What do we do?
To promote education amongst all Looked After Children, their carers and amongst other professionals working with this group; to raise the attendance, attainment and self esteem levels of these young people.
Definition of 'Looked After'
A young person is Looked After by the Local Authority if he or she is in their care by reason of a court order or is provided with accommodation for more than 24 hours by agreement with the parent. If looked after by agreement this is referred to as being 'accommodated.'
Service Priorities
- To support unhindered access and full integration of Looked After Children into all education establishments.
- To promote Corporate support for Looked After Children.
- To support children, parent/carers, and schools to raise the attainment of Looked After Children.
- To support young people, carers and the Education Welfare Service to improve attendance rates of Looked After Children.
- To raise educational aspirations of Looked After children.
- To train and support residential social workers, field social workers and foster carers in educational matters.
- To train and support designated teachers within each educational establishment.
- To offer pro-active support to Looked After children who are underachieving in their education.
- To provide reactive support to young people who are experiencing problems with their education.
- To implement national and local guidance on the education of children in public care.
- To co-ordinate and analyse Personal Education Plans for all Looked After Children.
- To monitor the academic progress of all Looked After Children.
- To monitor exclusions of all Looked After Children.
- To develop inter-agency work.
- To support the County's Children's Homes and Foster Carers by assisting in the development of policies and ethos.
- To support young people through the transition between Year 6 and Year 7 and Years 9/10.
- To encourage and support transfer to further and higher education.
- To ensure that all Looked After Children with Special Education Needs have their needs identified and met as early as possible.
- To offer home / school liaison service.
- To provide academic support during school holidays and out of hours - including the provision of residential activities for Looked After children.
- To raise policy issues with the education and social service department.
- To provide cultural activities for Looked After Children.
Referral
The Service operates an open referral system for young people, schools, parents/carers and other professionals. Informal enquiries are always welcome. All referrals are via a Referral Form, which can be completed by anyone including the young person. The development of an interactive web page will enable all to contact the Service.
What the Service can offer
Additional Curriculum Support
Support offered to meet to needs of individual Looked After Children who are in danger of under achieving. This support could be in class support, 1:1 support in school or at home, homework clubs, study support groups.
Home/School Liaison
Assisting schools and carers to develop closer links with one another and to raise the knowledge of issues surrounding the education of Looked After children.
Advice
Advice is available to young people and to all adults with an interest in the education of young people in public care.
Counselling
Confidential conselling service for young people to discuss and find solutions to issues of importance to them. A variety of different counselling methods are applied including SFBT.
Monitoring
The service collects data for the LEA and Social Services. This information includes attendance rates, exclusion rates, GCSE results and SATS results.
Supported Integration/Re-integration
Support to enable chronic non-attenders to return to school or any other educational provision.
Children's Homes
Working in partnership with residential social workers to implement policies and to strengthen the educational ethos within the Counties Children's Homes.
Cultural & Social
Working in partnership with carers and social workers to provide cultural and social development opportunities: e.g. Arts projects, museum visits, links with Libraries, holiday activities and residential activities.
Transitions
To support Looked After Children at Key Stages of their education. Particularly Year 6 and Year 7, Year 9 options and transition into post 16 provision.
Training
Training will be offered for specific interest groups (e.g. carers, designated teachers, governors, Members, other professionals). Training will also be arranged to promote greater understanding and knowledge across a range of agencies.
Access to the Service
The Looked After children Team will consider the following children and school related factors:
Pupil Related Factors:
- Fragmented school experience.
- Gaps in education.
- Poor attendance.
- Under-achievement.
- Emotional and behavioural issues.
- Frequent moves.
- Special Educational Needs.
School Related Factors:
- No support in place (or insufficient.)
Funding
The Looked After Children Team has external SRB3 funding.
Quality Assurance
The Access Team will work with partners in meeting the Quality Assurance guidelines and in addition has agreed Service standards and outputs built into all policies and guidelines. These are available for scrutiny on request and include:
- maintenance of a database to monitor all referrals, outcomes and educational standards of young people receiving Access support
- identified outcomes as laid down in the Access Teams delivery plans
- staff induction and supervision procedures
- planned joint training programme
- on going monitoring and evaluation of Access impact
- a policy of consultation with young people, associated agencies and the community which includes questionnaires, reviewed target setting process and best value outcomes to promote strategic development
- shared target setting with partner agencies e.g. SRB targets, Quality Protects educational targets and community targets.
In addition the Access Team works externally with partner agencies, parents, young people and the community to develop good practice and review policies.
Access is also strategically involved with external funding via SRB, ESF and sources of money normally unavailable to mainstream education.
The work that PIEL and LAC undertake has received national recognition by DfES (formerly DfEE), the Social Exclusions Unit and FEDA. This therefore involves independent scrutiny of the work undertaken with young people.
Targets for the Academic Year
The Access Service has a development plan, which embraces activities derived from the EDP, the LEA Strategic Plan, the LSS Action Plan and ongoing evaluation and planning in conjunction with new governments targets and initiatives. Access is committed to continuous improvement and strategic development and promotes partnership and community involvement. Key developments for the academic year are detailed below.
ACCESS will:
- continue to work in partnership with agencies, the community and young people to achieve national targets
- extend data management systems to promote efficient validated measures/outcomes for evaluative purposes and strategic developments
- extend Impact provision to ensure young people at risk of becoming socially excluded receive appropriate full time education
- deliver/develop joint training to ensure partners and the community work collusively towards meeting the needs of young people.
- monitor/store/evaluate Personal Education Plans for all Looked After Children.
- Strengthen range of opportunities for academic and personal support for children and young people.
