Norfolk Virtual School

What is the Virtual School?

Norfolk Virtual School is part of the Safeguarding, Partnerships and Opportunity Directorate within Norfolk Children's Services department. We champion the education of:

Norfolk children in care (or looked after children) including those who may live in other LAs or boroughs
Children previously in care (or previously looked after children) living in Norfolk (adopted, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangement Orders)
Children in kinship care arrangements living in Norfolk
Children with a social worker living in Norfolk (those children who have been assessed as needing or previously needing a social worker in the past six years due to safeguarding or welfare reasons, including those on Child in Need or Child Protection Plans)

Although we are a team within Children's Services, in some ways we work like a school or setting to follow the progress of children and young people and identify and act where they may need more or different support.

The Virtual School Team work strategically with partners to promote the education outcomes of our cohorts.

Our team of Advisers work with:

Schools and other educational settings
Social care teams and other partners
Parents, carers and guardians

Sometimes they work directly with children and young people, providing individualised and additional support.

Why is it important to be aware of the Virtual School?

There are some statutory duties which mean that the Virtual School should be involved in decisions affecting education for children in care.

We have statutory duties to monitor the attendance, progress and attainment of children in care and ensure they have a Personal Education Plan (PEP), which is the education element of their care plan.

We offer information, advice and training to schools, early years settings and Post-16 providers, as well as families and professionals supporting previously in care children and young people.

The Virtual School also has a statutory duty to be a source of advice and information to help parents, guardians and other relevant professionals advocate for and promote the education of previously in care children and young people.

You should also be familiar with our offer in order to signpost to the appropriate element where needed, for all children and young people within our cohorts.

What does the law say?

There are three key pieces of legislation:

What support is available?

Education settings and localities have named advisers within the Virtual School Team for children in care. Where your school or setting does not have a child in care attending, support can still be accessed through our advisers for the wider Virtual School cohorts (previously in care, kinship and children with a social worker).

We have a statutory duty to ensure that there are appropriate arrangements in place to meet the training needs of those responsible for promoting the educational achievement of our cohorts. We have an offer which is published annually and can be found on our website.

This includes a comprehensive professional development programme.

There is specific reference to ensuring schools and settings understand the impact that issues such as trauma and attachment difficulties and other mental health issues can have on our cohorts. We have a specific and differentiated offer linked to trauma and attachment aware practice (TAAP).

Our aim is to help improve the educational journey and outcomes for children and young people in our cohorts from Early Years to the end of Year 13. We also offer support and guidance to care leavers and those supporting them.