Children Missing Education Anita Lord & Kathryn Johnson Education Social Work Service (CME)

When is a child considered as CME?  When a child has been absent from school for 5 days or more with no reason.  Or a more immediate response if this child is known to be a subject of a Section 47 Enquiry or subject of a Child Protection plan.  When a parent/ carer has withdrawn their child from school and no new school place has been confirmed. These are trigger points for when a Child is Missing in Education and should be raised with the School’s link Education Social Worker (ESW)

Why do we do it? CME is a Statutory requirement governed by:  Section 175 of the Education Act (2002)  Education and Inspections Act (2006) (Part 1 Section 4)  Children Act (2004) (10A)(2)(a)

Under the new safeguarding inspection guidelines your School cannot achieve a ‘good’ standard in your OfSTED inspection if your Safeguarding process is not judged to be ‘good’ Did You know…?

CME – Why is it important? Kyrah Ishaq 7 years was withdrawn from school in December 2007 to be home educated by her mother after alleged bullying. 6 months later Kyrah was taken to hospital where she died after being starved, beaten and abused by her mother and step-father. Kyrah’s five other siblings were also victims of abuse and neglect and were taken into hospital and placed in foster care.

CME – Why is it Important? On 26 th August 2002, five-year-old Danielle Reid started at Crown Primary School in Inverness. Her mother informed the class teacher on Danielle’s second to last day at school on 8 th October 2002 that she and Danielle would be moving to Manchester. Danielle’s body was discovered in Inverness on 7 th January 2003

CME – Why is it important? In 2000 the Counsel for the enquiry in regard to the Victoria Climbié case remarked that the social worker “had never sought to take any active steps to address the fact that Victoria was not receiving any education”

Why do children go missing in education?  They cease to attend, due to exclusion (e.g. unofficial exclusions)  They fail to complete a transition between providers (e.g. being unable to find a suitable school place after moving to a new Local Authority)  Personal factors such as disengagement or disaffection by parents and pupils  Withdrawn from school by parents or carers (with no confirmation of new school)

Which children are more likely to become CME ?  Children with less that 50% attendance  Young Carers  Children with physical or mental health issues  Children who have witnessed or have been a victim of domestic violence  Children from ethnic minorities  Children who are from traveller families or those from overseas

When are the key times children go missing in education ?  When children should start school in Reception  During the transition stages from YR 6 in Primary to Yr 7 in Secondary School  Key Stage 4 – Year Groups 10 or 11

Elective Home Education (EHE)  If a parent informs you that they are withdrawing their child for elective home education, they must submit this in writing.  A copy of this letter must then be sent to the Local Authority School Admissions. Inspections of the education provision will then be carried out and either ‘passed’ or ‘failed’ by the EHE inspector. If the provision fails then the child will be referred by the Education Social Work Service as CME

Withdrawal for medical reasons  If a parent informs you that they are withdrawing their child for medical reasons, the school should send a copy of the relevant medical advice with the ‘taking off roll’ reporting form as part of the Children Missing (CME) procedures.

Facts and Figures  Since September 2009 we have had 59 CME cases referred to us involving 77 children  Out of the 59 cases we have confirmed 26 to be in education in the UK as well as in countries such as Canada, Taiwan, Morocco and Poland  Out of the 18 cases we have not been able to confirm in education 8 have moved to Middle Eastern countries  We currently have 13 open cases and have transferred 2 to other L.A.s

Responsibilities for school admin staff  Admin staff are often the last to have contact with parents before they move. Please ensure that you obtain as many details as possible (i.e. addresses, phone numbers, new school names, new addresses) and where possible ensure parents complete a moving form.  To ensure that all children who have left your school either have a confirmed school place (either within Bournemouth or elsewhere). If they do not have a confirmed place they must be referred to the ESWS as CME.

The Referral Form  Only the highlighted section of the ESWS referral form need to be completed for CME  An attendance summary and a moving form (where available) should be attached to the referral form  Details of any siblings and any ‘soft’ information acquired should be included on the referral form.

What we do next…  We complete checks with several agencies e.g. Revenue and Benefits, Assessment and Safeguarding Team and the PCT to check that the family has left the area/ find out any new information as to where they have gone  We then follow up any leads that we have (this is where having addresses and telephone numbers makes a difference). Following up these leads can be a lengthy process but we will pursue them until we have no further information.

Taking off Roll  Children who have been withdrawn from school without prior notice from parents must remain on roll for 4 weeks from the date they left.  In all other cases please consult the LA before removing the child from roll  When taking a child off roll, you can backdate the attendance to the last Friday of the last week they attended

School to School (S2S)  A pupil must be uploaded as 7X if they have not been confirmed to be in education by ESWS or by the school  The pupil should be uploaded as 7M only if the school has confirmation that the child is on roll and attending their new school.

Ways of helping us  Making sure that all children that are withdrawn from school and those where we have had no contact from parents for 5 days or more without any reason are raised with the school’s link ESW and if unresolved within 10 days are referred as CME.  Remember to alert the school’s link ESW and the Child Care Social Worker immediately if there is cause for concern and/or the child is subject of a Child Protection plan

Ways of helping us  Making sure that student and parent information is full and correct – names, addresses, phone numbers, addresses etc. and that all of this information is included on the referral form.  Moving forms are complete and legible.  Referral forms are filled in fully and correctly.

Ways we can help you….  Re-send any forms/ guidance that you may be missing  Answer any questions – we are both happy to answer any questions that you may have. Please feel free to us or call on:

Any Questions?