The journey through education for a child who is

looked after and how we, as corporate

parents, can respond to this.

11 February 2020

House keeping

Aim of the session:

• identify some key situations or actions that may impact on a child’s education if they are in care and how this may be mitigated or maximised

• consider how, as corporate parents, this knowledge and understanding may be applied in our decision making

Please note, this is an interactive session. Questions are welcome - as is your participation in the activities; it will not be possible to go into detail

about specific children / young people.

School journey

Context• Individuals

• All pupils

• Children and Young People who are looked-after

Throughout

“How can I contribute to a decision that makes it better for

our children?”

Your first hand experience

• Pupil

• ‘Friends and Family’ connections and responsibilities

• Professional and / or Community roles

• Interests

• …

The same for all pupils

• School ages and stages

• Statutory assessments

• SEND(Special Educational Needs and Disability)

• The right to learn and achieve

Age School type Key Stage Year Group Statutory assessment

2-3yrs Nursery (N1) Early Years Foundation Stage

(EYFS)Nursery

3-4yrs Nursery (N2) Early Years Foundation Stage

(EYFS)Nursery

4-5yrs Infant / Primary EYFS (Reception) Year R End of Foundation Stage Assessment

5-6yrs Infant / Primary KS1 Year 1 Phonic Check

6-7yrs Infant / Primary KS1 Year 2 KS1 Teacher Assessment

(& Phonic re-check)7-8 yrs Junior / Primary KS2 Year 3

8-9 yrs Junior / Primary KS2 Year 4 Times-table – online test

9-10 yrs Junior / Primary KS2 Year 5

10-11 yrs Junior / Primary KS2 Year 6 KS2 SATs

11-12 yrs Secondary KS3 Year 712-13 yrs Secondary KS3 Year 813-14 yrs Secondary KS3* Year 914-15 yrs Secondary KS4 Year 10 Possibly 1 or 2 GCSE15-16 yrs Secondary KS4 Year 11 GCSE / Ebacc / Btec / other16-17 yrs Secondary / sixth

form/ collegeKS5 Year 12 Functional Skills / GCSE / other

17-18 yrs Secondary / sixth

form/ collegeKS5 Year 13 A levels / T Levels / other

Mainstream and some specialist provision

Y4 times table check

• online test

• 25 questions

• times tables from two to 12

• six seconds per question

• three seconds rest

All Schools October 2019

MVS N1 N2 YR Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11 Y12 Y13

count

All

pupils

age

2-3

age

3-4

age

4-5

age

5-6

age

6-7

age

7-8

age

8-9

age

9-10

age

10-11

age

11-12

age

12-13

age

13-14

age

14-15

age

15-16

age

16-17

age

17-18

cohort

135 1115 3496 3498 3547 3643 3664 3559 3539 3636 3482 3461 3248 3181 1832 1570 46606

Primary (YR – Y6): 24,946 pupilsSecondary (Y7 – Y11): 17,008 pupilsFurther Education* (Y12-Y13): 3,402 students

Vast majority of pupils

• attend

• engage

• succeed

• encourage

• innovate

• …

AASSA Attendance, CME

Admissions Admissions, Medway Test

Inclusion Exclusions, Alternative Provision

SENDIncluding Education Health and Care Plan

(EHCP)

Transport School Transport, SEN Transport

Universal Support

School year 190 days KS2 week 23.5 hrs (example) School day 4.7 hrs

Attendance days attended days lost attendance %

95% 180.5 9.5 95%

94% 178.6 11.4 94%

93% 176.7 13.3 93%

92% 174.8 15.2 92%

91% 172.9 17.1 91%

90% (persistent absence) 171.0 19.0 90%

89% 169.1 20.9 89%

85% 161.5 28.5 85%

80% 152.0 38.0 80%

70% 133.0 57.0 70% over 11 weeks lost

Holiday for (100% attendance) days attended days lost attendance %

5 days holiday 185 5 97.30%

10 days holiday 180 10 94.70% taking attendance below 95%

Holidays at 95% days attended days lost attendance %

95% and 5 days holiday 175.5 14.5 92.40% taking attendance below 95%

95% and 10 days holiday 170.5 19.5 89.70%

Punctuality minutes late daily lost weekly lost annually hours lost days lost

daily on arrival 5 5 minutes 25 minutes 950 15.83 3.37

In school punctuality minutes late daily lost weekly lost annually hours lost days lost

morning break 2 2 minutes 10 minutes 380 minutes 6.33 1.35

lunchtime 3 3 minutes 15 minutes 570 minutes 9.50 2.02

lunchtime issues n/a n/a 30 minutes 1140 minutes 19 4.04

Learning may have been impacted upon:

• attendance

• punctuality (late)

• Uniform

• exclusion

• school hopping

• …

Before becoming looked-after

SEN with EHCPPermanent / Fixed term

Exclusion

Looked after child

• Admission• School Transport• Attendance

AASSA Attendance, CME

Admissions Admissions, Medway Test

Inclusion Exclusions, Alternative Provision

SEND EHCP

Transport School Transport, SEN Transport

Virtual School Looked-After, Previously Looked-After

Professionals in School:designated teacher with responsibility for looked-after and previously looked after children (DLACT / DMS) (see extract)

qualified teacher who has completed the appropriate induction period or a head teacher or acting head teacher of the school

designated teacher should have the appropriate seniority and professional experience to provide leadership, training, information, challenge and advice to others that will influence decisions about the teaching and learning needs of looked-after and previously looked-after children?

For a child in care

• Nursery / school place may already be secured or not

• School place may be sustained or not

• Local area of residency may be sustained or not

MVS: School profile September–December 2019

MVS < N1 N1 N2 YR Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11 Y12 Y13

countAll looked

after

children

age

2-3

age

3-4

age

4-5

age

5-6

age

6-7

age

7-8

age

8-9

age

9-10

age

10-11

age

11-12

age

12-13

age

13-14

age

14-15

age

15-16

age

16-17

age

17-18

cohort 40 14 11 9 17 9 14 15 21 23 32 25 37 39 41 40 32419

Primary (YR – Y6): 108 pupilsSecondary (Y7 – Y11): 174 pupilsFurther Education* (Y12-Y13): 72 students (note 18+ not included)

Key themes

• Meetings

• Transport

• Admission

• Attendance

• Inclusion and SEND

• Stability (placement and/or school)

• Support (e.g. therapy) and impact

• School based interventions to close the gap

• PEP

Statutory (meetings / procedures)

• Looked-after child review4 weeks, 3 months 6 months

• Looked-after child medicalannual

• Personal Education Plan– initial 10/20 days

– 6 months

– termly review

Plans

Care Plan includes health plan and PEP

PEP

Personal Education Plan (PEP)for all pre-school to age 18years this is not limited to those in school

EHCPEducation, Health and Care Plan

Pupil Premium

• Funding preschool to Y11 (£2300)

• Used for the cohort

• To support the closing of the gap in education

• Linked to targets, through the termly PEP

• Linked to targets – whole school projects (some schools)

• Evidenced based interventions

Impact

• Time out of the classroom (meeting)

• Time out of school (Medical)

• ‘seen to be different’

• Professionals with differing opinions

• Professional vocabularycontact, respite

• Regular discussions to secure appropriate support / intervention

School life

• Photographs

• Performances

• School trips

• Getting to school

• Changing school

• ‘sleep over’

This policy is determined by the local authority in which the pupil resides

School Transport

If a pupil moves area, getting to school can have a knock on effect on attendance

– distance

– provision of transport

– traffic

– after school clubs / homework clubs

– friends

How can we support?

School Transport and SEN Transport

Q How do we ensure that our children residing within Medway and those in other areas are able to travel to school?

Q Have we considered the impact of post18 travel to education for our young people who have an EHCP?

Consider any policy development for those residing in Medway and those placed out of this authority.

• Admissions authorities of all mainstream schools must give the highest priority in their oversubscription criteria to looked-after and previously looked-after children

• School cannot refuse to admit a looked after child on the basis of challenging behaviour

• Looked-after children can be admitted as ‘excepted pupils’ in relation to the infant class size limit, if they are admitted outside the normal admission round

School Admission

School Admission

Sometimes a change in school can be just the right thing!

– fresh start

If a looked-after child moves area, getting to school can be a challenge

– distance

– provision of transport

– traffic

– after school clubs / homework clubs

– friends

And even once in a new school there can be challenges around options, exam boards

School Admission

Additional Challenges

• School perception

• Delaying tactics

• EHCP (‘belonging’)the role of the resident authority to find the school place

one of our children could have an EHCP and then be moved to live in Lincolnshire – Lincolnshire then lead on finding a school / provision, file is sent and school has ‘time to consider and respond’

Activity

Side to Side

orSnakes & Ladders

Both have ‘situation/chance’ cards!

The key purpose of the game is to have some time to discuss the different scenarios on

the card, consider the likely impact on the pupil and their educational outcome over time.

Unintended Positions / Consequences

• School not wanting to permanently exclude looked after childexclusion can be part of an admission criteria and/ or source of funding for school place

• Pupil previously not engaging in educationreintegration often needed – pupils not in school can put undue pressure on a placement

• Pupil moved

– History of non-engagement

– School full

– School delaying / direction

– Pupil traumatised – impact on behaviour and subsequent engagement

How can we support?Admissions

Q What do we expect of School Leaders, CEOs in Medway?

Q How well do we model swift decision making?

Q How robust are our processes for challenging delays?

Q What flexibility do we have for the ‘unexpected’?

e.g. Y6 pupil coming into care after the deadline

for secondary admission

Consider any policy development for those residing in Medway and those placed out of this authority.

How can we support?Attendance

Q How effectively do we ensure our children can continue to attend school?

Q How do we ensure we challenge the attendance codes of schools outside Medway?

Q How can we support reintegration when our children have historically not attended school?

The challenges are rarely straightforward but if we raise the profile we maintain the focus, raising our expectations of others to raise the aspirations of our children and young people

Consider any policy development and monitoring for those attending a provision inMedway and those attending outside this authority.

Inclusion

Challenge: Policies that are rigid, ‘zero tolerance’

We need consistency with flexibility

– therapy

– counselling

– family time

– siblings

– Court

– trauma

– ‘placement’

– turning 18

Activity

true / false

highest / lowest

Q Statements drawn from the SFR (relating to the school year 2017-18)

T/F Information

1 Rates of both permanent and fixed term exclusions have seen a positive reduction in the academic year 2017-18

T Drop of 7% for permanent and 12% for FTE

2 For the last 5 years, there have been no permanent exclusions from any Medway Special School

F 1 last year for first time in 5 years

3 In 2016-17, Medway Primary Schools had the highest rate of fixed term exclusions

T 151st in 2016-17 to 104th in 2017-18

4 The total number of days lost in Medway in 2017-18 was over 8000 school days

T 8582 (note 190 school days /year)

5 Fixed term exclusion rates broadly follow the national trend across different ages

T* Spike in exclusions for 9 year olds – small number

6 15 year olds have the highest number of fixed term exclusions F 13 yr (0.5) and 14 yrs (0.47) – higher than national in all areas across secondary

7 More children with SEN school support needs were permanently excluded in this year (2017-18) than in the previous year

T Increase from 0.36 to 0.49

8 More children with SEN school support needs received a fixed term exclusion in this year (2017-18) than in the previous year

F Decrease of 26% from 22.43% to 16.62%

9 If you are eligible for free school meals (FSM) in Medway you are 3 times more likely to be permanently excluded than those who are not eligible for FSM

T FSM: 0.31; not FSM 0.10

10 In Medway you are more likely to receive a fixed term exclusion if you are male

T 8.43% of cohort equating to 1934 pupils

3.09% equating to 702 pupils

Identified reason proportion

PE

position proportion FTE

position

A bullying 0 0.9 11th

B damage 1.7 7th 2.0 8th

C drug and alcohol related 11.9 3rd 2.8 7th

D other 11.9 3rd 4.2 5th

E persistent disruptive behaviour 39.0 1st 40.9 1st

F physical assault against a pupil 15.3 2nd 17.8 2nd

G physical assault against an adult 10.2 5th 8.1 4th

H racist abuse 0 1.5 9th

I sexual misconduct 0 0.5 12th

J theft 1.7 7th 1.3 10th

K verbal abuse, threatening behaviour against a pupil

1.7 7th 3.4 6th

L verbal abuse, threatening behaviour against an adult

6.8 6th 16.7 3rd

Some of the challenges• Historical gaps in learning

– Vocabulary

– Experiences

• Past experiences

– Impacting on behaviour, self belief and self esteem

• Current experience

– Internal conflict, wanting to ‘just go home’

• Uncertainty when approaching 18yrs (perception and reality)

The Curriculum

• Academic (increasing vocational)

• Builds on prior learning

Pupil may have been previously disengaged, not attending – there will be gaps but the timetable for provision and assessment is a national picture.

The following slides are an example of what our children are faced with.

KS2 Maths reasoning

But it makes so much sense…

KS1 maths

Comma as separator

Comma as separator

Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPaS)

GCSE maths

Key actions

• Increase in ensuring pupil premium is linked to pupil targets and outcomes

• Links with other Local Authorities – to avoid drift and delayuse your links to shape the practice of others

• Working with Multi Academy Trusts –not just ‘Schools’

• Involvement in research projects

• Training for other professionals

Partnership working

• Youth

• Libraries

• Local heritage experiences not a

complete list!

– Guildhall, Rochester Castle

– Chatham Dockyard

– Royal Engineers Museum

• Adult education / other

• Further Education

• Business

Provision

At 16yrs may not be ready for:

– college

– apprenticeship

– work

– studying in English

Or

at 17yrs / 18yrs may be ready to access learning but are still not ready for collegeIf not in college or training no access to bursary; ‘too young’ for adult education or access through DWP

Our pupils…

• are not a static cohort

• start with the disadvantage of their pre-care experience

• need us to advocate for them -and give particular attention to the educational implications of ANY decision about the welfare of these children and young people

MVS: ‘churn’ September–December 2019

MVS < N1 N1 N2 YR Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11 Y12 Y13

count

Age groupage

2-3

age

3-4

age

4-5

age

5-6

age

6-7

age

7-8

age

8-9

age

9-10

age

10-11

age

11-12

age

12-13

age

13-14

age

14-15

age

15-16

age

16-17

age

17-18

‘leaving’ 9 X X X 5 X X X X X X X X X X X 20*

57

‘arriving’ 11 X X X 5 X X X X X 5 X X X 7 X X58

* turning 18 years of age

Education, Employment or Training (EET) destination post 16 September 2019

Education other than higher full time

Education other than higher part time

Higher education full time

Higher education part time

Training / employment – paid

Training / employment – voluntary

NEET

EHCP

In care for at least 2 years

NEET/EET Post 18 – September 2019

77% of those that were less than 2 years in care were NEET at the start of this academic year

39% of those that were more than 2 years in care were NEET at the start of this academic year

Possible outcomes for our children and young people

Care leavers are estimated to represent between 24% and 27% of the adult prison

population.

This is despite less than 1% of under 18s entering local authority care each year.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/care-leavers-in-prison-and-probation

Constantly asking ourselves and each other:

… this is my child, is it good enough?

… how has my decision making today made life better for a child or young person in Medway?

…how are we hearing the voices (spoken and otherwise) of our care experienced children and young people?

Relationships never break cleanly.

Like a valuable vase,

they are smashed

and then glued back together,

smashed and glued,

smashed and glued …

until the pieces just don't fit together anymore.

Marilyn Manson

We can be more than the glue;

together we can build a mosaic that is whole…

…but let’s aim for more!

Japanese art of Kintsugi

The journey through education for a child who is

looked after and how we, as corporate

parents, can respond to this.

11 February 2020

Additional ref as needed

DfE: Help, protection, education: concluding

the Children in Need review June 2019

• at least 1.6 million children have needed a social worker between 2012/13 and 2017/18 – equivalent to 1 in 10 of all children in 2018 having ever needed a social worker, at some point currently or previously over the 6 years

• almost two-thirds of children who were Looked After in 2017/18 had been on a Child in in Need Plan at some point in the previous 5 years and nearly 40% had been on a Child Protection Plan

• children who have ever needed a social worker are present in 98% of schools; only 500 schools do not have a single pupil known to have been in need at some point between 2012/13 and 2017/18

• poor educational outcomes persist even after social work involvement ends, where children who needed a social worker up to 4 years prior to GCSEs were between 25 to 50% less likely to achieve a strong pass in English and Maths