LAC/PLAC Policy

Policy details

• Date created - 02/02/2023
• Date reviewed - 02/05/2024
• Date approved - xx/xx/xxxx
• Next review date - 02/05/2025
• Policy owner - Louise Haywood [Penny Oaks]

Looked After Children (LAC) are defined as:

· Children or young people who are the subject of a Care Order or Interim Care Order under the Children Act 1989.

· Children who are placed in foster care, children’s residential homes, with relatives or friends, in semi-independent or supported independent accommodation.

· Children subject to a Care or Interim Care Order whilst placed with a parent, where the LA has parental responsibility.

· Children who are not subject to an order, but are accommodated by the LA under an agreement with their parents or respite care.

 Previously - Looked After Children (PLAC) are defined as:

· Children who are no longer looked after by an LA in England and Wales because they have either been adopted or are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order.

· Children who were adopted outside England and Wales from ‘state care’ (care that is provided by a public authority, religious organisation, or other organisation whose main purpose is to benefit society). LAC reviews, involving the academy, will take place up until an adoption order has been granted.

However, Pupil Premium Plus funding will continue for LAC until they are 16 years old.

Aims

To provide a safe and secure environment, where education is valued and there is a belief in the abilities and potential of all children.

To support our looked after children and give them access to every opportunity to achieve their potential, enjoy learning and take as full a part as possible in all academy activities.

To ensure that academy policies and procedures are followed for LAC as for all children.

To work with the Virtual Academy and ensure that carers and social workers of LAC pupils are kept fully informed of their child’s progress and attainment.

To fulfil our academy’s role as corporate parents to promote and support the education of our Looked After Children, by asking the question, ‘Would this be good enough for my child?’

Our academy’s approach to supporting the educational achievement of Looked After Children is based on the following principles:

· Prioritising education

· Promoting attendance

· Targeting support

· Having high expectations

· Promoting inclusion

· Raising aspiration

· Achieving stability and continuity

· Early intervention and priority action

· Listening to children

· Promoting health and well-being

· Reducing exclusions and promoting stability

· Working in partnership with carers, social workers and other professionals

In pursuit of this policy we will:

· Nominate a Designated Teacher for Looked After Children who will act as their advocate and coordinate support for them.

· Nominate an academy governor to ensure that the needs of Looked After Children in the academy are taken into account at an academy management level and to support the Designated Teacher.

· Support the Designated Teacher in carrying out their role by making time available and ensuring that they attend training on Looked After Children.

· Work closely with the Virtual Academy and Social Care in the best interests of LAC and in completion of the Personal Education Plan (PEP).

Designated Teacher (DT)

The role became statutory in September 2009 under the Children and Young Persons’ Act 2008 (the 2008 Act). The Designated Teacher must be a qualified teacher or a member of staff. Ideally, s/he should be a senior member of staff who has enough status and experience to advise and provide training to academy staff on issues relating to LAC. They need to be able to influence decisions about the teaching and learning of these children.

DT Responsibilities:

· Knowing who all the LAC are in the academy and ensuring the availability of all relevant details from academy record-keeping systems as required.

· Attending relevant training about LAC and acting as the key liaison professional for other agencies and carers in relation to LAC.

· Promoting a culture of high expectations and aspirations for how LAC should learn.

· Helping academy staff understand the issues that affect the learning of LAC such as differentiated teaching strategies appropriate for individual children and QFT

· Making sure that LAC are prioritised in one-to-one tuition arrangements and that carers understand the importance of supporting learning at home.

· Removing the barriers to learning for LAC.

· Ensuring any LAC new to the academy are welcomed positively and assessed when they start at the academy to identify strengths and weaknesses in their learning. This will be used to inform planning and teaching.

· Developing personalised learning packages for LAC in conjunction with the relevant teaching staff.

· Ensuring that the LAC in their academy have a voice in setting learning targets for themselves.

· Championing for LAC.

· Leading on developing and implementing the PEP within the academy. The social worker is responsible for initiating the PEP process and completing the relevant pages of the PEP form.

· Monitoring the child’s progress against the targets on the PEP and extending these targets if they have been achieved.

· Ensuring the child makes a smooth transition to the new academy and that the child’s records are transferred without delay.

· Liaising with the Virtual School in all aspects of the LAC progress and support.

· Communicate with the Virtual School to manage allocation of PP+ for the benefit of LAC.

· Manage PP+ for Previously Looked After Children to support educational attainment and personal development.

· Convening urgent multi-agency meetings if a LAC is experiencing difficulties or is at risk of exclusion.

· Arranging for a mentor or key worker to whom the young person can talk to. Arranging for the LAC to be supported by their peers.

· Producing at least one annual report to the governing body which should include: current progress, attendance and exclusions (if any), any concerns regarding behaviour, how the PEP has been implemented and whether the actions put in place are effective in addressing the learning needs of LAC, how the DT works in partnership with the LA, training undertaken for carrying out the role effectively. The report must not mention the children’s names for confidentiality reasons.

· Promoting good home-academy links and the importance of education as a way of improving life chances for LAC.

· Ensuring that, where the academy has concerns about a child’s behaviour, the Virtual Academy is informed at the earliest opportunity and additional support is provided to prevent exclusion, which would only be used as absolute last resort.

· Considering the needs of LAC and PLAC when designing and implementing the academy’s Behaviour Policy.

The role and responsibility of the governing body

· Support the local authority in its statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of looked after children.

· Ensure that the DT is given the appropriate level of support in order to fulfil their role.

· In partnership with the headteacher, ensure that, through their training and development, the DT has the opportunity to acquire and keep up-to-date the necessary skills, knowledge and training to understand and respond to the specific teaching and learning needs of LAC.

 · Governing bodies and the SLT should make sure that the DT role contributes to the deeper understanding of everyone in the academy who is likely to be involved in supporting LAC to achieve.

· The governing body, in partnership with the head teacher, is responsible for monitoring how well the role is working. As part of this monitoring an annual report will be received from the DT.

This policy links with a number of other academy policies/procedures and it is important that Governors have regard to the needs of Looked After Children when reviewing them:

· Admissions Policy

· Behaviour Policy

· Anti-bullying Policy

· Home-academy agreement

· Equality Policy

· Child Protection Policy and Safeguarding Policy

· Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy

Confidentiality

· information on looked after children will be shared with academy staff on a “need to know basis”

· The Designated Teacher will discuss what information is shared with which academy staff at the PEP meeting. Once this has been agreed with the social worker, carer, young person, and other parties, complete confidentiality is to be maintained.

The academy will champion the needs of Looked After Children, raise awareness and challenge negative stereotypes about them, in order to ensure that they achieve to the highest level possible.