Virtual Schools - information for schools (2024)

What is a Child in Care

A child who is being looked after by their local authority is known as a Child in Care (CiC).

Child in Care (CiC) may be living:

• with foster carers
• at home with their parents under supervision of social care
• in residential homes
• other residential settings like schools or secure units

They might have been placed in care voluntarily by parents struggling to cope, or children’s services may have intervened because a child was at significant risk of harm.

Looked-After Children and the law

In UK law, Children in Care are referred to as Looked-After Children (LAC). A child is ‘looked-after’ if they are in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours. Legally, this could be when they are:

• living in accommodation provided by the local authority with the parents agreement
• the subject of an interim full care order
• the subject of an emergency legal order to remove them from immediate danger
• in a secure children’s home, secure training centre, or young offender institution
• unaccompaniedasylum seeking children

Support from the Leicestershire Virtual School

The Leicestershire Virtual School helps ensurechildren in care:

• have a place in an Early Years setting and have a successful transition to school
• have a school place and access to education at the most appropriate school for their needs
• develop hobbies and attendfun and educational out of school activities
• keep theirschool place, especially during Year 6 and Year 11
• attend regular Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings (three times a year) and use thePupil Premium Plus effectively
• are given the right sort of advice on careers or further education andsupport theirpost-16 learning
• have their education actively supported by theircarers and social workers
• have their aspirationsto achieve in further and higher education supported - see thestatutory guidance for local authorities

School LAC policy

We are an essential advocate for the importance of education and aim to raise self-esteem, expectations and aspirations, and remove barriers to learning. We support schools to promote understanding of the issues faced by Looked-After Children and Previously Looked-After Children and we have produced a School LAC Policy template for schools to base their own LAC policy:

Attachment-aware and trauma-informed schools

Attachment-aware and trauma-informed school practice can make a huge difference to the outcomes of Looked-After Children and Previously Looked-After Children.

Children must feel valued, safe, and secure in order to succeed, and this will only be achieved when they experience positive relationships in school that acknowledge and take into account their individual needs.

Children communicate through behaviour, and we wholeheartedly agree that thinking of a child as behaving badly disposes you to think of punishment, whereas thinking of a child as struggling to handle something difficult encourages you to help them through their distress.

We believe that the best and most supportive policies focus on the relationships between adults and children, and that strong relationships enable us to better help children and reduce their anxieties.

The Leicestershire Virtual School has worked closely with the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) Group to help schools adopt trauma-informed behaviour and relationship policies:

Looked-After Children (LAC) admissions protocol

It is the duty of the Virtual School to ensure that "Looked-After Children have access to a suitable range of high quality education placement options.”

Looked-After Children often require a change in school placement outside of normal transition points, but unfortunately there are delays in accessing a school place which can have a negative impact on children: de-schooling them, increasing gaps in education, making eventual integration to school more difficult, and putting stress on fostering arrangements that can result in breakdown of the placement.

To address this, the Leicestershire Virtual School, in consultation with the Leicestershire Admissions Service, has produced guidance that seeks to clarify timelines and the local authority’s expectations when an in-year application for a school place is submitted for a Leicestershire LAC.

Please note: this applies to children without an EHCP requiring a place in a Leicestershire mainstream school/academy.

Unaccompanied asylum seeking children

Occasionally, we have unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) who require a school or college place, so to help you deliver the best support possible to these children, we have produced a booklet with some useful information and strategies: