Virtual School

Bolton Council introduced virtual schools for looked after children in 2010. The schools are organised around district-based social work teams:

West School for pupils who have a social worker in West District Team, Westhoughton Town Hall
North School for North District LAC Team, Castle Hill Centre
South School for South District LAC Team, Farnworth Town Hall.

A fourth virtual school is being developed to monitor and support all our children who are educated outside of the Bolton Borough.

Each virtual school has a core membership of:

A Secondary School Headteacher
A Primary School Headteacher
The District Social Care Manager
The Manager of the LAC Social Work Team for the district
The Virtual Schools Manager

and an affiliate membership of specialist staff within the council and other agencies. These include:

Educational Psychologist
Learning Mentor
Support Teacher
Connexions
SEN Managers

Virtual schools will improve our response to looked after children and young people in several ways. They will respond to the needs of identified, individual pupils where existing systems are failing them. They will:

monitor the academic performance of all children within the school, informed by high quality data;

ensure a response where required;

work strategically across the respective districts to ensure all agencies are enabled to respond to young people's educational needs.

In addition, the virtual school will ensure young people and their carers receive:

advice and support about all education issues
homework support
individual tuition
extra lessons
support in exams
access to a range of courses and benefits for young people who want to go into further education or training
activities to develop personal skills and encourage literacy
employment and training support
work experience placements for those who have left school or are in Years 10 and 11
achievement awards - cheques or vouchers - to encourage and reward achievement.

VIRTUAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT MEMBERS

Bob Horrocks, Virtual School Manager, Children's Services

Supported by:

Frances Hamer, PEP Administrator, Children's Services, telephone 01204 332832

and

Anne Parry, Senior Administrator, Corporate Parenting, Children's Services, telephone 01204 338973

North Virtual School:

Siobhan Barnes, Headteacher, Harwood Primary School

Phil Williamson, Headteacher, Canon Slade School

Deborah Evans, North District Manager, Children's Services

Frank O'Connell, North LAC Team Manager

South Virtual School:

Primary Headteacher - Jane Grecic, The Orchards

Secondary Headteacher - Tania Lewyckyj, St James C of E School and Sports College

Janette Angus, South District Manager, Children's Services

Minaxi Patel, South LAC Team Manager

West Virtual School:

Diane Jeffries, Headteacher, St Mary's Deane Primary School

Hilary d'Arcy, Headteacher, Ladybridge High School

Sarah Gatenby, West District Manager, Children's Services

Geoff Fenton, West LAC Team Manager

You can contact the virtual school here:

Pupil Premium Funding for LAC

PPG National Guidance

Virtual School Guidance on PPG

If you need funding for anything that the PPG can't fund, social workers can still apply to the Resource Management Panel for funding from Bolton Children's Services.

Cost effective interventions - findings from Sutton Trust research showing cost effective interventions.

Summer Schools

Education of Looked After Children - Frequently Asked Questions - the DfE guide to all things looked after

Promoting Educational Achievement - DfE article updated in June 2011

Promoting the educational achievement of looked after children - statutory guidance for local authorities (DfE March 2010) pdf 787kb

Virtual School Head Toolkit (DfE March 2010 pdf 1mb

The role and responsibilities of the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children: Statutory Guidance for School Governing Bodies (DfE Nov 2009 pdf 2mb

Improving the attainment of looked after children in Primary Schools - Guidance for Schools (DfE Nov 2009) pdf 991kb

Improving the attainment of looked after children in Secondary Schools

Looked After and Learning - Evaluation of the Virtual School Head Pilot (DCSF Research 2009, DfE Aug 2009, pdf 641kb

The Designated Teacher (Looked After Pupils, etc( (England) Regulations 2009

Guardian Children's Books

The role and responsibilites of the Designated Teacher

Schools Admissions Code and Appeals

Does a school have to admit a looked after child to the school if it is oversubscribed?

Yes, apart from some very limited exceptions (i.e. in relation to faith and grammar schools). The requirements are set out in the Schools Admissions Code.

Does a school have to take a looked after child if it would mean it breaks the rules on infant class size?

Yes. Looked after children are an 'excepted group'. Further details on the arrangements for looked after children in relation to oversubscription criteria on infant class size can be found in the Schools Admissions Code.

Does the school admissions priority for looked after children apply to Academies and Free Schools?

Yes, all academies and free schools have to abide by the Schools Admissions Code which gives looked after children top priority in any oversubscription criteria.

1. The child's social worker in conjunction with the school designated teacher and primary carer will organise at least two personal education meetings per year to inform the PEP and discuss these plans with their LAC team manager.

2. Concerns raised within those PEPs should be discussed at the district based referral meeting held at 3 weekly intervals; additional support/ resources can be deployed from this meeting.

3. Unresolved problems or issues can then be referred to the Virtual School meeting for further discussion.

PEP forms

Plodge