LANCASHIRES VIRTUAL SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER Children

LANCASHIRE’S VIRTUAL SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER

Children Looked After – The Context England Lancashire 59500 1256 (March 2008) (July 2008)

Lancashire's Virtual School Roll Primary Phase Not school age Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Total = = = = = 275 42 52 42 53 72 47 61 644

Lancashire's Virtual School Roll Secondary Phase Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Total = = = = 77 81 104 112 125 102 11 612

Why children come into care

Where children looked after live

Academic attainment of children looked after (2007 figures) 2. 5% of 16 year olds in England attained no GCSEs 41% of children looked after attained no GCSEs 59% of 16 year olds attained 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 12% of children looked after attained 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 38% of 18 -21 year olds went to university 1% of children looked after went to university Also children looked after are 8 times more likely to be permanently excluded and are over represented in young offenders institutions and prisons

The Virtual School and the Virtual School Headteacher Concept of a Virtual School Headteacher was put forward in the 2006 Green Paper "Care Matters". Eleven LAs were chosen to pilot the role. Lancashire was not one of the eleven, but decided to create and appoint to the position. To date there are 15 virtual school heads in England – there are 150 Local Authorities. The White Paper "Care Matters" envisages a virtual school head in each LA.

The Role of the Virtual School Headteacher • Bring together and analyse data on children looked after. • To work with / train designated teachers. • To ensure all children looked after have a quality Personal Education Plan. • To raise awareness with Headteachers, Advisers, Governors and all who work with children looked after. • The overall aim is to raise educational attainment of children looked after.

What can secondary strategy consultants do? • Ask about the attainment of children looked after. • Ask about special provision for children looked after. • Any special provision eg catch up programmes – make sure children looked after are included.

Contact Details • Peter Doyle, Virtual School Head • Email – peter. doyle@lancashire. gov. uk • Tel. 01772 532475

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Insanity • Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. • Albert Einstein