All children who are care experienced/looked after will have a Personal Education Plan (PEP).
The PEP is a record of your child's education and training. It should include what should happen for your child to achieve their full educational potential. We have a duty to make sure that the PEP fully reflects all their education needs, taking into account their age, ability and aptitude. It should be seen alongside their Care and Support Plan as lots of factors impact on a child's learning, such as their emotional well-being, stability etc. Virtual School PEP April 2024 MASTER
Information about the Virtual School for Children Looked After
The Virtual School model approach is to work with care-experienced children (which can include young people in post-16 provision), as if they were in a single school and to raise educational attainment, improve attendance and improve educational stability (Welsh Government, 2021). The school is ‘virtual’ in that it does not exist as a physical institution or building; instead, children attend the school or education setting at which they are enrolled and remain the responsibility of this educational setting, but all aspects of their welfare and progress are monitored and supported by the Virtual School Headteacher.
The Virtual School Headteacher is the lead officer responsible for improving attendance and raising educational outcomes for the care-experienced children (‘their pupils’), but also importantly preparing them for transition to adult life. The Virtual School Headteacher has oversight over both education and social care outcomes for care-experienced children and is responsible for developing and monitoring strategy to achieve and improve these outcomes. A Virtual School is therefore an organisational tool which has been created for the effective co-ordination of support in education for care-experienced children at a strategic and operational level.
The Virtual School in Rhondda Cynon Taf has a bold mission statement: ‘Every Child Deserves a Champion’, a supportive set of values: Integrity, Honesty, Kindness, Consistency, Flexibility, Compassion and a strong vision:
OUR VISION
...is that care experienced children,
young people and their families maintain
healthy lives, confident to achieve their
full potential.
We want to
...help build resilient communities where
citizens are ethically informed and can enjoy
meaningful safe relationships.
We feel that
...every child/young person should have the
opportunity to become ambitious capable
learners through accessing high quality,
creative and enterprising provision.
We work
...collaboratively with a range of stakeholders
to ensure that every pupil on roll at the Virtual
School has the opportunity to be the best that
they can be.
The vision incorporates the core values of the new curriculum in Wales and reflects how the curriculum meets the needs of all learners, despite where they reside or who brings them up.
Contact details: virtualschool@rctcbc.gov.uk