Search results for ‘Subject term:"looked after children"’ Sort:
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An integrated approach to improving educational outcomes for looked after children in Wales
- Author:
- MACDONALD Alasdair
- Publisher:
- Welsh Government, Improving Outcomes for Children Advisory Group
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 21
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
Findings of a scoping exercise focused on developing an integrated approach to improving educational outcomes for Looked after Children (LAC). In particular, the report looks at integrated local authority approaches in Wales and the role of Virtual School Headteachers (VSH), which are statutory in England and currently being developed in some parts of Scotland. Current practice in England, Scotland and Europe is also highlighted. The report sets out recommendations covering five main areas: the development of a Welsh Virtual School model; the level of resourcing required to enable an integrated approach that improves outcomes; the importance of high quality data; the implications for training; and the need to broaden measures of what constitutes educational outcomes for LAC. It calls on the Welsh Government to consider requiring all Local Authorities in Wales to appoint a Virtual School Head (VSH) and establish Virtual Schools, with access to the live data of all LAC in their LA , for the purpose of discharging the LAs’ duty to promote the educational achievement of its looked after children; to ensure all staff involved in working with LAs in schools should receive training in Trauma and Attachment informed practice; and to broaden the metrics used to measure outcomes for all pupils but specifically for LAC and in particular at age 16 and 18. (Edited publisher abstract)
The educational attainment of looked after children - local authority pilot projects: final research report
- Authors:
- CONNELLY Graham, et al
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Government Social Research
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 133p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
The research described in this report was commissioned by the Education Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government, on behalf of the Care and Justice Division. The broader context relates to the significant degree of concern about low achievement in education by looked after children and young people in Scotland who are, as a consequence, less likely than other young people to be engaged in education, employment or training by age 21. The research, conducted between September 2006 and June 2008, involved reviewing pilot projects funded by the Scottish Government in 18 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities. Seven of the projects began in summer 2005, whilst the remainder began one year later. A further two pilot projects were subsequently funded. The broad aim of the research was to identify interventions that appeared to make the most differences in terms of both the educational experience and the educational outcomes of the looked after children and young people participating in the pilot projects. More specifically the research involved the following activities: describing the pilot activity in relation to common themes, such as type of intervention, category of looked after child, aspect of the problem, focus of the activity etc, evaluating the process of implementing the pilot initiatives, assessing the impact of the initiatives on engagement with education and learning, school attendance, attainments, attitudes to learning, self-esteem and ambition, drawing lessons from the pilots on what works, and developing guidance for practitioners, based on the experience of the pilots.
Pursuit of excellence
- Author:
- BARTLETT Sarah
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 2.3.06, 2006, p.34.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
A project using a rewards system for achievements at school by looked-after children has won a Community Care Award. This article looks at the initiative, called The Excellent File, which is funded by Walsall Council's children's services and education service contractor Cerco.
Exams? Pass on that one
- Author:
- VALIOS Natalie
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 01.09.05, 2005, pp.30-32.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
This article reports on the range of initiatives used to transform the educational achievements and life chances of looked-after children in the London Borough of Merton.
Back into school: new insights into school absence: evidence from three multi-academy trusts
- Author:
- CHILDREN'S COMMISSIONER FOR ENGLAND
- Publisher:
- Children's Commissioner for England
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Pagination:
- 30
- Place of publication:
- London
To gain new insights into patterns of school absence, and explore the themes raised during the Attendance Audit, the Children's Commissioner's office has conducted new analysis of daily attendance records from three Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs). The MATs were geographically dispersed, including primary, secondary, and all-through schools, with a total sample size of around 32,000 children. The analysis presented in this paper looks at both unauthorised and authorised absence across the term. Authorised absence means that the school has either given approval either in advance or following an absence from the school, and authorisations can be given in several circumstances. Unauthorised absence means that the school has not approved for the pupil to be absent. Analysis of the data shows that: the majority of children, (60%), had no unauthorised absence in the autumn 2021 term; children who were out of school on a period of unauthorised absence (the remaining 40%) have distinct patterns of absence; attending the first week of school is a strong indicator that a child will go on to attend school regularly throughout the term; children with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and children receiving pupil premium were more likely to have higher levels of absence than their peers; however, while children in care had similar levels of absence to their peers, when we control for other factors, children in care were actually slightly less likely to be off school than other children - being in care is associated with two fewer days of absence than not being in care. (Edited publisher abstract)
An integrated approach to improving educational outcomes for looked after children in Wales: final report
- Authors:
- FOSTER Rowan, et al
- Publisher:
- Welsh Government
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 103
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
This report explores the current practices in place for looked after children, and examines the previous recommendation for a more integrated approach to improving educational outcomes. The aim of this research is to assist the Welsh Government in shaping the future policy direction for supporting looked after children in education, to ensure the effective co-ordination of support, and to improve educational outcomes. Report findings are structured into four overarching themes: existing good practice from LAs, to build upon in a new model; inconsistent practices and structures, which must be addressed in a new model; views on Virtual School Head and model; necessary principles and component parts for a new Welsh system, and recommendations. This research identified the principles that are fundamental to achieving improved outcomes for looked after children, and underpin an integrated approach. They are: strategic planning; whole-community approach; attachment-aware approaches; consistent offer of support; ambitious standards; person-centred support; collaborative working; staff accountability. These principles reflect the ways of working that underpin the ambition to improve educational outcomes for looked after children. The ‘jigsaw pieces’ are the component parts of an integrated approach that will enable LAs to put those principles into practice – and ultimately achieve that ambition. These include: broad outcomes – educational outcomes should be considered in the context of other indicators which help to support and explain progress, or otherwise; restorative justice; equitable resources; accessible support; evidence-based support. (Edited publisher abstract)
’What about me?’ Stories of the educational experiences of care-experienced children and young people in a Scottish local authority
- Authors:
- MERCIECA Daniela, MERCIECA Duncan P., RANDALL Leisa
- Journal article citation:
- Adoption and Fostering, 45(2), 2021, pp.173-190.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This qualitative study explores the educational experiences of looked after children and young people in one Scottish local authority. The preoccupations of government are academic achievement and school attendance, but these are not the prime concerns of the children, carers and professionals involved. Moreover, they can be both enhanced and restricted by the background characteristics and care situations of the young people and the responses of schools to their needs and behaviour. Five influential factors emerged from interviews and focus groups with professionals, carers and young people: behaviour; school attendance; carers as educators; friendships; and communication between home and school. Each of them is discussed with extended quotations that convey the voices of participants.
Stopping out and its impact on college graduation among a sample of foster care alumni: a joint scale-change accelerated failure time analysis
- Authors:
- DAY Angelique G., SMITH Richard J., TAJIMA Emiko A.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 12(1), 2021, pp.11-39.
- Publisher:
- Society for Social Work and Research
Purpose: This study examines whether former foster youth are more likely to stop out of a 4-year university than low-income, first-generation students who did not experience out-of-home care. Method: Data were from a stratified random sample of 803 students enrolled at a large, public 4-year university in the Midwest over a 10-year period, including 438 former wards of the court who were identified on the Federal Application for Student Aid and a comparison group of 365 low-income, first-generation college students who did not identify as court wards. We calculated a series of statistics, including univariate (i.e., means), bivariate (i.e., crosstabs), and multivariate (i.e., joint-scale accelerated failure time) analyses. Results: Findings indicate that foster youth are more likely to transfer to another college/university, stop out, experience stop outs earlier in their academic career, and are less likely to graduate than their low-income, first-generation peers. Foster youth also took longer to graduate than the comparison group. Conclusion: Although federal policies have increased college access for foster care youth, increasing college access does not always lead to degree attainment. Our findings underscore the need to amend financial aid and related policies to better align with the needs of former foster youth. (Edited publisher abstract)
What are the factors influencing the school functioning of children in residential care: a systematic review
- Authors:
- GARCIA-MOLSOSA Marta, COLLET-SABE Jordi, MONTSERRAT Carme
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 120, 2021, p.105740.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This systematic review focuses on the education of children in residential care, the in-care population subgroup at greater risk of school failure and dropout, with the aim of gathering evidence for associations between different variables and their impact on school functioning. It seeks to give an answer to what the factors influencing the educational pathways of school age children in residential care are. We identified 1,663 studies through the searches and 26 were earmarked for inclusion following the PRIMSA guidelines. Over 60 factors involved in the educational pathways of children in residential care were identified concerning children and their families, care and school contexts, and structural-level factors. A discussion on the findings has been provided, the strengths and limitations of the review have been identified, and the implications for policy, practice and research have been discussed. (Edited publisher abstract)
The education of children in care and children in need: Who falls behind and when?
- Authors:
- SINCLAIR Ian, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Social Work, 25(3), 2020, pp.536-547.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
We seek to explain the development of the educational gap between children in “out‐of‐home care” (CLA), children deemed in social need (CIN), and other pupils. A cohort of 642,805 pupils aged 16 in 2013 was used to chart the educational progress of the full cohort, the CLA (n = 6,236), the CIN in 2012 or 2013 but not CLA (n = 20,384), and a sample individually matched with the CLA (n = 11,084). At age 7, attainment of the CLA and CIN was approximately 1 standard deviation lower than the cohort average and predicted attainment at 16. At this point, the persistent “CIN” (those with earlier and persistent needs) had the lowest attainment relative to others, and this declined further during secondary school. Those entering care before or during primary school had very low attainment at age 7, but their relative attainment did not decline. Attainment of CLA and CIN at age 16 likely reflects early environment, special educational needs, and poor relationships with secondary school. Policy, research, and intervention should focus on CIN as well as CLA, do so before entry to care, and take account of the onset of, and probable reasons for, educational difficulties. (Edited publisher abstract)