Children in kinship care
In addition to the Virtual School’s core duty to promote the education of Children We Care For, the Virtual School has a duty to promote the education of children in kinship care.
Guidance on the Virtual School's extended duty to promote the education of children with a social worker and children in kinship care arrangements, can be found on the GOV.UK website.
We know that children who grow up in kinship care have better outcomes than children who grow up in other types of non-parental care. However, their outcomes fall behind those children with no social worker involvement.
The Virtual School's strategic role
Each local authority has a virtual school. It is not an educational establishment, but a service to promote the educational achievement of looked after and previously looked after children.
The role of the virtual school is to give information and advice to parents and schools.
This will include:
- Raising awareness of the needs and disadvantage of children in different types of kinship care arrangements
- Promoting practice that supports attendance and engagement in education.
- Promoting practice that improves the educational attainment gap of children in kinship care
Advice and information
The Virtual School will extend provision of advice and information on request:
- for kinship carers where the children have NOT previously been in the care of the local authority and no longer live with births parents
- for kinship carers who are working under the direction of a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) e.g. guardian has parental responsibility following an order made by the family court and the child lives permanently with the guardian.
- for kinships carers who are working under the direction of a Child Arrangement Order (CAO) e.g. granted by a family court who determine who a child can live with and/or stay with and for how long.
- to schools on how they can support all children subject to SGO or CAO to improve behaviour to help avoid exclusion becoming necessary. Permission must be given by the carer.
Virtual School does not provide information and advice to kinship carers with informal arrangements.
Kinship carer and education professionals can contact the Education Adviser for information and advice.
Education Adviser for CWSW: sharonharris@warwickshire.gov.uk
Direct number: 01926 745114
Virtual School general enquiries: virtualschool@warwickshire.gov.uk
Adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF)
In addition to expanding the Virtual School’s role, the government have opened up the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) to Special Guardians and those caring for children under a Child Arrangement Order.
Attendance
Regularly attending school, education or college is vital for children’s educational progress, their wellbeing, and their wider development. Children and young people become more vulnerable when they are not in education every day. Guidance can be found on the school attendance and exclusions section of the website.
Pupils of statutory school age are to receive full time education appropriate to their age and irrespective of their needs.
Behaviour
A child or young person in kinship care may have past experiences that continue to impact on their behaviour. This should be recognised by the school and some degree of flexibility should be exercised (for example within their behaviour policy).
The school should look to support the child to improve their behaviour by incorporating trauma informed, attachment aware practices, with relevant training if necessary.
All approaches should be exhausted to avoid exclusion becoming necessary.
Communication
To avoid confusion or duplication of information, the school should ensure (or the carer could insist) there is a single person to communicate with, if possible. For example, this may be the designated teacher, the form tutor, or a member of the pastoral team.
It is also good practice for a child to have a ‘trusted adult’ in school – a member of staff they could go to if they experience any sort of difficulty.
Education
Schools should regularly inform kinship carers about the academic progress of the child you care for. You should be made aware of your child’s strengths and the areas that need more support.
Schools should have high aspirations for young people in kinship care and realise that all pupils can achieve their academic potential, despite suffering past traumas for example.
Kinship Compass
Kinship Compass is an independent online information, advice, and support hub just for kinship carers.
Kinship is the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales who work with all kinship carers – the grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and family friends – who are caring for children when their parents can’t.
National Kinship Strategy
The National Kinship Care Strategy for England (Dec 2023) sets out the Government’s plans, new commitments and £20m investment over 2024-25. The expansion of the Virtual School role is one of the commitments.
The Virtual School does not provide funding for pupils, families, or schools.
Pupil Premium
Pupil premium guidance (GOV.UK) encourages education settings to design their pupil premium strategy to meet the needs of eligible pupils and others who may benefit from extra support.
Funding is not ring-fenced for a particular pupil. Schools publish details of how they are using the money and the impact that it is having on their websites.
SEND
Some children may have a Special Education Need or Disability (SEND). Education settings have a duty to use their best endeavours to meet the educational needs of children with SEND.
For more information visit SEND Local Offer.
The graduated approach will assist in assessing and understanding needs.
Many schools have a Senior Mental Health Lead for making links with mental health services.
Transitions
A transition is a move between schools (for example primary to secondary school) or a move between classes (for example reception to year 1). This can be a difficult experience for children who may have already experienced significant disruption in their lives.
Transitions should be managed carefully by schools, and it should be understood that children in kinship care may need a longer and a more gradual transition than other pupils. For example, they may need to visit a secondary school earlier and more frequently than others before they start. Transport to school should be organised well before the pupil’s start date, with a ‘trial run’ of the journey if possible
Warwickshire’s Educational Psychology Service have produced a series videos to help support parents and children during transition periods (moving to reception, primary and secondary schooling).