Support for children previously in care

The Virtual School's remit includes the support of children and young people who have previously been in care, who now live with families through adoption, Special Guardianship Orders or Child Arrangement Orders.

Our vision is that parents and guardians of children previously in care are empowered to champion their children within education.

Outcomes we strive for:

• To be the primary point of contact for schools, social care and families to support, advise and signpost.
• Work in partnership with schools, partners within Children's Services and families to raise aspirations, support and awareness of children previously in care.
• Norfolk Virtual School's tiered offer of support clearly identifies how settings, parents and guardians can engage with us and be confident in supporting their children in education.
• Information available is current and effective.

Contact us

The Norfolk Virtual School for Children in Care, Previously in Care and Children with a Social Worker has dedicated advisers to offer information, advice and guidance.

Please contact email Virtual.SchoolsPiC@norfolk.gov.uk for help with your query.

Who is a 'child Previously in Care'?

The term 'child previously in care' applies to those children who had the status of being 'in care' of a local authority in England and Wales but who have now left care through:

• An Adoption Order
• A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) (also see section below)
• A Child Arrangements Order (CAO)
• Being adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales

Please note CAOs were formerly known as Residence Orders. The orders must still be current.

Please note that within the Pupil Premium Grant this cohort is referred to as previously looked-after children (PLAC). Please see our information on Pupil Premium Plus for further information.

Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs)

To be considered previously in care, a child must have been in the care of a local authority immediately before the SGO was granted. If not, they do not meet the Department for Education (DfE) definition of being previously in care.

Private Fostering

A private fostering arrangement is a different arrangement to children who have left care through adoption, special guardianship order or child arrangements order. A private foster carer is someone other than a parent or a close relative who cares for a child for a period of 28 days or more, in agreement with the child's parent. It applies only to children under 16 years, or under 18 if they are disabled. Close relatives - a grandparent, a brother or sister, an aunt or an uncle, a step parent - are not private foster carers. See guidance for schools and settings on Private Fostering Arrangements.

The term 'child previously in care' applies to those children who had the status of being 'in care' of a local authority in England and Wales but who have now left care through:

• An Adoption Order (AO)
• A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) (also see section below)
• A Child Arrangements Order (CAO)
• Being adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales

Please note CAOs were formerly known as Residence Orders. The orders must still be current.

Special Guardianship Orders

To be considered previously in care, a child must have been in the care of a local authority immediately before the SGO was granted.

If a suitable guardian stepped in and the child was never taken in to care, then they would not meet the Department for Education (DfE) definition of being previously in care.

Pupil Premium Plus (PP+)

Children previously in care attract Pupil Premium Plus funding. The Pupil Premium Plus will be paid directly to schools for those pupils on roll who were in care immediately before being adopted or leaving local authority care through a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or Child Arrangement Order (CAO - also previously known as a Residence Order). From 1 April 2023, the Pupil Premium Plus grant eligibility for pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care will also include children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales.

2023-2024

• Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP):          £342
• Statutory school age Pupil Premium:     £2,530

To be eligible, pupils must be attending either:

• An early years provider including nurseries, school nurseries and childminders
• A local authority maintained or maintained special school
• An academy or free school
• A non-maintained special school, an independent school and other alternative provision where the place or provision is funded by the local authority

Children who are educated at home or attend private schools are not currently eligible unless their placements are funded by the local authority.

Further information can be found on PAC-UK's Education Service website where they have developed a range of resources to support families, schools and local authorities in meeting the educational needs of adopted and special guardianship children including information about Pupil Premium Plus.

Accessing PP+ for a child

In October each year, schools complete a school census. For schools to access the funding, parents and guardians must declare their child's adoptive, SGO or CAO status by providing evidence, for example, a copy of the adoption order, or a confirmation letter from the local authority which placed their child to the school. Please find a template information letter that can be sent out to all families within your setting regarding Pupil Premium Plus within our downloads at the bottom of this page.

Parents and guardians should not need to declare their child's status again unless they change school or setting.

See the payment schedule for the pupil premium.

Adoption Support Fund 

Families may also be entitled to support from the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) which provides funds to local authorities to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive and Special Guardianship Order (SGO) children. You can find out more at www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf (opens new window).

For more information on support available to families, please visit:

• First4Adoption (opens new window) and Adoption UK (opens new window) for adoptive families
• Family Rights Group (opens new window), Kinship or Anna Freud for SGO families

It's up to each individual school how to spend the Pupil Premium Plus grant. The DfE has clearly stated that it is good practice to consult parents and guardians when making the decision, so schools can better understand and take in to account the needs of children previously in care. For spending the Pupil Premium Plus, the conditions of grant Pupil premium: allocations and conditions of grant 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) recommend planning to use it in line with the Education Endowment Foundation's (EEF's) 3-tiered approach to help schools allocate spending across the following 3 key areas:

• support high-quality teaching, such as staff professional development
• provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring, including through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP)
• tackle non-academic barriers to academic success, such as difficulties with attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

For previously in care, it is the responsibility of the academy to ensure that their use of the funding addresses the specific needs of the pupils attending the setting or school. The money is not ring fenced and does not have to be spent on the individual child. The DfE has included this flexibility so that schools can get maximum impact from the funding and so that children who change schools are not disadvantaged.

The  Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders (publishing.service.gov.uk) gives information for how school leaders can use their pupil premium funding effectively, complete their strategy statement and information about pupil premium payments. 

Where necessary, the designated teacher may seek the advice of the Virtual School about meeting the needs of individual children with the agreement of the child's parents or guardians.

The designated person or teacher within school has a duty to promote the educational attainment for children previously in care.

They should:

• Identify the Previously in Care cohort in their school.
• Ensure children are recorded on October census to receive Pupil Premium + grant (£2,530 per academic year, or £342 for EYPP+).
• Be a key point of contact for the family; a strong and trusting relationship is paramount.
• Identify a key adult who can become a secure base for the child / young person.
• Co-ordinate staff development, training and awareness.
• Review and embed policies to be inclusive for CiC or PiC children and young people.
• Be aware of sensitivities in school activities or curriculum content.
• Best Practice - lead termly VPEP for ensuring good communication with families.

Our offer

As a virtual school we offer training in supporting children previously in care for schools - including staff and governors and any queries regarding support can be directed to our mailbox Virtual.SchoolsPiC@norfolk.gov.uk.

Our tiered offer of support available to families, settings, schools and professionals supporting previously in care children and young people is:

Universal

• We offer signposting, information and the ability to book single sessions of support with an adviser for previously in care.
• We are contactable for information about the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) and guidance about claiming and use.
• We offer professional development through our course Building relationships and Support Strategies for Previously in Care hosted in person across the county with follow up surgery opportunities hosted on MS Teams. Please see our Virtual School PD offer for dates.
• For new Designated Teachers to role, information about your duties to support Previously in Care pupils are included in the Developing your Designated Teacher Role training offered by the Virtual School. Please see our Virtual School PD offer for dates.

Targeted

• Advice and signposting for individual children or young people with the parents' or guardians' consent regarding educational matters. The team operates using a referral form initially completed by home, social worker or school/setting. This must be completed and returned to our mailbox Virtual.SchoolsPiC@norfolk.gov.uk. Our mailbox is triaged every Thursday during term time where an adviser will be allocated to support.
• We offer support setting up our Voluntary Personal Education Plans (VPEPs) for previously in care pupils and provide training and resources to ensure quality and support schools and setting in implementing.
• Guide and support to schools in becoming trauma and attachment aware.
• Participation events for children previously in care and young people.

Bespoke

• Where schools and settings have engaged our support through our universal and targeted offer, there may be occasions where we remain contactable as part of the team of professionals offering support. We work closely with our partners across Children's Services and will always work to ensure that the child or young person is being supported by the team best placed to advise.

Referring to the virtual school

If you have a query regarding a specific child or young person please gain their parents' or guardians' permission and the email Virtual.SchoolsPiC@norfolk.gov.uk to discuss how we can help.