Agenda item

(To receive a report by Kieran ?Barnes (Headteacher – Virtual Schools), which outlines the work of the Virtual School Headteacher to support the promotion of educational outcomes for Children and Young People in Care for the academic year 1st September 2020 to 31st August 2021)

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Head Teacher – Virtual Schools, which provided the Lincolnshire Virtual School Annual Report for the academic year 2020-21, as set out at appendix A to the report.

Despite a challenging period, the Virtual School Team had remained focussed on being ambitious for the young people and continued to ensure that adequate support through education was provided. The Head Teacher – Virtual Schools highlighted the key messages within the report, which included: -

The Lincolnshire Virtual School Team continued to be ambitious for all of Children in Care and continued to promote a holistic approach to learning. It was understood that promoting better educational outcomes was important for everyone and therefore the team provided training, challenge, advice and support to schools, children's services colleagues, foster carers, parents and others so that they could better advocate for the learning of children and young people in their care.

There remained a continued and growing emphasis on the development of "Learning Homes" where carers became increasingly skilled to support learning and schools were committed to creating an environment where the specific emotional and educational needs of children and young people were understood, and their potential fulfilled.

Pupil Premium was allocated to schools in a timely way and was linked to targets outlined in the Personal Education Plan, which had continued throughout Covid-19 and additional tuition had been commissioned to support Children in Care wherever possible.

The importance of early intervention was emphasised to promote outcomes and as a result all Children in Care or entering care aged 3-13 continued to receive support from Specialist Teachers so that schools were better informed of strategies to improve communication and language needs, if appropriate.

The Virtual School Team continued to work effectively and in cooperation with carers, parents, schools and Children's Services colleagues to support the education of Children in Care throughout the period of lockdown and recovery up to August 2021, working closely with children and young people with the specific aim of developing strong and effective working relationships and ensuring the voice of the children and young people was heard and their successes celebrated.

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were noted:

• The Panel expressed its thanks to officers within the team for their work on virtual schools.
• There was a national issue with children having anxieties around returning to school following the pandemic. The Panel was reassured that the Virtual Schools Team were developing a strategy to address the issue.
• It was acknowledged that children had missed out on vital education and were missing out on knowledge in certain areas as a result of the pandemic. All Children in Care had had personal education plan meetings at least three times a year which would set specific targets. The Council would look to provide further tuition to those children in which learning gaps had been identified.
• The offer of additional tuition was available for Children in Care where appropriate, which could also provide support for emotional wellbeing.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the Virtual School Annual Report 2020-21 and the recommendations for the academic year 2021-22 be endorsed;

2.      That consideration be given to the comments made by the Panel.