A guide for looked-after children

Being looked-after by Shropshire

If a young person is in care to Shropshire (ie they have a Shropshire Social Worker) then we can provide advice and support. The child may live or attend a school/setting inside or outside of the county. We can also give guidance to schools about a child on roll who is looked-after by another authority, but we are not corporate parent.

The young person is likely to be looked-after under an interim care order, full care order or Section 20. They may be an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum. The young person might be supported under a placement order as the adoption process is under way or they may be looked-after but living with a family member eg connected carer.

If this is the case then Shropshire Virtual School can help with advice and support. Every one of our looked-after children from year -1 to 13 has a Virtual School Link Worker allocated to them - so please contact them as first point of call or if you are unsure who this is please contact virtualschool@shropshire.gov.uk.

How Shropshire Virtual School can help

PEPs – our goal is to improve attainment and progress for every one of our children and the PEP is the key tool for achieving this. In Shropshire we use ePEP as our online tool for PEPs. The Virtual School Link Worker will prioritise their attendance at the PEP where additional support is needed. For more information, please visit our Shropshire personal education Plan (PEP).

Pupil Premium + Grant: See our Policy on effective use of this Grant and also see our PP+ support Map for an ‘at a glance’ guide to what can be accessed for our young people.

Attendance – we monitor our children’s attendance at school, this is recorded by each school’s attendance officer directly on to epep. For more information about attendance matters please contact Anne Williams at anne.c.williams@shropshire.gov.uk.

A swift response

If a young person in care to Shropshire is struggling to succeed in education then get in touch with us as soon as possible. We can find ways together to target support that may prevent exclusion for example. By picking up the phone early on to us we can work together so situations feel more manageable.

Training

Shropshire Virtual School can deliver training for your school - for example to support attachment and trauma informed practice. We have an annual training offer which includes training for a variety of audiences such as schools/settings, social workers, carers and other multi-agency partners. There is training for Designated Teachers every term and this can be found at UCS Shrewsbury CPD.