Virtual School - Headteachers and Governors
The role of the School Governor for Children Looked After
The governing bodies of all maintained schools are required to appoint a Designated Teacher to promote the educational achievement of children looked after who are on the school roll.
Statutory guidance for supporting CLA and Previously CLA:
Designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children
Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children
The school governors have a duty and responsibility to ensure that their school keeps the education of looked after children as a high priority.
The governing body must:
- Ensure that the Designated Teacher is a member of the teaching staff with appropriate seniority, professional experience and status to provide leadership, training, information and advice to others that will influence decisions about the teaching and learning needs of Children Looked After.
- Ensure that the designated teacher is given opportunity to undertake appropriate training
- As a minimum receive an annual report from the designated teacher
- Work with the school leadership team to act on any issues raised with the annual report.
- Provide allocated resources to match priorities for Children Looked After
- Understand how Children Looked After are performing compared with their peers
- Have knowledge of the numbers of Children Looked After within the school
- Understand how the school has considered raising the attainment of Children Looked After in the school improvement plan?
The governing body should ensure that within school:
Admissions
- Children Looked After are at the top of the over-subscription criteria
Pupil progress
- The school has an overview of the educational needs and progress of all Children Looked After
- School policies have been reviewed to show consideration from the point of view of a Child Looked After
Professional Development
- The designated teacher for Children Looked After has the opportunity to attend training offered by the local authority for designated teachers e.g Designated Teacher Forums, PEP Training
- There is a clear policy on professional development for all staff in contact with Children Looked After.
Personal Educational Plans (PEPs)
As School Governor for CLA you should know:
- The number of Children Looked After with up to date PEPs
- The procedures in place to ensure every CLA as an up to date PEP
- Who reviews and keeps the child's PEP up to date
- Who keeps the school records up to date
- Procedure of preparing information to transfer if a CLA leaves the school
- Does the designated teacher have the relevant and up to date training?
Continuous Monitoring
As School Governor for CLA you should know:
- The name of the designated teacher for Children Looked After
- What safeguards the school has in place for sharing sensitive information about individual looked after children with relevant staff members
- What the procedure is in place for liaising with carers, residential children's homes and social services to ensure that the school has relevant information about a child's care history
- How the child's achievements are effectively communicated to the carer
Statutory guidance states that governing bodies, should, through the designated teacher, hold the school to account on how it supports its Children Looked After (CLA) and previously CLA. This document can be used to ensure the school fulfils its statutory duty to promote the education of CLA and previously CLA.