Please read the SGO and Adoption education support pack. We summarise below are some of the key things we think our SGO and Adoption families need to know about education to support them in their role:
- All children who have been in public care in England and Wales and moved to an SGO or Adoption can gain advice and guidance support from the Virtual School in the local authority in which they reside. In Sutton, we extend this to all SGO children, even if never been in public care.
- Each school has a Designated Teacher for Children Looked After and Previously Looked After. This statutory position should be held by a teacher, ideally with the ability to influence change within the school.
- Building a good relationship with the Designated Teacher is a strong recommendation for SGO and Adoptive parents as it will help ensure a two way conversation between the school and family to support the child’s education effectively.
- The school will not necessarily know the child is SGO or adopted, unless you tell them. This is important as the school can then declare this on the school census and will receive additional Pupil Premium Plus funding.
- A school will receive £2530 Pupil Premium Plus funding for a previously looked after SGO or adopted child each year. Unfortunately, the school does not receive funding for an SGO child who has not been in public care.
- Eligibility for pupil premium plus funding has been extended to include children adopted from outside of England
- The Pupil Premium Plus funding is not ring fenced to be spent on the child. However, we encourage SGO and Adoption families to maintain regular communication with the Designated Teacher and seek the allocation of the PPP funding to support their child’s identified individual needs wherever possible.
- There is no statutory requirement for schools to do a Personal Education Plan meeting for a SGO or Adopted child, like there is for a child in public care, however we encourage SGO and adoption families to consider requesting a PEP meeting with the school if they feel this will help support the child more effectively. A Primary and Secondary template is available here.
- Previously looked after children should receive priority status during the Admissions process to mainstream school.
- Exclusion of Previously looked after children should be avoided by schools wherever necessary.
- Previously looked after children have often been exposed to trauma or adverse childhood experiences, and as a result may require schools to adopt strategies within the classroom to support them. Sutton Virtual School has a Trauma and Attachment advisor, who can support schools and provides training to them. Please see our About Us page for contact details.