The Designated Teacher for Children Looked After and Previously Looked After is a Statutory role in schools and should be held by a senior leader able to influence practice and policy across the school.
Children Looked After (CLA) and Previously Looked After (PCLA) in schools have often, experienced a disrupted learning journey, sometimes missing extended periods of school. Many CLA and PCLA have special educational needs (SEND), have gaps in their learning and may be experiencing the emotional impact of their experiences, which can be significant barriers to their progress in school.
As a Designated Teacher, you are the advocate for CLA and PCLA in your school, seeking to make the school policy and practice more inclusive and removing barriers to progress. A Designated Teacher is responsible for ensuring staff have training to gain an appropriate understanding of the impact of trauma and attachment needs on children in school and strategies to support these needs.
The hugely rewarding role of the Designated Teacher provides the opportunity to work closely with a care experienced young person and the wider school community to ensure that everything possible is considered to ensure the child is able to make strong educational progress.
PEP meetings
The Designated Teacher must ensure a Statutory Personal Education Planning (PEP) meeting takes place each term for each Child Looked After, ensuring prompt and high quality record keeping. They should also ensure dissemination of information and targets agreed at the PEP to key professionals and ensure actions take place.
The Designated Teacher should promote strong relationships with the young people, carers, Sutton Virtual School, Social Workers and other key professionals in the network to support the child’s education.
Pupil Premium Plus
The Virtual School Headteacher receives £2530 per year for each statutory school age Child Looked After. There is an allocation of £300 per year for Early Years CLA and post 16 CLA. A college receives a bursary of around £1200 that can be used to support purchase of learning resources and travel to college.
The school receives £2530 for every Children Previously Looked After that is recorded on the school census. The school must allocate this funding to support the needs of Children Previously Looked After. Eligibility for pupil premium plus has been extended to children adopted from outside of England.
Use of funding
The Virtual School Headteacher has responsibility to direct the use the Pupil Premium Plus funding to promote the educational outcome of Children Looked After.
The Designated Teacher should make an application for Pupil Premium Plus funding by allocating funding to relevant SMART targets in the PEP. There is up to £700 PPP funding available at each statutory school age PEP, and further funding requests can be submitted to the Virtual School Headteacher.
The EEF have a guide to using Pupil Premium Plus funding appropriately based on research and evidence that should be viewed by Designated Teachers.
Appropriate uses of PPP include:
- Books / dictionaries / revision guides
- Specialist learning equipment (eg a camera for GCSE photography)
- Academic tutoring
- Mentoring
- Targeted interventions for literacy and numeracy
- Targeted interventions to support attendance
- Social emotional learning and behaviour interventions
- Educational therapy or psychology services
- Staff training
Sutton Virtual School will not authorise PPP funding to be used for the following:
- Base education costs (resident LA to fund)
- Uniform (carer to fund)
- Transport and travel (carer to fund / SEND if EHCP and meet criteria for application)
- Costs covered by EHCP or SEND Support notional budget (SEND or school to fund)
- Laptops (social care provide to all Sutton CLA)
- Stationary eg paper, pens (carer to fund)
- Lessons / sessions at weekends or outside school eg swimming lessons, football club, holiday activities, breakfast clubs (carer to fund)