Education and Training

Obtaining a good education can be the key to vastly improving a young person’s chances in life. Young people placed with you can be particularly disadvantaged educationally. They will often have had their education disrupted as a result of changes of placements and circumstances, and may not have had the opportunity to develop to their full potential. Some young people may have little sense of their abilities and may need encouragement to develop greater self-esteem.

When commissioning a placement/service, the accommodating authority must establish how you as a host will support the young person’s educational and training needs.

Where the child is an unaccompanied migrant (and looked after by a local authority), they are entitled to the same local authority support as any other looked after young person: to have a safe and stable placement; to receive the support that they need to fulfil their educational and other outcomes.

Your role as a host is to;

• Keep the education provider or college informed of any significant changes and issues if the young person needs support with this role;
• Help the young person to express their concerns or aspirations and advocate on their behalf;
• Attend open evenings and any meetings needed and encourage, where appropriate, parents’ involvement;
• Support the young person to achieve their education or training goals;
• Contribute to the ongoing assessment of the young person’s educational needs and progress including the support of the Personal Education Plan (PEP);
• Give time and space to the young person when they return from their education or training setting to check how it is going for them and ensure things are going well for them; speak to the young person’s social worker if you have any concerns.

The purpose of the Virtual School Headteacher is to drive up improvements in the educational progress and attainment of all looked after children (LAC), including those that have been placed in schools in other local authority areas.

The PEP must be drawn up before the young person becomes looked after (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement), and be available for the first statutory review meeting and all subsequent LAC Reviews.

The young person’s social worker should arrange a meeting to put together the first PEP.

Who should be invited?

• You as the host;
• The young person and their parents if appropriate;
• The Designated Teacher at the school;
• Any other relevant professionals.

If the child is excluded from school, the Head Teacher, an education officer and the SEND adviser if needed should be invited.

If it is a subsequent placement, the young person should already have a PEP, if this is not the case, the Registered Person should obtain one from the social worker.

PEP’s should:

• Identify developmental and educational needs in relation to skills, knowledge, subject areas and experiences;
• Set short and long-term educational attainment targets agreed in partnership with the young person and the host  where appropriate;
• Include a record of planned actions;
• Include information on how the young person’s progress will be supported and monitored;
• Record details of specific interventions and targeted support that will be used to make sure personal education targets are met;
• Say what will happen, or is already happening, to put in place any additional support which may be required;
• Set out information on what will happen or is already happening to identify and support any mental health needs;
• Set out how a young person’s aspiration and self-confidence is being nurtured, especially in consideration of longer-term goals towards further and higher education, work experience and career plans;
• Include the young person’s views on how they see they have progressed and what support they consider to be most effective;
• Be a record of the young person’s academic achievements and participation in the wider activities;
• Provide information which helps all who are supporting the young person’s educational achievement to understand what works for them;
• Have clear accountability in terms of who within the educational establishment is responsible for making the actions identified in the plan happen.

In addition, the PEP should have:

• An up to date and accurate chronology of education and training history which provides a record of the educational experience and progress in terms of National Curriculum Assessments, including information about educational institutions attended and the reasons for leaving, attendance and conduct record, academic and other achievements, any special educational needs, an indication of the extent to which the young person’s education has been disrupted before entering care or the supported lodgings Service;
• A clear statement clarifying existing arrangements for education and/or training, including details of any special educational provision and any other provision to meet the young person’s educational or training needs and promote educational achievement;
• A description of any planned changes to existing arrangements and provision to minimise disruption;
• A description of the young person’s leisure interests;
• A description of the role of the appropriate person and any other person who supports the young person in promoting the young person’s educational achievements and leisure interests;
• A description of how the Pupil Premium is assisting the young person’s progress and applications for bursaries should be discussed as part of PEP Meetings;
• Details of who will take the plan forward, with timescales for action and review are an essential aspect of all PEP planning.

Looked after and previously looked after children and young people are eligible for Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) funding. This is additional funding provided to help improve the attainment of looked after children and close the attainment gap between these young people and their peers. It is not a personal budget for individuals. The extra funding provided by the PP+ reflects the significant additional barriers faced by looked after and previously looked after children and young people. The designated teacher has an important role in ensuring the specific needs of looked after and previously looked after children are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these young people.

The PP+ is a key component in ensuring resources are available to support the young person’s Personal Education Plan and the plan should clarify what the support is and how it will be delivered.

The PP+ for looked after children and young people is managed by the Virtual School Head (VSH). However the PP+ for previously looked after children is managed by the school.

The PP+ is a key component in ensuring resources are available to support the young person’s Personal Education Plan and the plan should clarify what the support is and how it will be delivered.

Young people whom you support should be attending school or other educational provision, be learning and making good progress. 

Young people should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their Personal Education Plan states otherwise. All hosts must aim to support full time attendance at school unless the relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests.

The host through the Service must ensure that each young person has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support their learning.

The host should

• Help each young person to achieve the young person’s education and training targets, as recorded in the relevant plans;
• Support each young person's learning and development, including helping the young person to develop independent study skills;
• Understand the barriers to learning that each young person may face and take appropriate action to help the young person to overcome any such barriers;
• Help each young person to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;
• Promote opportunities for each young person to learn informally;
• Maintain regular contact with each young person’s education and/or training provider, including engaging with the provider and the accommodating authority to support the young person’s education and/or training and to maximise the young person’s achievement;
• Raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a young person with the education or training provider and the accommodating authority;
• Help each young person to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;
• Help each young person to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the young person’s relevant plans.

Support may include, for example, support by you as the host to learn how to use public transport confidently and safely, or the use of technology to connect with online learning, and so on. 

Where young people are not participating in education, hosts should work closely with the young person’s social worker and the accommodating authority so that the young person is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the young person should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the accommodating authority, the supported lodgings Service should challenge them to meet the young person’s needs.

Hosts should attend all school events that would usually be attended by parents such as open days, plays etc if the young person requests this.

All young people are required to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. Young people can choose how to participate. This can be through full time education, an apprenticeship or traineeship, or by combining full-time employment with part-time education or training. Whilst the duty is on the young person themselves, it is important that you as a host encourage the young person to continue their education or training and support them to develop the skills necessary to succeed in the option they choose. Young people should also be entitled to financial support that is available through the 16-19 bursary fund; their local authority young people's services can advise about the options available. For further information on the 16-19 Bursary Fund, see: Overview of 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. 

Local authorities have a number of responsibilities in relation to education and training for 16-19 year olds, including ensuring that sufficient provision is available to meet their needs and supporting them to participate, including providing arrangements for the provision of transport and/or travelling expenses in accordance with their annual transport policy statement. They are also responsible for identifying young people covered by the duty to participate who are not in education or training. The supported lodgings Service and you should work with the accommodating authority and local authority in which you are located to make sure the young people they are responsible for are getting the support they need to participate. For further information, see Participation of Young People: Education, Employment and Training. 

When accommodating unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people in supported accommodation, the accommodating authority and local authority in which the setting is located and the Service should ensure that young people have access to English language lessons, where needed, as well as other additional support to aid participating and integrating into the community and UK life as per the young person’s relevant plan.

Support with University

Care leavers qualify for extra finance if they chose to go to university and can apply for student finance as an independent student. This means a young person won’t have to provide details of their household income and will be eligible for the maximum living cost/maintenance support, as well as a tuition fee loan. Definitions of care vary across the UK, so it is important that hosts, Personal Assistants or the young person’s social worker, check with the student finance company whether they qualify.

For further information, see the complete university guide called: Applying to university as a care leaver. 

Hosts should work in partnership with relevant professionals such as Virtual School Heads (VSHs) to promote the educational achievement of young people and enabling young people’s access to a suitable range of high-quality education options. Further information on the role of VSHs can be found in Promoting the Education of Looked-after Children and Previously Looked-after Children. 

PEPs should be reviewed by the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) at Looked After Reviews.

It is however important that hosts work co-operatively and that hosts liaise on a regular basis with teaching staff or with external schools and educational support services, to ensure that educational programmes are appropriately differentiated.

Hosts should have an understanding of how the educational establishment functions, including the processes for admission, the role of designated teachers for looked after young person and the role of the Virtual School Head. If a looked after young person from a different local authority area is placed the Virtual School Head of that local authority remains responsible for promoting the young person’s educational achievement.

Hosts should act as effective advocates for or on behalf of a young person who may be experiencing difficulties with education or training matters including, but not limited to, attainment, admissions, attendance or behaviour.

Young people should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate.

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

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 or educational establishment 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 school.

On those occasions where a young person is permanently excluded from an educational establishment, hosts and the supported lodgings Service will work closely with the accommodating authority to identify an appropriate alternative educational placement.

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: Virtual School Head Role Extension

Keeping Children Safe in Education (DfE)

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

Guidance: Working Together to Improve School Attendance (www.gov.uk) - guidance to help schools, academy trusts, governing bodies and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance, including roles and responsibilities.