Educational achievement of looked-after children
Personal Education Allowances for Looked After Children: Statutory
Guidance for Local Authorities (launched 28 May 2008)
Raising the attainment of looked after children is a central responsibility of
local authorities and their partners. The Government introduced personal
education allowances for all looked after children at risk of not reaching
expected standards of attainment to provide additional support for their
education. They provide individual support tailored to the learning needs of
looked after children. Use of personal education allowances should be linked to
the child or young person's personal education plan, part of their
statutory care plan.
For full details, read the full press notice and download the statutory
guidance for local authorities on how they should implement and use personal
education allowances for looked after children. This guidance is
issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.
Local authorities must act under this guidance when performing their duty under
section 22 (3A) of the Children Act 1989 to promote the educational achievement
of looked after children.
Background
Statutory Guidance on the Duty on Local Authorities to Promote the Educational Achievement of Looked After Children describes the strategic and day-to-day actions which local authorities should take in order to discharge their duty to promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, wherever they are placed (section 52 of the Children Act 2004).
It builds on the practice developed in many local authorities following the publication of Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care (2000) and on the findings set out in the Social Exclusion Unit's report A Better Education for Children in Care (2003).
We expect that the processes set out in this guidance will be cost neutral and undertaken as part of the wider implementation of local authorities' Change for Children programmes.
The government will explore how to build on the framework provided by this guidance as it develops the wide-ranging proposals for improving outcomes for looked-after children announced in the Schools White Paper.
As a first step, the government has published a guidance document, Supporting Looked After Learners - A Practical Guide for School Governors (2006), designed to help school governing bodies ensure that their schools' policies and practices are fully inclusive of the needs of looked-after children.
The guidance is in sections, each dealing with a phase or area in a
child's life where being looked after may require the school's
governing body to consider what action it may need to take. Each section sets
out the key problems and challenges that looked-after children, schools and the
governing body may face. It offers practical advice, a set of key questions and
a number of case studies that will help governing bodies and their schools to
develop and implement policies and procedures that will be inclusive of
looked-after children and ensure that they will fulfil their potential.
This page was last updated on 30 May 2008
