Extending support to permanently placed children Islington Virtual

Extending support to permanently placed children- Islington Virtual School Hermione Michaud- Head teacher Virtual School Claire Doubleday- Education Officer

What is the Virtual School? • • • The Children and Families Act 2014 requires LAs to appoint at least one person for the purpose of discharging their duty to promote the educational achievement of looked after children wherever they reside. Securing appropriate education Corporate Parenting role The Virtual School Head (VSH)- statutory requirement Personal Education Plans Administration of LAC Premium (PP+) Giving the child a voice Training Supporting schools and link with Designated Teachers

Why extend this to permanently placed children? ‘I don’t understand why any documents co-ordinating support in school would be ‘ripped up’ when the child is adopted, when their needs remain the same’ Adoptive Parent ‘I think Virtual School should continue to support SGO children until they reach 18 in the same way as "looked after" children’ Special Guardian • Identified need in Islington from SG / adoption support groupsrecognition that needs remain and parents and guardians are unsure of where to get support • Recognition that funding arrangements change and Post- LAC premium is paid directly to schools • Recognition of enduring issues affecting education Because we should….

April 2014 the Pupil Premium was extended to include children adopted from care or in other permanent placements (SGO) on or before 30 December 2005 Adoption National Minimum Standards ‘the education and achievement of adopted children is to be actively promoted as valuable in itself and as part of their preparation for adulthood’ (Df. E, 2011). Adopted children and those formerly looked after now receive the highest priority comparable with looked after children for school admissions, and free early education entitlement has been extended to all adopted children from 2014 The good news…. . Recent research indicates that children adopted from care demonstrate lower achievement than non- adopted children but have higher achievement than looked after children (Df. E, 2014). • Impact of permanence? • The longer-term effect of pre-care experiences • Differences between looked after children and those in permanent placements. Is this enough? How useful is funding without support and monitoring?

The Islington picture…. • • • LAC 193 pre-16 & 185 post-16 9 Adoption Orders and 23 SGO since April 2015 Support from senior leadership team for innovation Need identified and finance available for Education Officer. Adoption/SGO (0. 5) Parents and carers were unsure of support available and were struggling to communicate with schools or get child’s needs met Integrated services and co-location with Adoption and Family First teams Good working relationships with PAC-UK and North London Adoption and Fostering Consortium Good working relationships with Islington schools and Designated Teachers Rise in SGO and reduction in Adoption Orders

Getting the message out…. • • • Attendance at training, support groups, events Speaking at team meetings Meeting support organisations i. e. Family Futures, PAC-UK Interview for NLAFC website and newsletter and provide information for website Newsletter for Special Guardians Letter offering advice and support for all new adoptive parents and Special Guardians Engagement with Education Psychology to keep these children in mind Interview with 2 head teachers to develop support and services Email to schools and school audit sent out (information on service and attachment aware schools)

Key messages…. • • • Using a Personal Education Plan Effective use of Pupil Premium Transitions EHCP/ SEN Choosing a school, changing schools

What we did…. for families • • Advice, support and guidance including support groups, face to face, email and telephone Continuity and consistency Liaison and advocacy with schools Voluntary support only Development and trialling of Post-LAC PEP and information sharing document Attendance at meetings i. e. EHCP/ PEP/ TAC Provide education report for children who are to be adopted or leave care under SGO ‘The support received in helping with children changing schools has been tremendous. My family literally would not have been able to cope without this support. Getting the basic educational support for my SGO children would have been really difficult without Virtual School & I'd like to say thank you for the tremendous help’ Special Guardian

Choosing a school…. No such thing as a ‘perfect’ school • Does the school fit in with your family i. e. location, travel, homeschool communication • Deciphering Ofsted reports • Training on attachment and the impact of early trauma and loss • Pastoral support and consistent key relationships with staff • What is the behavioural management policy? • Is there any support during unstructured time • How has the school used is Pupil Premium allocation previously? • School structure and consistency • Curriculum hotspots

What we did…. for professionals ‘As an adoption support organisation we are extremely pleased that Islington is leading the way in broadening the support of the virtual school to include adoptive and SG families…we are proud to work with them to support Islington families. We very much hope that the initiative develops beyond this year, and is embedded as a core function of the virtual school’ PAC-UK ‘Invaluable for myself and for the families I work with’ Social Worker ‘parents feel supported’ Teacher • • • Joint working with PAC-UK, Educational Psychology, SEN and NLAFC Coffee morning at Yerbury Primary School Advice and consultation for social care professionals and school staff Advise on use of Pupil Premium Development and trialling of Post-LAC PEP and information sharing document

Good practice examples in schools…. • Yerbury Primary School- high numbers of adopted children identified. Ongoing joint working, coffee morning, advice and guidance. Creative and inclusive approach including art and play therapy groups, parent support groups and staff training • Gillespie Primary School- Liaison and invitation to support around EHCP plan for child with complex needs • Ashmount Primary School- trialling Post-LAC PEP for three children. • New River College Secondary PRU and WAC-Arts (alternative provision)involvement with adolescents with high level needs and disruption. SEN and EHCP. Creative use of Pupil Premium and Adoption Support Fund. Continuity of Virtual School link during disruption and return to LAC • Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Secondary School- high level of staff training re: attachment and holistic approach. Positive joint working with Virtual School in relation to Special Guardian placements and school transitions (information sharing)

Issues…. • Difference between SG and adoption • The Virtual School is not the Corporate Parent • Pupil Premium is paid directly to the school, and parents and carers need to self declare • Difficulties getting the message across to schools about Pupil Premium and its use • The main message has been having a single point of contact- who should this be? • Part time role currently

Future…. Pathfinder projects Df. E expert advisory groups and developments Use of good practice and user voices Consistent message to parent, carers and schools • Funding? • •

Claire Doubleday Education Officer at Islington Virtual School claire. doubleday@islington. gov. uk 0207 527 3279 PAC-UK Education information http: //www. pac-uk. org/education/