Virtual Schools have a statutory duty (from September 2018) to provide advice and information to schools, parents and a range of professionals around improving the educational outcomes of children previously looked after. The Virtual School are not corporate parents for this group of children and are not entitled to monitor these pupils and the duties do not extend to taking on case work or actions.
Please get in contact with Virtual School about a previously looked after child, we can offer:
- Advice to individual parents/carers and schools where they have a query
- Advice for schools on how they can support previously looked after children and how to best use pupil premium plus (PP+) funding
- Advice about education plans for PLAC
- Provide advice and guidance to school as part of Designated Teacher Updates
- Provide CPD opportunities, in conjunction with our Educational Psychology Service, to schools and social care to support previously looked after children.
Do Previously Looked After children require a PEP?
Whilst there is no stator requirement for a Personal Education Plan (PEP) for previously looked after children it is considered best practice to have one if needed. It is a record of the child’s educational progress and encourages positive collaboration between home and school. Please contact the Virtual School for further information about the Education Plan for Previously Looked After Children (EPPLAC).
Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) for Previously Looked After Children (PLAC)
Children and young people in schools from Year R to Year 11 in England and Wales who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority due to adoption, a special guardianship order, or a child arrangement order are eligible for Pupil Premium Plus funding.
To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must spend their pupil premium grant on evidence-informed activities in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by the Department for Education (DfE). The EEF's guide to the pupil premium and accompanying pupil premium resources for schools complement this document. For further details refer to the pupil premium guidance for school leaders
Further guidance and information
- Meeting the needs of adopted and permanently placed children: A guide for school staff on PAC UK
- https://corambaaf.org.uk/supporting-adopted-children-school
- Education toolkit for schools to support adopted children and their families
- Welcoming an adopted child to your primary school
- Welcoming an adopted child to your secondary school