The attached report gives an overview of the academic year 2021-22 for children in care and care leavers. The report includes successes, areas that we have been focusing on, areas we are looking to develop and priorities for the next academic year. Educational outcomes are shown in the report along with an outline of spend for the Pupil Premium Grant.
Minutes:
The Virtual School Headteacher presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'D' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The Board was advised of the successes of the young people in care and care leavers and the work that has been undertaken by the Virtual school and the priorities for the next academic year. The report and summary report provided an overview of the academic year 2021-22 for children in care and care leavers. Educational outcomes were outlined n the report along with the spend for the Pupil Premium Grant. The Virtual School Head explained that the summary report provided a more visual and accessible format for young people which was welcomed. It was hoped that this could be published on the website so that it would be accessible for everyone throughout the year.
The Virtual School worked with a range of different people, including working with young people who were parents and pregnant. A number of highlights from the report were outlined to the Board which included that:
Some of the areas for improvement included the lack of pupil voice within a number of Personal Education Plans and there was ongoing work to minimise the number of children out of school. The Virtual Head outlined the ways in which improvements were being driven and noted that alternative provision was always made available.
A number of issues were raised in the Boards’ discussion which included:
IRO access to the PEP (Personal Education Plans) system was requested. It was noted that business support should now be sending all PEP documents to children in care business support which should then be uploaded onto Mosaic. The Virtual School Head advised that they would look into this but this issue should have been resolved.
It was noted that it was excellent that 88 percent of children were going into further education. It was asked whether they continued to be monitored and whether they remained in education and if their final outcomes were tracked. All were allocated to virtual school worker until year 15. Work continued on PEPs for years 12/13 and education employment plans, tracked young people right up to year 14.
An issue was raised regarding trauma informed teaching and attachment training. It was noted that there was inconsistency with some of the schools that the virtual school worked with. There had been an annual conference with over 100 attending from various schools across BCP. Understanding trauma and teaching, support and training was available for this and there was buy in through quite a few schools. There needed to be more understanding from schools around PACE but this was being followed up on with the feeding into schools of what strategies they should be using.
Members asked about the aim of reducing the number of suspensions. Schools should inform the Virtual School for the reason for any suspensions and guidance now says that this is a must and is being monitored on a weekly basis.
The figures around attainment in writing were discussed. It was noted that the figures were above the national average for children in care in BCP but this was an issue nationally. It was noted that the nature of writing could often be difficult for children in care in terms of actually putting pen to paper and leaving this open for criticism. This would be made a real focus moving forward.
The work which the Virtual School had undertaken with unaccompanied asylum seeking young people was also commended.