Training and events
Supporting your child's education
Parents and foster carers can provide much needed stability and encouragement by working in partnership with schools and other children’s services to improve education attainment for children placed with them.
We are often asked by parents and carers how best to support the child in care's educational placement and how to maintain consistency in their learning, improving their chances at achieving their educational potential.
Parents and carers in partnership with the Virtual School, social workers and the educational placement can provide the stability required to support the child’s education.
Parents and carers are required to attend all events and meetings within the child’s school calendar to demonstrate their support and commitment to the child’s learning such as PEP meetings, sports days and parent’s evenings.
How to support children & young people with their learning
- Keeping schools informed of changes and emerging problems
- Helping the young person to talk about any worries and speaking on their behalf when appropriate.
- Helping the young person to voice their hopes for their future and ensuring these are communicated to school
- Encouraging the young person to develop their talents and recognise their achievements no matter how small
- Attending parents’ evenings and encouraging birth family’s involvement where appropriate
- Supporting school policies (discipline, dress etc.)
- Taking an interest in the activities of the school
- Completing communication books such as homework diaries, reading records etc.
- Supporting homework by reading with a child, offering advice and making sure set tasks are completed
- Supporting school events
- Ensuring awareness of the school’s calendar
- Making sure you know the timetables and arrangements for exams and course work completion
Carers should provide an appropriate learning environment with:
- A peaceful, comfortable place for study/homework
- Time for study/homework
- Books, pens, paper and other resources to support learning
- Provide learning opportunities outside the home e.g. museums, library visits
Admissions, exclusions and attendance
Admissions
Hammersmith and Fulham Virtual School work in partnership with the placement, school, social workers, governors and admissions teams to ensure that children in care are prioritised in the finalising of school placements in schools that are rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED.
In the event where a child will need to change an educational placement, the Virtual School will work with all relevant professionals to ensure that a new school place is finalised and there is a smooth transition into the new placement.
School admissions checklist
- Has the Virtual School been informed?
- Is the school judged by OFSTED to be good or outstanding?
- Given the young person’s location, is the school most suitable based on their needs?
- Does the young person have SEN needs?
- If young person has an EHCP, have the SEN department been informed?
- If young person has an EHCP, is the School’s Local Offer able to meet the young person’s needs?
- Is the young person able to maximise their progress if they attend this school?
- Has an informal visit been made?
- Does the young person want to attend this school?
- Any other reasons for preferences? (Special provision, mentors, SWs?)
Exclusions
- Absence from school has a serious impact on children. As well as having higher rates of exclusion, children in care are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of exclusion.
- Statutory guidance is issues to Head Teachers on the exclusion of pupils with statements of SEN and children in care.
- Head teachers should avoid excluding permanently any child in care.
- Schools should engage proactively with carers in supporting the behaviour of pupils with additional needs.
- Where a school has concerns about the behaviour, or risk of exclusion, of a child in care, it should, in partnership with others, consider what additional support or alternative placement may be required.
- In the case of children in care, schools and local authorities should work together to arrange alternative provision from the first day following the exclusion.
- If a child has more than five consecutive school days of exclusion, then education must be arranged for the sixth school day of exclusion, regardless of whether this is as a result of one fixed-period or more than one fixed-period exclusion.
- When a child in care is excluded, the school and the local authority should work together to arrange alternative provision from the first day following the exclusion, but where it is not possible, or not appropriate, to arrange alternative provision during the first five school days of an exclusion, the school should take reasonable steps to set and mark work for the pupil. Work that is provided should be accessible and achievable by the pupil outside school.
- The Virtual School works closely with schools to reduce the number of fixed-term exclusions and ensure that children in care are not permanently excluded.
Attendance
- As a foster carer, it is your responsibility to make sure the child or young person you foster attends school regularly, and if they do not, to ensure that they get the support they need. If the truancy is regular, a meeting should be called at once between the foster carer, virtual school, social worker, and school, to discuss possible causes and prevention.
Truancy is more likely to happen in secondary schools, but even young children can feign illness to avoid going to school.
A pattern of missing school can develop for a number of reasons, including anxiety with settling in, bullying, stress around school work, and unhappiness about the family situation.
What to do if a child or young person is missing school
There are several things you can do to support a child or young person avoiding school.
- Get to know their school week and the lessons/teachers they feel most comfortable with, and those they do not.
- Look for patterns in times they are trying to avoid school.
- Are they doing homework? Missing a deadline can cause a child or young person to feel anxious and this can lead to deliberately skipping a lesson. They may be avoiding a particular teacher or subject. Talk to them regularly and ask about lessons they don’t like and why. Make as many positive links with the school as possible and check your foster child’s school routine regularly. Maybe they are not doing homework and want to avoid confrontation? Or they are self-conscious in PE?
- It could also be an issue in the streets or on the bus. Bullying, for instance. They may need to change the route, get a lift, or arrange to meet friends to travel with.
If you do find that your foster child has been absent at school, then make sure you, and your child, understand why.
If a child is anxious, then they may need support in analysing the root cause of the problem, otherwise, it can turn into ‘everything’ and ‘I just hate school.’
It is important that you work with the school to find out what support is available. It may be that mentoring is a possibility, or the school runs a buddy scheme, which could really help your foster child work through their concerns or problems.
A good school will be really keen to address issues and to ensure that all students are attending regularly and making sustained progress.
Education resources for foster carers
Education resources for foster carers - Education resources for foster carers | The Fostering Network