EVERY CHILD MATTERS 2007...

Since the publication of Every Child Matters (originally a green paper in 2003) by the Government, we felt we would introduce some short pieces on what this paper is about and how it has influenced so far on the fostering community.

The theme for this item will be on education.

The five main objectives for this paper are:

• Stay Safe
• Be happy
• Make a positive contribution
• Enjoy and achieve
• Achieve economic well-being

How Foster Carers can help Looked After Children achieve better educational outcomes.

While school days may not be the happiest days of our lives, they are important because what we achieve in school can influence the career prospects that are open to us once we leave school. This is particularly important for ‘Looked After’ children and young people because they often need to achieve economic stability at an earlier stage in life than their non- ‘Looked After’ peers.

Government stresses that “Looked After children have a right to expect the outcomes we want for every child – that they should be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution to society and achieve economic wellbeing” (ECM- Statutory Guidance on the Duty of Local Authorities, 2005, DfES).

The role that Foster Carers can play in helping ‘Looked After’ children and young people leave school with nationally recognized qualifications is an extremely important one. Thankfully, the importance of this role is now acknowledged through the Care Matters agenda (2006), as well as being implicit in the five main outcomes of Every Child Matters.

Care Matters (2006) uses the term ‘An engaged parent over time’ to highlight how educational research has shown that a child’s primary carers can be highly influential in helping them to achieve educationally. Children benefit from carers who show an interest in their schooling, help with homework, and who are able to build positive relationships with the school that the child or young person attends.

Government are concerned about the gap in achievement between those children and young people who are ‘Looked After’ and those who are not. Children who are Looked After are more likely to have experienced traumatic life events that can impact on their educational achievement over time. They are also more likely to have Special Educational Needs, and to have attended a number of schools. The ‘Looked After’ young person is also less likely to leave school with 5 GCSE’s grades C-A*, which, in most cases, is the necessary requirement for entry onto educational courses that can lead to University entrance.

Foster carers can support educational achievement across the Key Stages of a child’s education in the following ways:

• Once a child is placed with you it is essential to work in partnership with the child’s social worker to ensure that the child gains access to an educational placement as soon as possible.

• Have regular contact with the school so that information about that child’s progress can be shared with you. Find out who the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children for that school is and make contact with them.

• Find out whether a child has any special educational needs and make sure that you receive information from the school, or the child’s social worker, about the type of help that the child will benefit from.

• Ask your child’s social worker to confirm that the child has a Personal Education Plan (PEP). If he or she does not, ask when one is likely to be put in place.

• Provide a supportive environment where children can receive help with homework, have access to the local library, and also have access to information technology that has an educational benefit.

• Ask your child’s social worker to give you information about additional educational support services, such as LACES, that are run by Local Authorities.

• Schools and Local Authorities have a duty to ensure that Looked After Children who have been excluded from school have access to education. However, prevention is always better than cure. If a young person in your care is at risk of exclusion from their school or college request advice from your social worker or the young person’s social worker.

Because children who are ‘Looked After’ can be particularly vulnerable to bullying at school, it is also important to notice changes in the child, such as sudden reluctance to attend school. Talk with the child about how they are feeling and work with the child to identify who would be the best person in school to discuss being bullied with. Contact this person yourself, or speak with the child’s social worker, or your social worker about this.

Schools are required to monitor the attendance of pupils and support foster carers in ensuring that regular patterns of attendance are established. If you are worried that a child in your care may not be attending school regularly, the school may be willing to inform you about absence via a text message or a telephone call whenever the child or young person is absent from school.

Sadly, research carried out by Barnardo’s (Failed by the System, accessed 12.10.07) indicated that high percentages of ‘Looked After’ children and young people had nobody attend parents evening to check on their progress. Attending parents evening is a very good way of giving the child or young person a clear message that you care about their education. Schools are often willing to be flexible and arrange alternative times and dates if you are unable to attend on the date given for parent’s evening. The Barnardo’s report confirmed that the young people who took part in the research had stated that they had wanted their Teachers, Social Workers and Foster Carers to have high expectations of them, and to praise their achievements in education.

Working in partnership with the child’s birth parents is often necessary and very much a part of helping children and young people to ‘Enjoy and Achieve’ educationally. Helping children to keep their birth family up-to-date with their educational progress can contribute to a child’s sense of wellbeing

Being successful in education means different things to different children and becoming involved in the wider aspects of school life is every bit as valuable as achieving academic success. The child who makes the most of sporting opportunities or takes part in the school drama club is more likely to feel part of the school, and is also more likely to enjoy and achieve socially, emotionally, and academically.

Regular attendance at school can keep children safe because it offers them opportunities to take part in organized sporting and social activities that can also help them to build supportive friendships with their peers. The drive towards extended schools that offer greater opportunities for social and academic development could be of particular benefit for Looked After Children, so finding out what your foster child’s school offers might support you in caring for that child.

Schools can also offer young people the opportunity to become involved with schemes, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award. These awards challenge young people to develop team skills, as well as resilience – all of which can empower them to become valued members of their local community.

The foster carer who takes on the challenge of becoming an ‘engaged parent ‘will know that despite the ups and downs of childhood and adolescence their commitment to that young person’s education will be one of the driving factors that help a young person to achieve economic independence in adulthood.

The Looked After young person who enters adulthood with nationally recognized qualifications is far less likely to be at risk of social exclusion.

REFERENCES:

Barnardo’s, Failed by the System (accessed 12.10.07)
www.barnardos.org.uk/

Every Child Matters, Statutory Guidance on the duty of Local Authorities to Promote the Educational Achievement of Looked After Children, 2004, DfES Publications.
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/

Care Matters, Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care, 2006, DfES Publications, HMSO.
www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/carematters/index.shtml

NOTES:

Key Stage:
The term Key Stage refers to the staged approach that was introduced with the National Curriculum. There are four Key Stages; two apply to the primary years, and are referred to as Key Stage 1 and 2. The secondary phase of schooling between the ages of 11-16 is referred to as Key Stages 3 and 4. The Foundation Stage applies to children who are below the age of compulsory schooling, which begins at 5 years of age.

Designated Teacher for Looked After Children:
Schools are required to have a teacher who is responsible for coordinating the education of ‘Looked After’ children and young people in that particular school.

LACES:
Looked After Children Education Support Service – access to LACES or something similar may be available through the child’s social worker.

Written by Adele Gardner