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Achieving for Children
AfC Virtual School

Virtual School for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
& the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Additional information on Attainment and Progress

Findings from The Educational Progress of Looked After Children in England: Linking Care and Educational Data – Rees centre research

  • the longer-stay CLA (early and late entry) groups do better than CIN
  • shorter-stay CLA group do least well
  • those who were already in care by the end of KS2 made greater progress over time than the other groups of children in care or in need.
  • Special educational needs (SEND) are far more common among CLA and associated with large differences in outcome. SEND in mainstream achieve higher than peers with similar needs in Special Schools or Alternative Provision.
  • Type of school is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes.
  • Absences, exclusions and changes of school explain substantive variations in GCSE outcomes and a significant part of the disadvantage CIN and CLA suffer.
  • Having someone whom they felt genuinely cared about them was very important to the young people in this study. Young people needed to feel that they would not be let down
  • A focus on progress gives a more realistic depiction of the achievements of the care system
  • Progress Targets for CiC should be more ambitious than for their non-looked after peers.
  • Some CLA will take longer to fulfil their educational potential than those not in care or in need
  • Initiatives to support pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties need to become more widely known and studied to address the educational problems we have highlighted
  • Involve young people more fully in what happens in their lives

 

 

Top Tips for DTs leading ePEP Meetings

  • Celebrate success – ePEPs should be a positive experience for the young person they are more likely to engage if the tone of the meeting is one of celebration and positivity
  • Offer Closing the Gap support for those who have fallen behind with school work and ensure that you bring all relevant data and feedback from teachers to the meeting.
  •  Provision of suitable education when a young person is not in school/college for any reason.  This should be short term as the aim should always be for full time education in a DFE registered setting. 
  • The ePEP is the young persons meeting so we expect young people to be present at their own ePEP and if appropriate to lead them.  The ePEP needs to focus on improving the educational outcomes of the young person

What is the role of the Virtual School regarding Attainment?

Promoting the Education of Looked After Children July 2014: Highlights:

  • ‘VSH is the Lead Responsible Officer for ensuring that arrangements are in place to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of the authorities looked after children.’

The VSH must :

  • ‘Ensure that all looked after children have a PEP’
  • ‘Ensure that the educational achievement of children looked after by the authority is seen as a priority by everyone who has responsibility for promoting their welfare’
  • ‘Report regularly on the attainment of looked after children through the authorities corporate parenting structures’

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