Agenda item

The report provides members with the Virtual School Headteacher’s Annual Report for 2020-21.

J. Walker, Head of Virtual School provided a detailed introduction to the report outlining the issues which had impacted on the learning of pupils and the interventions put in place to address these challenges.  The headlines for 2021 were highlighted including the number of looked after children who had progressed into further education, the improving achievements at KS4 and there being no permanent exclusions for the 13^th consecutive year.  It remained a priority to reduce the number of fixed term exclusions, mid-year school moves and rates of persistent absence from school. 

In response to questions from Members of the Committee, the following information was provided:-

·       Whilst some looked after children who progressed into further education did level 3 qualifications, the vast majority undertook vocational qualifications or a mixture of vocational and academic qualifications.

·       All pupils in years 11 and year 6 had been offered 1 to 1 tuition with approximately ? of the cohort taking up the offer, ideally everyone would, but it was up to the pupil and school as to whether they wished to do so.

·       Continuous work was undertaken with schools and a child to prevent exclusions and to come up with strategies for each individual child, however it was difficult to quantify the level of exclusions this had prevented.

·       A huge breadth of work was undertaken in bringing the levels of persistent absence down for looked after children.

·       Any children who left care this year had been included in the figures in this report and whilst they might no longer have a Personal Education Plan (PEP) in place, the schools retained the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) funding for the remainder of the year and the service still continued to work with the schools and pupils until the natural conclusion.  At present children who had left care were not monitored after that school year, however from September 2022, the Virtual School Head would have a duty to promote the education of any child with a social worker and work was underway to take this forward.

·       It was often the most inclusive schools who the service worked with most around exclusions. During the pandemic there had been issues with the way schools had to operate and restrictions put in place with which some children had found it difficult to cope and most exclusions were behaviour related.

·       The priorities for the improvement in the service were identified in the Improvement Plan and the service had governance through the Multi Agency Local After Partnership (MALAP) who were the governing body for the virtual school and who in turn reported to the Safeguarding and Corporate Parenting Group who held the service to account throughout the year. A report could be brought back at any time to this Committee on how progress was being made.

·       The virtual school were very good at getting young people into further education, training and employment with only 3 young people NEET in September, however the challenge was in keeping the young people on a 2 year A level course as day to contact was lost with the young person and they encountered different challenges.  There were 2 Careers Guidance Officers who worked with NAS to support the young people in their post 16 pathway plans and to monitor them through their Social Workers to see if they required support.  This work was undertaken with other partners through the E Clinic to track those who were felt to be at risk in dropping out of Education, Employment or Training (EET), and some improvement in the level of young people in EET would like to be achieved.

·       It had been the ambition for a number of years for all schools and all staff within the schools to understand the needs of looked after children, the majority of whom have experienced neglect, have attachment issues and all have experienced trauma in their lives. This was being undertaken through the THRIVE Attachment Programme which was offered free from the virtual school through PP+ which was very popular and was having an impact.  Going forward criteria for schools was being developed to target all children who need help, not just looked after children.

Members welcomed and commended the report and it was requested that if possible all Members of Council be provided with a copy as they all had a corporate responsibility for looked after children in Northumberland.   The work undertaken by the Team in having a positive effect on the lives and futures of these children was recognised with the Committee thanking all involved.

Officers appreciated the positive comments received advising that the virtual school was a real strength for the Council working across all services to help provide stability for looked after children.  The Virtual School was also continuing to develop opportunities for care leavers across all Directorates within the Council to continue their education and training, with corporate parenting a key priority for the Council.   Part of the strategy was also to work with private industry and a lot of work had been undertaken already in respect of this which would be outlined in the Annual Learning and Skills Report on the agenda and in the Annual Report from the Director of Education at the next meeting.

RESOLVED that the education achievements of looked after children and the ongoing challenges caused by the disruption to education during the pandemic be noted.