Education

This summarises the responsibilities of the Placing Authority, it is important for care staff to know and understand what is expected of the Placing Authority so that they can respond when they are concerned responsibilities may not have been met, and in doing so promote best outcomes for the Children and Young People in their care.

The Placing Authority has a corporate responsibility for promoting the educational achievement of all Looked After Children under section 22 (3A) and 23ZZA of the Children Act 1989 (as amended by section 4 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017).

All residential managers and staff in the Home must therefore ensure that everything is done for children in their care to enable and support them to receive an appropriate education so that they can reach their full potential.

If the child is an unaccompanied migrant child, looked after by a local authority, they are entitled to the same local authority support as any other Looked After Child: to have a safe and stable placement; to receive the care that they need to thrive; and the support they need to fulfil their educational and other outcomes.

Some unaccompanied children who have recently arrived in the country may never have had access to education before. Appropriate education for unaccompanied children may include a period of time in a setting where their full educational needs can be assessed and integrated into their Personal Education Plan (PEP). They may need time to be prepared for and then become used to formal education, and their initial educational outcomes may include cultural orientation and life skills appropriate to their age. The Home will have a key role in this.

Delegation of Authority in regard to education should be recorded in the child's Placement Plan.

We recognise the importance that education plays in the future experiences and life chances of the young people in our care. We believe that every young person has a right to access education of the highest quality and at a level appropriate to their individual ability and circumstances.

We believe that in order to maximise educational opportunities it is essential that teaching and care staff work co-operatively in an attempt to provide meaningful and relevant 24 hour curriculum. Education is not limited merely to the classroom, education is a continuous process which occurs throughout the waking day. That is not to say that education can not be enjoyable or fun, there are many educational activities which occur naturally in our work with young people.

It is however important that staff work co-operatively and that care staff liaise on a regular basis teaching staff or with external schools, to ensure that educational programmes are appropriately differentiated. Key/Link Workers have regular contact with teachers and co-operate with reviews of key Plans e.g. Individual Care and Education Plans (ICEP's), ensuring that education and placement/care plans are consistent with or complement each other.

Key/Link Workers must ensure that Children have adequate opportunities and support to complete homework and take part in extracurricular activities.  

Children should be encouraged to join a library and have opportunities to access a range of educational support material, including books and specialist educational software

Each Child must have a Personal Education Plan (PEP), which addresses the appropriateness of the Child's educational placement and any special educational needs that the young person has. The plan also details the arrangements for monitoring school attendance, and arrangements for parental or social work involvement in the education of the child. The PEP must be drawn up before the child becomes Looked After (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement), and be available for the first statutory review meeting.   If a child is placed in the Home without a PEP and it is the child’s first Looked After placement, the timescales above apply; if it is a subsequent placement, the Child should already have a PEP, if this is not the case, the Home’s manager should obtain one from the social worker.

Key/Link Workers, in the absence of parents, must attend all school events that would usually be attended by parents such as open days, school plays etc.

Any young person of statutory school age who is not attending school (or a pupil referral unit) would be provided with an appropriate and differentiated educational programme delivered under the supervision of a qualified teacher during normal school hours. Staff from the home would work closely with the placing authority to secure a school placement as quickly as possible.

See also: Bullying Procedure.

Crystal Care Solutions has an objective to provide for the educational needs of young people through a combination of attendance at mainstream or specialised provision within the local area and individual tuition, determined by a Personal Education Plan, providing an environment that values learning and promotes further education and/or vocational training that will develop young people’s skill base and subsequently enhance their life opportunities and access to employment.

The staff and management team believe that young people should be provided with a level of educational opportunity that allows them to develop to the best of their abilities and enable them to attain the highest level of academic achievement they can.

The home will provide suitable facilities for home study, materials to support young people’s education and offer support up to the level of their own academic ability.

We will provide links with schools and other education providers and encourage the involvement of vocational and work experience.

We will work collaboratively with the Placing Authority and Local Educational Authority in developing and maintaining the Personal Education Plans with a view to one of the following options being available for the provision of education:

• Local Mainstream Provision;
• Local or Regional Special Educational Provision;
• Individual Tutoring;
• Specialist small group education provision;
• Modern Apprenticeship / work based learning.

For young people who have completed their statutory education, individual full or part time tuition, access to further educational establishments and vocational training can be provided.

On rare occasions young people may either be unable to attend school as a result of exclusion or may choose not to attend school, school refusal. Exclusions are either fixed term; i.e. for a specified number of days after which the young person will return to his or her school; or permanent; where it is not intended that the young person will return to that particular school.

Due to the close working relationships established between care staff and school based staff it is likely that staff from the home will be aware of any difficulties the young person is experiencing or causing within the educational setting prior to exclusion being used by the school. At this stage staff from the home will liaise closely with school staff in order to provide additional support to the young person during this period of difficulty. All action taken at this time will be recorded in the young person's individual records and the Personal Education Plan (PEP) will be amended to reflect the changed circumstances.

However there may well be situations whereby the school has no option but to exclude the young person without prior warning, for example in response to an isolated incident of a very serious nature. Examples of this would include a serious assault on another pupil or member of staff or the taking of illegal substances into to school.

When young people have been excluded from school or have refused to attend, staff from the home will ask the school to provide study materials for the young person to complete during the period of their exclusion or refusal. Staff from the home will assist and supervise the young person in completing this work during normal school hours.

It is important that any young person who is excluded, and also other young people in the home do not view exclusion from school as an extended holiday. A criticism often levelled at residential care is that too frequently young people have no routine, they are frequently not at school, get up when they please, and at best, spend their days unoccupied and bored. We believe that establishing a balanced approach for young people will achieve positive outcomes.

On those occasions where a young person is permanently excluded from school staff from the home will work closely with the placing authority to identify an appropriate alternative educational placement. Whilst an alternative placement is being sought, we will endeavour to provide a short term educational package.

The individual needs of young people within each service setting will vary greatly; because of such diverse need it is neither possible, nor do we intend to be prescriptive about nature of any alternative educational package provided. All such programmes would be delivered under the supervision of a qualified teacher and would be appropriately differentiated.

Legislation, Statutory Guidance and Government Non-Statutory Guidance

Promoting the Education of Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children (DfE)

Promoting the education of children with a social worker and children in kinship care arrangements: virtual school head role extension

Keeping Children Safe in Education (DfE)

Designated Teacher for Looked-after and Previously Looked-after Children (DfE)