Agenda item

To inform the Corporate Parenting Committee of the work undertaken by the Brent Virtual School and school results for Looked After Chlidren in the 2022-23 academic year. The delay in presenting this report is due to the need for exam reports to be ratified.

Michaela Richards (Acting Head Teacher – Brent Virtual School) introduced the report, which outlined the activity and impact of the Brent Virtual School (BVS) during the academic year 2022-23 in monitoring and supporting looked after children to achieve the best possible educational outcomes. In introducing the report, she highlighted the following key points:

·       A key priority of BVS was that attendance should be above 95%. The attendance figures had improved slightly from the previous year by just under 2% and there had been an extra focus on attendance with that work having an impact. It was usually key stage 3-4 where attendance issues set in.

·       There had been an increase in fixed term exclusions which mirrored the trend of the general population. This was attributed to the return to school following covid, as 2022-23 had been the first full year back in schools.

·       There had been no permanent exclusions, but BVS had been in a position on a number of occasions during the last academic year where they had needed to work closely with schools to avoid a possible permanent exclusion. Those had been at out of borough schools where young people had not been placed before as it was a challenge to embed expectations in schools that were not Brent schools. BVS was focused on building relationships with out of borough schools to explain those expectations.

·       In relation to out of borough schools and how BVS currently worked with them to ensure compliance with expectations, it was highlighted that BVS offered training on a range of topics and had recently had a Forum focused on trauma informed practice. BVS had found that schools could be reactive sometimes and may not take into account the contextual issues Brent’s young people may face so it was important to get that messaging across as well as focus on relationship building. BVS was liaising with schools and designated teachers to explain expectations and ensure staff were present at PEP meetings.

·       All advisory staff knew Brent’s carers and interacted with them regularly. Training was also offered to carers.

·       Results were outlined in paragraph 5.7 and 5.8. The eligible cohort had 24% of 5 passes including English and Maths at levels 4-9, which was a big increase on the previous year by 7%.

The Chair thanked Michaela Richards for her introduction and invited contributions from the Committee, with the following points raised:

The Committee asked what the holistic approach to access to education for those with challenging placements looked like. Michaela Richards highlighted that the age many of Brent’s young people came into care and the issues they faced often disrupted their education, so BVS had to consider the best programme for them. Sometimes, young people would not go directly into a school straight away after coming into care or moving placement and had a tuition package in place instead while an Educational Psychology assessment was arranged as soon as possible to ensure recommendations from that could be put in place by the school.

In relation to paragraphs 5.9 and 5.10 of the report, which outlined that some of the children with placement breakdowns had seen those breakdowns reflected in their outcomes, the Committee asked how hard it then was to keep the children in their school when they move placement. They heard that BVS tried very hard to maintain school placement. If there was a requirement to move school, the priority is to ensure a  child is placed in a school rated ‘good’ or better. If a looked after child was in a school that was ‘good’ and that school become ‘requires improvement’, BVS would look to see what the best approach for that young person was. Any move might not happen immediately as the child had been in a school where they had stability, so there might be a need to put in additional support to maintain their outcomes, but BVS would look to move them to a ‘good’ school as soon as possible. Looked after children had key adults within the school to maintain stability, which was usually the designated teacher, but if the child had a better relationship with another member of staff then BVS would want the school to identify that to ensure local support around the child.

In relation to the recruitment of specialist roles outlined in the report, the Committee asked how that was progressing. They were advised that BVS had a solid staff team that had been in place for a while. There had been difficulty recruiting for a post-16 role over the past few years but the Council had recently recruited to that post and the post holder was described as excellent.

The Committee asked what a child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP) looked like. K (Care Leavers in Action) outlined what her PEP had been like. She had attended meetings which looked at areas that might not be going well, areas that were going well, and then what actions could be taken or revision undertaken. Then a plan would be devised covering how many hours of revision she should do and how she would do it. K had found it useful but the important aspect of implementing the PEP was around motivating herself. Michaela Richards provided further information, explaining that LAC should receive 3 PEP meetings a year in each academic term. It should involve the child’s social worker, carer, the school and the young person. The PEP meeting would set targets and review whether previous targets were met. The meeting would also review where the pupil premium could support achieving those targets. She highlighted that those meetings worked best when the young person was present so that they could contribute to what they would like to happen.   

CLIA highlighted that PEP meetings had meant getting called out of lessons and this had felt to be not always discreet enough to avoid questions about personal information. They asked whether that process had now improved so that looked after children were not being pulled out of lessons in front of their peers. Michaela Richards acknowledged the stigma attached when a young person left a lesson for a meeting and the BVS spoke to schools about ensuring there were ways around this. For example, the school could arrange meetings to start during a lunch or breaktime instead of during lessons so that it was a less noticeable absence. She highlighted that Brent schools were more in tune with this and out of borough schools were being asked to do this discreetly also.

The Committee asked whether there was a different process for working with academy schools and how BVS and the Council could influence and manage those schools. They were advised that all secondary schools in Brent were either academies, free schools or voluntary aided and underwent the same monitoring process, which schools did a good job of adhering to as they wanted the best for the young people they taught.

The Committee asked CLIA whether there were any particular challenges within school that, looking back, they felt there could be more support for. CLIA highlighted that the transition from A-Level to University had felt like a big leap where they had not always known if and where they could access support. Michaela Richards responded that, on a national level, BVS Head Teachers had lobbied for additional support for that transition period. Now, there was funding for post-16 support for the first year of education. This was not in line with the statutory school age funding Council’s received but it was more than had previously been received. The BVS worked closely with the Care Leavers Team to support care leavers’ access to education and educational success as much as possible. The Committee advised of the importance of getting that message across to care leavers so that they could ask for that support that would help them succeed.

As a future action point, the Committee asked for officers to present further information about the university transition and the support the Council could offer at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

i)               To note the content of the report.