ßÙßÇÂþ» Virtual School (SVS) fulfils the to promote the educational achievement of its children in care, wherever they live or are educated and upholds our .
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Duties of ßÙßÇÂþ» Virtual School
Children in care have a dedicated Education Support Officer (ESO) to ensure they have a school place, a quality Personal Education Plan (PEP) and allocated funding. This includes unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
In addition to our statutory duties for children in care, we also provide:
- A statutory service for our children previously in care. This includes offering advice and guidance and supporting our schools, settings and colleges to meet the needs of this group.
- A non-statutory service for children who have or have had an allocated social worker (in the last 6 years). This includes tracking the children at a cohort level and raising awareness of the specific barriers and vulnerabilities faced by this group which may inhibit educational progress.
- A non-statutory service offering advice and guidance for children living in kinship arrangements.
- Further details about the to champion and promote the education of children with a social worker and children in kinship care can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Our team works across the age ranges from 0-18 and can offer advice on a wide range of educational issues to social workers. This can include further signposting:
- attendance and exclusion
- attainment and progress
- interventions and strategies for a school to consider when meeting the needs of the child
- reduced timetables
- local area support systems, external organisations/activities that could support the child
- what to ask schools to put in place to support the child
- admissions and transitions to schools
Children placed in ßÙßÇÂþ» schools by other local authorities remain the responsibility of the placing authority's Virtual Headteacher - although SVS will support colleagues with local information and signposting.
What we do
- Champion the educational needs of children and young people who are looked after by ßÙßÇÂþ»
- Promote aspiration for educational achievement by demanding it is a priority within the lives of looked after children to improve outcomes and life chances.
- Ensure our children and young people have access to the best possible education and every chance to progress and realise their individual potential.
- Assess and review personalised support plans to raise attainment for those in care to ßÙßÇÂþ» - providing advice, guidance and support for intervention where this is needed.
We do this by
- Delivering training, webinars and networking sessions for designated teachers and designated safeguarding leads in schools, school governors, social workers, foster carers and a range of partner agencies.
- Offering advice, information and guidance on all aspects of education for looked after children and young people and other groups within our working remit.
- Supporting young people with studies, future pathways and work experience opportunities.