Agenda item

(To consider a report from Kieran Barnes, Virtual School Headteacher, on an overview of services provided by the Virtual School to support the improvement of educational outcomes of Children in Care and those Previously in Care for the academic year 2019/20)

Consideration was given to a report from the Virtual School Headteacher, on an overview of services provided by the Virtual School to support the improvement of educational outcomes of Children in Care and those Previously in Care for the academic year 2019/20). The report covered the period 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020.

The Department for Education (DfE) Statutory Guidance on Promoting The Education of Looked after Children and Previously Looked After Children (DfE 2018) required an annual report on the delivery of service and the outcomes achieved by children in care. In addition, the Local Authority (LA) required an annual report to provide a summary of the core activities relating to improving educational outcomes for Children in Care.

The Corporate Parenting Panel was asked to accept the Annual Report 2019/20 as an accurate reflection of services provided for Children in Care and support the recommendations contained within the report. These were outlined as follows:-

'The Virtual School would continue to promote improving educational outcomes for children and young people as outlined in the Lincolnshire Looked after Children and Care Leavers Strategy 2018-2021.

1. The Virtual School continue to ensure that all Personal Education Plans (PEPS) were high quality and effective with children's services staff, carers, children and schools working effectively and in partnership to promote wellbeing and learning. That the work of the Virtual School Team focus on supporting our children and young people to access effective support as we emerge from the Covid Emergency.

2. Children's Services to continue to develop a highly skilled, effective and innovative workforce across Lincolnshire focused upon improving educational outcomes for children and young people in care and to ensure that we build on the opportunities presented in the recent crisis in our work to fulfil our statutory duties in our extended role to support previously looked after children.

3. That we continue to develop an emotional wellbeing pathway to promote selfconfidence and support academic progress so that our children and young people are better understood and supported to fulfil their potential'.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present and some of the points raised included the following:

·         The Panel welcomed the report and thanked all those staff involved in the service.

·         There was no evidence of looked after children being excluded from schools for not being able to access a laptop. Laptops were being issued by schools and it was thought that the majority of them had some access to an electronic learning device and that this situation was likely to improve in the coming months.

·         It was thought that teachers were doing an excellent job under challenging circumstances and that according to reports most children had responded well to online learning. It was thought likely that the coming months would not be any less challenging. It was suggested that where possible a face to face meeting with a Form Teacher could be helpful as part of a general check on pupil progress and wellbeing. It was reported that this was already in practice in some schools either face to face or via VC.

·         The broadband signal in some rural areas was a concern but was not seen as a major issue. Schools were working together to provide free data where possible.

RESOLVED:The Annual Report be accepted as an accurate reflection of services provided for Children in Care and supported the recommendations contained therein and outlined above.

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