Children in care
About 38,000 children and young people in care are going through English schools at any given time, which means that many schools will usually have one or two looked-after children on their books. As a group, these children often enjoy school and think that education is important. Unfortunately, due to disruption and trauma many of these children do not get the best out of school and achieve poorly. The DfES and the Department of Health have jointly published a comprehensive Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care. This provides direction for local authorities in their role as corporate parent and aims to bring the educational attainment of young people in their care closer into line with that of their peers.
Current policy
The Government's long-term policy objective is to substantially
narrow the gap between educational attainment and participation of children in
care and that of their peers by 2006.
This will have been achieved if:
- outcomes for 11 year olds in English and maths are at least 60 per cent as good as those of their peers
-
the proportion who become disengaged from education is reduced, so that no more than 10 per cent reach school leaving age without having sat a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) equivalent exam
-
the proportion of those aged 16 who get qualifications equivalent to five GCSEs graded A*-C has risen on average by 4 percentage points each year since 2002; and in all authorities at least 15 per cent of young people in care achieve this level of qualifications
Corporate parenting
Corporate parenting emphasises the collective responsibility of local
authorities to achieve good parenting for all children in their care — an
essential part of which is to safeguard and promote their education. It depends
upon ownership and leadership at a senior level, including elected members. The
joint guidance sets out the range and number of individuals and agencies who
may be involved in delivering 'corporate parenting'. The joint guidance
in paragraph 4.3 states that: 'In broad terms we expect a corporate parent
to do at least what a good parent would do'. This means effective
inter-agency and multi-disciplinary working. Key principals include:
- prioritising education
- having high expectations and raising standards
- promoting inclusion through changing attitudes
- achieving continuity and stability
- early intervention and priority action
- listening to children and young people
Effective co-operation
Improving educational outcomes for children and young people in public
care depends upon effective multi-agency collaboration. Co-ordination demanded
by corporate parenting requires a skilled senior officer with a clear remit to
establish and enforce joint procedures and protocols and provide a permanent
resource for all involved in corporate parenting.
The local authority's commitment to improving the educational experiences and outcomes for young people in public care, and how they intend to achieve it, should be set out in a policy endorsed by local authority departments and council members. Education should be a central feature of care planning and of the statutory Looked After Children Review.
Personal Education Plans (PEP)
Every child and young person 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 progress and achievement
(joint guidance paragraph 5.17). The PEP should be an integral part of the care
plan and reflect any existing educational plans such as an Individual Education
Plan (IEP) or statement of special educational needs.
The PEP should be initiated by the young person's social worker in
partnership with the young person, designated teacher, parent or carer.
Designated teachers
Schools should designate a teacher to act as a resource and advocate
for children and young people in public care. LEAs and Social Service
Departments should co-ordinate suitable training for them and maintain an
up-to-date list of designated teachers in schools in their
area.
The joint guidance sets out details of the role expected of designated teachers, their training needs and how they can assist young people in their education (joint guidance paragraph 5.27).
Records and information
Lack of reliable data about the educational circumstances and outcomes
of young people in public care as a discrete group and of detailed information
about their individual progress, has been one of the major obstacles to raising
their attainments.
Schools, LEAs and social services need to share detailed information promptly which will help primary carers to provide the quality of day-to-day support which good parenting provides. This will include information on attendance, admission arrangements, special educational needs, test scores and other measures of educational progress and need.
The joint guidance places a duty, given statutory force by the accompanying DH circular LAC (2000) 13, on local authorities to establish and maintain a protocol for sharing relevant information about care, placements and education. See joint guidance paragraphs 6.16 onwards.
Early years
Early intervention and sound preventive practice during the early
years are important. Current government initiatives, designed to benefit
families in need and children in public care, include:
Efforts should be made to ensure that educational goals are included in the planning process. Ideally when young children attend early years settings they should have the equivalent of a PEP.
Special educational needs
Like other children, young people in care may at some time in their
education have special educational needs (SEN). It should not however be
assumed that all young people in public care have SEN. Whatever their
difficulties, children and young people in care need the support and advocacy
of a vigorous parent. Where young people have emotional or behavioural needs
these must be met, but this must not mean that education ceases to be a
priority.
At a strategic level all local authorities should have information about the SEN of children in their care. The needs of individual young people should be known to the SEN co-ordinator, the designated teacher and their carer and social worker. PEPs should detail individual needs and the support already provided. Action should be taken according to the SEN Code of Practice and strictly within the timescales prescribed.
Admissions, exclusions and transitions
One of the factors most likely to disadvantage young people in care
is the school time they may lose by being out of school, so securing a suitable
school place must be a priority. The significance of this is reflected in the
fact that the joint guidance, through the accompanying DH circular LAC (2000)13, places two new duties on local
authorities.
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Securing an educational placement is one of the main criteria which must be used in identifying a suitable care placement — this should generally be taken to mean a full-time place in a local mainstream school, commencing without delay.
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The Government expects local authorities to set a maximum time limit of 20 school days within which they must secure an education placement for any pupil in public care — it will be a full-time place in a local mainstream school unless the circumstances of the child make full-time or local or mainstream provision unsuitable.
Local authorities and admissions authorities need to be able to justify clearly any delay in providing education. Admissions authorities should not fail to admit a young person because they are in public care nor should they allow any unnecessary delay in the admissions process for these young people. It is recommended that all admission authorities give children in public care top priority in their oversubscription criteria. See School Admissions Code of Practice paragraph 3.14.
Out-of-authority placements
Corporate parenting is harder to achieve where children are placed
outside the authority, and young people are more vulnerable to placement
breakdown and disrupted schooling. Improving placement choice is a key Quality protectsobjective and should lead
to fewer children being placed away from their home authority and to more
robust arrangements where such a placement is unavoidable.
Corporate parents should carefully weigh educational considerations, and how educational life chances are likely to be affected by placement decisions. The responsible care authority should ensure that the same standards of care and education are applied to out-of-authority placements, and social services and education should continue to collaborate in the interests of these children.
Advocacy
The powerful role of parents in advocating for their children's
educational needs is undisputed. Local authorities should be satisfied that
primary carers, social workers and teachers have the necessary training to
equip them as effective advocates for children who are in public care.
An area where advocacy is particularly crucial is where a young person is at risk of exclusion from school or has already been excluded. Local authorities must make clear effective arrangements to ensure that young people are not denied access to any channel of appeal on the grounds that one part of the local authority cannot challenge the decisions of another part of the local authority or of a school.
Believe in me awards
See TeacherNet's article about the Believe in
me awards. The awards ceremony takes place in March 2005 and will
reflect how adults working in the care system or who come into contact with
young people in care, make a positive difference by promoting and supporting
young people's talents and interests and improving their opportunities in
the future.
Let's Hear it for Care Week
See TeacherNet's Events calendar for further information about the
Let's Hear it for Care Week, which starts 14 March
2005.
