We have a Designated Teacher for Looked after Children, Mr Steve Cornforth, who works closely with the SENCO to ensure all teachers in school understand the implications for those children who are looked after and have SEN.
Looked After Children with SEND are supported in the same way as all children in school with SEND through the Graduated Response and the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. The process generally starts with a Short Note, and following the identification of need, a SEN Support Plan or EHCP may be put in place to meet the requirements of the pupil. Each Looked After child will also have a PEP (Personal Education Plan) running alongside.
When a child becomes looked after his/her social worker must ensure that the child’s needs and the services to meet these are documented in the Care Plan. The Care Plan – of which the PEP is an integral part – is made before the child becomes looked after or in the case of an emergency placement within 10 working days. The PEP is a record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them to fulfil their potential and reflects any existing education plans, such as an EHCP, SEN Support Plan or Provision Mapping. The PEP should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning which secures good basic skills, stretches aspirations and builds life chances. The PEP is the joint responsibility of the local authority and the school.
Mr Cornforth works closely with the LA Virtual School to ensure Looked After Children make good progress from their relevant starting points. We participate in Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings where we meet with the family and other key professionals to agree a set of outcomes and provision that will help the child to make progress and ensure that their social and emotional needs are met. We receive Pupil Premium to support and enhance provision for Looked After Children and use this to ensure any specific interventions are implemented.
