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Contents

1. The Personal Education Plan (PEP) 
2. Avoidance of Disruption in Education
3. When a Child becomes Looked After  
4. When a Child is Placed Out of the Borough 
5. When a Child Moves to a New School  
6. When a Child has no School Place 
7. PEP Reviews 
8. Absence from School 
9. School Exclusions 
10. When a Young Woman becomes Pregnant

1. The Personal Education Plan (PEP)

The Personal Education Plan (PEP) is the central platform for the education of Looked After children, and is attached to each child’s Care Plan. The Personal Education Plan should be initiated as part of the Care Plan before the child becomes Looked After (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement), and be available for the first Looked After Review.

All Looked After children of compulsory school age must have a PEP, whether or not currently in education. It provides essential information to ensure that appropriate support is in place to enable the child to achieve the targets set. It is also a record of the child’s leisure interests and educational achievement.

The social worker should convene and chair meetings, as necessary, to ensure the PEP is completed and reviewed - as set out in the following sections of this chapter.

The PEP should set clear objectives and targets for the child, covering the following:

• Chronology of education and training history which provides a record of the child’s educational experience and progress in terms of National Curriculum levels of attainment, including information about educational institutions attended and the reasons for leaving, attendance and conduct record, academic and other achievements, any special educational needs, an indication of the extent to which the child’s education has been disrupted before entering care or accommodation;
• Existing arrangements for education and training, including details of any special educational provision and any other provision to meet the child’s educational or training needs and promote educational achievement;
• Any planned changes to existing arrangements and provision to minimise disruption;
• The child’s leisure interests;
• Role of the appropriate person and any other person who cares for the child in promoting the child’s educational achievements and leisure interests.

A key part of drawing up and implementing PEPs is the partnership working and the joint responsibility to promote the education of the Looked After Child. It is the social worker's responsibility to ensure that everyone relevant is consulted about both their views and their ability to contribute to the child’s educational progress. The PEP will therefore include contributions from the child, the parents, the school (where relevant) and other relevant professionals.

The PEP must then be circulated to all workers involved with the child.

If the pupil is subject to a Statement of Special Educational Needs, any  recommendations relating to school and the content of the statement can be changed only by amending the statement at an annual review (which can be brought forward if necessary).

2. Avoidance of Disruption in Education

The Nominated Officer must approve of any change of placement affecting a child in Key Stage 4, except in an emergency/where the placement is terminated because of an immediate risk of serious harm to the child or to protect others from serious injury.

In those circumstances, the Local Authority must make appropriate arrangements to promote the child’s educational achievement as soon as reasonably practicable.

• The child’s wishes and feelings have been ascertained and given due consideration;
• The wishes and feelings of the parent(s) have been ascertained where the child is accommodated (where possible) and where appropriate where the child is subject to a Care Order);
• The educational provision will promote educational achievement and is consistent with the PEP;
• The Independent Reviewing Officer has been consulted;
• The Designated Teacher at the child’s school has been consulted.

Other than in Key Stage 4, where the Local Authority proposes making any change to the child’s placement that would have the effect of disrupting the arrangements made for education and training, they must ensure that other arrangements are made for education or training that meet the child’s needs and are consistent with the PEP.

3. When a Child becomes Looked After

Before or as soon as a child becomes Looked After, the child’s social worker must notify the school the child attends. The notification will be initially by telephone and must then be confirmed in writing. The Placement Team will notify the Looked After Children in Education (LACE) Team of the child's placement.

Wherever possible, the child should remain at the same school – see Section 2, Avoidance of Disruption in Education. Wherever possible, the child should remain at the same school. Where the child has to move to a new school, see also Section 4, When the Child Moves to a New School.

If the child is placed outside the borough, the Placement Team will also notify the education service for the area where the child is placed - Lead Officers for Looked After Children in every local education service can be found at the website of the Department for Education - see also Section 3, When a Child is Placed Outside the Borough

Where the child does not have a school place - see Section 5, When a Child has no School Place

The first Personal Education Plan (PEP) should be in place as part of the Care Plan, i.e. within 10 working days of the child’s first placement and therefore in time for the child’s first Looked After Review.

A meeting must take place as soon as possible, convened by the social worker, with the school, the residential staff/carer, the parents (as appropriate) and the child as far as is appropriate and possible. Its purpose is to draw up the first PEP. The meeting will usually be chaired by the social worker.

The first PEP should:

• Identify the child’s immediate needs (e.g. to maintain the current school place, make transport arrangements, find a new school, obtain short-term interim education);
• Establish contact between residential staff/carer, school or other education staff and social worker - the basis of a working partnership;
• Establish boundaries of confidentiality;
• Share important information - perhaps including the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record;
• Agree how and when the PEP will be reviewed (this needs to take account of the Looked After Review cycle as well as term dates, parents evenings, school target setting days, Individual Education Plan (IEP) Reviews and Annual Reviews of Statement of Special Educational Needs) - see Section 6, PEP Reviews.

NB: The provision of education for pupils with Statement of Special Educational Needs can be changed only by amending the statement at an annual review. Where a child has a Statement, the LACE Team will liaise with the SEN Team about the amendments required.

If the PEP meeting is organised to coincide with other reviews/meetings, for example, an Annual Review of a Statement of Special Educational Needs, or the drawing up of an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the social worker should agree with other participants in advance how responsibility for the meeting is to be shared.

4. When a Child is Placed Outside the Borough

If a child is placed outside the borough but continues to attend the same school, the procedure outlined in Section 2, When a Child becomes Looked After should be followed.

If the child is to be placed outside the borough and will need a new school, efforts to obtain a school place should (unless it is an emergency placement) begin well before s/he moves to a new placement. Whenever possible a child should not be moved to a new placement until s/he also has a school place.

Where the child does not have a school place - see Section 5, When a Child has no School Place.

For pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs, it is the education service for the area where the child lives (unless in residential accommodation) which is responsible for the provision of education for the child. They will be notified of the child's placement in their area by the LACE Team. The LACE Team will liaise with the education service about their adopting the child's Statement, which will then need to be amended when a new school is identified. Applications to schools are made by the education service which maintains the statement. This needs to be planned for as early as possible as it can cause long delays. For additional detailed guidance, see Guidance on Looked After Children with Special Educational Needs Placed Out of Authority (DfE 2010).

5. When a Child Moves to a new School

Choosing and applying to a school for a place is primarily the social worker’s responsibility but may be delegated to or shared with others (e.g. the carer, the LACE Team).

Where a place in a new school is secured, at least one member of staff in the new school  - the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children or the Head Teacher - must be informed that the child is a Looked After Child. Other members of staff to be notified should be identified at the first Personal Education Plan (PEP) meeting, taking into account the child’s wishes concerning confidentiality.

The social worker will convene the first PEP meeting as set out in Section 2. As well as the matters listed in Section 2, the first PEP in a new school should ensure that the child's education records are forwarded from the previous school and/or placement.

In relation to pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs, the LACE Team will contact the SEN Team in Hillingdon in relation to the child's change of school and the arrangements for the child's Statement to be amended. This needs to be planned for as early as possible as it can cause long delays.

The social  worker should ensure that he/she is aware of the current position of the Statement and whether any additional support is provided and by whom.

6. When a Child has no School Place

Finding a school place is primarily the social worker’s responsibility but may be delegated to or shared with others (e.g. the carer, the Looked After Children in Education (LACE) Team).

Looked After Children in Need of a mainstream school place are usually entitled to preferential treatment for admissions.

Children without a school place should still have an up-to-date Personal Education Plan (PEP). It should address immediate educational needs and longer-term planning. This will include how education is to be provided pending the longer term decisions. Where children have no education provision, a weekly plan will be drawn up in term times by the social worker in conjunction with the child, the residential staff/carers, parents and the LACE Team to provide for the constructive use of the child's time during school hours.

Where the child does not have a school place because one cannot be found, or because mainstream school is not appropriate to their needs, the LACE Team will liaise with the relevant education officer and request that a school be identified for the child as soon as possible.  The local authority should identify a school place within 20 working days at the latest; and should be asked to provide alternative education if a school place cannot be found immediately or is not appropriate.

7. PEP Reviews

Second and subsequent Personal Education Plans (PEP) should correspond with the Looked After Review cycle. Review dates will usually be planned at the end of each review. However, where there are difficulties in relation to a child's education, e.g. the child persistently refuses to attend school, a PEP review will be convened urgently.

PEP decisions and recommendations must be available to the child's Independent Reviewing Officer prior to Looked After Reviews - see Looked After Reviews Procedure

The social worker will convene a meeting to review the PEP, timed to take place not more than four weeks before the child’s next Looked After Review (or at the end of the summer term, if the Looked After Review is due during the school holidays).

If care and education are provided together it may be more appropriate to review and plan education and care at the same time. The meeting should still explicitly address educational needs and result in a PEP.

Preparation or consultation forms should be sent to all likely participants two weeks before the meeting. How best to consult with the child must be considered, and support or advocacy arranged if necessary. The meeting will be convened and usually chaired by the social worker. The meeting should involve the child, parents (as appropriate), residential staff or carer(s), the appropriate member(s) of school staff and a representative of the LACE Team and/or the education service as necessary.

If the PEP meeting is organised to coincide with (for example) an Annual Review of a Statement of Special Educational Needs or the drawing up of an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the social worker should agree with other participants in advance how responsibility for the meeting is to be shared.

Second and subsequent PEP meetings should:

• Check that the  previous PEP’s decisions and recommendations have been implemented;
• Acknowledge the successes achieved;
• Address current concerns;
• Agree new decisions and recommendations.

The participants should agree what action they will each undertake to achieve the improvements in the child’s education that they have identified through the consultation/preparation process.

Proposals that would lead to significant changes in arrangements (e.g. a change of school, a request for a statutory assessment of a child's Special Educational Needs) and/or to a possible increases in expenditure (e.g. private tuition, a jointly-funded placement) should be made in the form of recommendations to the Looked After Review.

8. Absence from School

Full attendance at school is crucial for all children and is particularly important for Looked After children in building their resilience and social networks. The Government drive, Every Lesson Counts, aims to reduce the number of children being taken out of school.

For this reason, Looked After children should not be taken away from school for holidays. Children may miss crucial lessons resulting in falling behind. Permission for holidays to be taken during school time will only be given in exceptional circumstances based on the children’s needs and with the approval of the relevant Service Manager. These circumstances are likely to be unusual and particular to the child. 

If a child is likely to be absent due to illness, the residential staff/carer must notify the school and the child's social worker immediately.

In any case where the child has been absent from school for more than 10 days, the child's social worker should liaise with the school, the child, the residential staff/carers and others to address:

• The reasons for the absence;
• How to ensure the child returns to education as soon as possible;
• Whether and how the child can be helped to catch up on what s/he has missed.

Where necessary, the Safeguarding Children Missing from Home and Care Procedure should be followed. See LCP Supplementary Procedure 7, Safeguarding Children Missing from Care and Home

9. School Exclusions

NB Where a Looked After Child is excluded from school, the child’s social worker must inform the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.

Where a child is excluded from school for a fixed period, the school will provide work for the child. The social worker must liaise with the residential staff/carer about suitable arrangements for supervising the child’s doing the schoolwork during the day.

The reasons for the exclusion will be communicated by the school to the residential staff/carer and the social worker. Whoever is the most appropriate one to do so will discuss this with the child. The social worker should inform the parents.

The social worker must seek advice as to whether to appeal against the exclusion- a permanent exclusion should always be appealed unless there are clear reasons not to.

When a child is permanently excluded but is remaining in the same foster or residential placement, the social worker will liaise urgently with the LACE Team and the education service in which the child is living to find an alternative school placement.

10. When a Young Woman becomes Pregnant

Becoming pregnant is not in itself a reason to stop attending school, nor to cease education.

Where a young woman becomes pregnant, the social worker must ensure that the young woman remains in education if at all possible and arrange for her to receive support from the education service for the area in which she lives and/or the LACE Team.

End