Place
Celebrating Success
Reviewing and Updating PEPs
School Exclusions
When a Child is Absent From School (10 Days+)
Responsibilities of Social Workers Concerning the Promotion of Education
Responsibilities of Staff/Carers Concerning the Promotion of Education
Responsibilities of all Staff/Carers
Aims and Objectives of Residential Homes

1. The Personal Education Plan (PEP)

What is a PEP for?

Every child in public care needs a Personal Education Plan which ensures access to services and support; contributes to stability, minimises disruption and broken schooling; signals particular and special needs; establishes clear goals and acts as a record of achievement.

The carers, social workers, teachers and schools of children looked after may change several times during their time in education.

The PEP should:

Be a secure, reliable and accessible record of a child’s education history;
Be a record of the child’s interest in and commitment to education;
Ensure that promoting a Looked After Child’s education is seen not as one person’s or one agency’s responsibility but as a cooperative venture;
Make tangible and useful improvements to the child’s experience of, and achievements and attainments in, education.

PEPs and other education plans

A Looked After Child may have a statement of SEN, an Individual Education Plan (IEP), personal targets, a Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) or other education plans.

The PEP should refer to and incorporate these documents, rather than replace or ignore them.

However, none of these other plans can be seen as a substitute for a PEP as they do not achieve a PEP’s purposes as outlined above.

It is often possible to synchronise PEP meetings with other plans and reviews.

Initiating PEPs, chairing meetings

The social worker is responsible for initiating, compiling and distributing PEPs. Where a child is attending school, the school’s Designated Teacher or other identified member of staff is responsible for ensuring that the child has a PEP. When a child is attending alternative education provision the designated teacher or other identified member of staff is responsible for ensuring that the child has a PEP.

As the PEP forms part of the Care Plan, PEP meetings are usually chaired by the social worker.

If the PEP meeting is organised to coincide with (for example) an annual review of a statement or the drawing up of an IEP, the social worker should agree with other participants in advance how responsibility for the meeting is to be shared.

Recording

The Integrated Children’s System (ICS) will require a PEP to be added to part of the child’s Care Plan. In the meantime, the PEP should be attached to the Care Plan. A PEP consists of key information from education, e.g. education contacts, attendance, attainment, achievements, exclusions etc.), a summary of the views of all concerned plus the decisions and recommendations resulting from the PEP meeting. Copies of all reports submitted at PEP meetings should be kept as paper files.

A PEP must be based on accurate and up-to-date information. Everyone relevant to the child and his/her PEP should be consulted about both their views and their ability to contribute to the child’s educational progress.

The cycle - PEPs and Overall Care Plans

PEPs are one element of the Overall Care Plan. The Personal Education Plan should be initiated as part of the Care Plan before the child becomes Looked After (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement), and be available for the first Looked After Review meeting, (within 20 working days of the child becoming Looked After.)

The PEP cycle is ongoing: the collection of information feeds into the planning meeting which agrees the necessary actions; the Decisions and Recommendations need to be implemented and their progress monitored in the interval between PEP meetings.

Who needs a PEP?

Every Looked After Child of compulsory school age. PEPs should address education from the time of joining a Reception class to the end of Year 11.

Once a Child has completed Year 11, education planning should be part of the Pathway Plan.

In time there will be an age-appropriate PEP for pre-school children.

2. When a Child First Becomes Looked After

Notification

Lead Officers for LAC in Education and Children's Services in every local authority can be found at the Department for Education website.

The First Personal Education Plan – non-residential schools

Schools, alternative education providers and their designated staff may differ in their knowledge and understanding about PEPs and social workers may find it beneficial to clarify the individual schools/ education providers understanding of the PEP process from the outset.

Wherever possible, the social worker and carer or residential worker should make informal contact with appropriate school staff in the manner of good parents, before attempting to draw up a PEP.

The First Personal Education Plan – residential schools & educational placements

In residential settings every effort must be made to give educational matters as much time and attention as care arrangements. Attainment and achievement must always be addressed, even when behaviour management or other issues are the immediate priority.

3. When a Child Moves into a new Local Authority

Applying for a mainstream school place

Before applying for a school place, contact the Education Support Team for advice about how Looked After Children can receive priority consideration from admissions departments.

Pupils with statements of special educational needs

The procedures and regulations applying to pupils with statements of SEN are complex and are subject to strict timescales which must be adhered to.

The Social Worker must contact the Education Support Team about any issues with regard to the statementing process.

4. When a Child Joins a new School

The First PEP in a new school

(See also Section 2, When a Child First Becomes Looked After) The initial PEP should be regarded as the beginning of the working partnership between the pupil, the school, the social worker, the carer or residential worker and (if appropriate) members of the pupil’s family.

Pressing educational needs (e.g. the pupil’s ability to communicate with school staff and other pupils, behaviour management etc.) must be addressed in the initial PEP but others must also be dealt with in greater detail at the second and subsequent PEP meetings (see Section 7, Reviewing and Updating PEP’s).

5. When a Child has no School Place

Children Placed Outside the Authority

Local authority contacts for the whole country can be found at the Department for Education website

Pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs

The procedures and regulations applying to pupils with statements of SEN are complex and are subject to strict timescales that must be adhered to.

The child's Social Worker must contact The Education Support Team about any issues with regard to the statementing process.

6. Celebrating Success

Children's achievements can be acknowledged and rewarded by the carer, the school or the social worker.

Praise for the child's efforts can be verbal or written, public or private. It can involve the giving of certificates or gift vouchers or other items appropriate to the child and does not necessarily involve the giving of any money.

Success comes in many forms and is usually identified through targets set at the child’s PEP meeting. These targets can include: academic attainment, attendance, behaviour, participation in school or the achieving of other personal successes.

7. Reviewing and Updating PEP's

Timing of the meeting – non-residential schools

The social worker must convene a meeting to review the PEP, timed to take place not more than four weeks before the child’s Looked After Reviews (or at the end of the previous term, if the Review becomes due during the school holidays).

Timing of the meeting – residential schools and educational placements

If care and education are provided together it may be more appropriate to review and plan education and care at the same time. The meeting must still explicitly address educational needs and result in a PEP.

Preparation for the meeting

Preparation or consultation forms should be sent to all likely participants two weeks before the meeting. How best to consult with the child must be considered, and support or advocacy arranged if necessary.

The PEP meeting – arrangements

The meeting must wherever possible include the child, carer(s), the appropriate member(s) of school staff, LEA representatives if necessary, and parents if appropriate. Where a child does not attend, reasons for this must be recorded in the meeting notes.

The meeting will usually be chaired by the social worker (or their representative), as the PEP forms part of the Care Plan.

The PEP meeting – purposes

Second and subsequent PEP meetings should:

Check that the previous PEP’s decisions and recommendations have been implemented;
Acknowledge the successes achieved;
Address current concerns;
And agree new decisions and recommendations accordingly;
Reach agreement about the date and time of the next PEP meeting.

8. School Exclusions

NB Where a looked after child is excluded from school, the child’s social worker must inform the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.

Where a child has been excluded please contact the Education Support Team as soon as possible but within 24hours.

9. When a Child is Absent From School (10 Days+)

Where a child is absent from school 10 days or more, please contact the Education Support Team for advice and information.

10. Responsibilities of Social Workers Concerning the Promotion of Education

The social worker has the prime responsibility to co-ordinate PEPs and monitor the provision of education.

Advice and support about this area of social care responsibility is readily available from the Education Support Team.

Social Workers have overall responsibility for ensuring that:

A productive working relationship is established between with the school, the carer/residential key worker and themselves;
The Head Teacher and Designated Teacher are informed when the child becomes Looked After or if the legal status of the child changes;
The education authority to which a Looked After Child moves is informed;
A Personal Education Plan (PEP) is agreed within 20 school days of a child becoming looked after, i.e. for the first review post-placement (the 28 day review);
The PEP meeting includes the child (wherever possible) and all other significant people including foster carers, supervising social workers, residential key workers, parents and family members if appropriate;
Any Looked After Child without a school place will still have a PEP prepared for the initial and any subsequent reviews. The PEP will address how a school place is to be found and what arrangements will be made in the interim;
All PEP decisions, and recommendations included in the Looked After Review, are implemented by named persons/agencies, to the timescales agreed;
Appropriate colleagues in the education authority and school, particularly the Designated Teacher (where allocated) are informed of the legal status of Looked After children in all correspondence. (This will assist colleagues to prioritise Looked After children);
The designated teacher or other member of staff identified in the PEP are informed of any significant events, for example, court cases, contact sessions etc.;
The child’s educational needs are properly addressed when considering any change of looked after placement;
Schools are provided with relevant and necessary information - this might include elements of the Care Plan;
Education is appropriately supported via daily care arrangements including : school transport, materials, clothes, dinner money and who will read to the child and supervise homework;
The child’s achievements are acknowledged and celebrated by the child’s carers, education provider, social worker and by the wider Social Care Department as appropriate;
The Social Worker contributes upon request to the assessment process leading to a Statement of Special Educational Needs and the annual review of the Statement.

11. Responsibilities of Staff/Carers Concerning the Promotion of Education

Staff/Carers advocate effectively for Looked After Children. They champion the needs of children dealing daily with the child’s educational issues, problems and successes. They are also the link to teachers, parents and other professionals.

Caring for a wide variety of children some of whom have suffered rejection and abuse can be very demanding. Therefore there will be instances where staff/carers who are supporting children with varying educational ability will need to be able to call upon a wide variety resources and knowledge to assist them to develop further expertise and understanding of all aspects of education, in order to advocate successfully on behalf of the children they care for.

Staff/Carers must be encouraged to take an active part in care and education planning, and have clear understanding of who to liaise with at school, LEA and social care level. They should strive to develop a positive working partnership with Designated Teachers and be involved in monitoring and supporting the targets as set out in children’s PEP. Where requested, they should also be involved in any assessment of special educational needs. As soon as a child in their care commences school the staff/carer must ascertain who the school’s designated teacher is.

Staff/Carers have a primary responsibility for, and a major influence upon regular attendance. Staff/carers should be mindful of what is required to encourage positive educational achievement even if they only care for the child in the short term. On occasion, this may mean attempting to meet the child’s immediate emotional and behavioural needs whilst at the same time working towards furthering their education and achievement opportunities. As a good parent would, staff/carers must ensure that children do their homework and provide a suitable environment in which to do it.

Positive home-school links enhance educational life chances for all pupils, and it is essential that corporate parents communicate, in order to provide the same opportunity for looked after children. Carers/keyworkers must ensure that attendance issues are addressed immediately and they are fully involved in supporting all agreed plans and targets for the child. Staff/carers should be encouraged to support any after-school activities in which the child shows an interest. Where agreed, staff/carers will be expected to attend school events including parent’s evenings.

Advice and support about Staff/carers responsibilities in this area is readily available from the Education Support Team.

12. Responsibilities of all Staff/Carers

Also see Section 13, Aims and Objectives for Residential Homes.

Unless there agreed reasons to the contrary, all of the below should be seen as the responsibilities of staff/carers of Looked After Children.

Social workers, reviewing officers and supervising social workers should negotiate with staff/carers as to how these responsibilities are to be fulfilled.

Contribute to Personal Education Plans (PEPs);
Celebrate success when the child does well;
Encourage children to do well educationally, and to consider careers and further or higher education as appropriate to their abilities;
Consult the social worker to decide who should contact the school to provide and receive relevant information;
Go to the school and introduce themselves to the class teacher or form tutor and Designated Teacher;
Encourage and support the child to attend school every day and notify the school as early as possible during the first school day of absence. Actively seek support if the child elects not attend;
Keep information on the child’s educational circumstances and attainments and ensure that these are passed on to the appropriate personnel should the placement come to an end;
Seek support from the child’s social worker if difficulties occur;
Maintain regular contact with the school and attend parents’ evening and school functions e.g. school plays, sports day;
Ensure that the child has somewhere quiet to study and do homework, with age-appropriate reference books available;
Encourage the child to do their homework and offer help where appropriate;
Regularly discuss with the child their feelings about school/education;
Encourage children to develop their talents, and to pursue existing and new interests and hobbies;
Enrol children as members of a library as a matter of course;
Build a supply of children’s books (these should include books that are anti-racist and anti-sexist and also books particularly relating to the experiences of being Looked After);
Read with or to the child;
Encourage children to watch educational television programmes and videos/DVD's and go on outings to places of interest. Use everyday situations to promote learning;
Encourage children to participate in school and after-school activities;
Act as an advocate on behalf of the child and intervene immediately if there is a difficulty with education;
Notify the school as early as possible during the first school day of the reasons for a child’s absences. Upon request from the school this will need to be followed up in writing;
The foster carer’s supervising link social workers and the registered manager for residential placements must offer support and training to help staff / carers to contribute effectively in order to improve the educational outcomes of the children they care for;
Educational issues should be thoroughly discussed at foster carers’ reviews and via staff development in residential placements.

13. Aims and Objectives of Residential Homes

Also see Section 12, Responsibilities of Staff/Carers

Managers/Staff must ensure the following:

Each children’s home has a clear written education policy which sets out the requirements for regular school attendance and homework support, regular supported reading, monitoring and support of children’s education plans and liaison arrangements between schools, Children's Services and children’s homes. Please see Section 13 of Education of Young People in Public Care;
Ensure that all the Children are supported to attend school or an alternative education resource, on a full-time basis wherever possible;
Each child is provided with full access to educational facilities in line with the child’s age, aptitude, needs, interests, ability and potential;
Encourage the completion of homework and provide the equipment, support and space to do this, e.g. Books (including reference books, calculators and computers);
Give education an extremely high priority in all aspects of care planning and ensure that it is regularly discussed at both individual case level and at a policy level;
Develop multi-agency links with education, health and other corporate partners at individual, and service provision level;
When arranging out of borough placements, liaise with the local schools / education providers to inform them accurately of the child’s current academic performance;
Ensure keyworkers arrange and attend regular progress, education and statementing reviews, and that staff attend school events. In the absence of a child’s parents, care staff must attend parents meetings;
Ensure that education is discussed regularly at residents; and team meetings;
Maintain up to date information on the child’s education;
Promote a positive view of education by regular use of ‘Excellent File’ reward system;
Each home must have a designated education link worker to advocate and represent all the residents views relating to education;
The Education Support team will provide the appropriate training to foster carer’s, their link workers and residential staff in order to promote further development and policies for Looked After Children’s Education.

Specific Duties and Procedures for each Staff Group