Children in Care - with additional needs These children will have partnerships with other agencies including: Speech and Language Therapists Physiotherapists Occupational Therapists Educational Psychologist

Partnership for Carers It is important that the carer is provided with support. This can be given through: Family Placement Workers (FPW) Social Worker Training Support groups Wheal (2000, p7)

Partnership with Schools School can be a place of consistency and continuity. Walker-Gleaves (2008) however suggests children in care achieve lower outcomes. There are strategies and partnerships within school to assist with this including: Education Services A designated teacher The curriculum

Education Services All people working in the education services can contribute to the safeguarding of children and child protection processes. Staff have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect, and referring to the appropriate agencies. The school should be involved in the preparation of an inter-agency child protection plan. Important to have successful partnerships with the school health service. Important to have successful partnerships with school governors. Schools should have an effective whole school policy. Dept, of Health (1999, p14)

The Designated Teacher Schools need to have a selected person who ensures the needs of children in care are considered. An effective designated teacher needs to work within and beyond the school. It is important designated teachers and social workers have productive partnerships so they can develop and implement a child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). A PEP is a planning tool which allows the social worker, designated teacher and the child to work together to set out what needs to happen to meet the educational needs of the child, including out of school hours learning.

All designated teachers should: act as a champion for children in care; maintain an overview of the educational and social and emotional progress of all children in care in the school; play an active role in the design and delivery of the PEP, ensuring children and young people are involved in the process; provide a central point of contact for all professionals working with each child; decide – in conjunction with relevant LA staff and the child – the approach to sharing sensitive information about that child; be responsible for the induction of children in care into the school; promote good home/school links, working with children’s carers; liase with the SENCO if the child has SEN; help children make the transition to a new school/college; work in partnership with the virtual school head; commission whole school planning for children in care; ensure the speedy transfer of records when children in care transfer between schools; and through training and development, keep up to date with the latest policies and procedures for children in care. Care Matters, Collarbone

The Curriculum - the 21st century In the new curriculum, there will also be a greater focus on school encouraging personal development – to help children grow up happy and healthy. This will emphasise developing children’s confidence, enhancing their ability to learn, and helping them to grow up to become responsible adults. (DCSF, 2009, p6 Other core skills will include: Learning and thinking skills – which include investigating and looking for patterns Personal and emotional skills – which include working independently and setting goals p10 Social skills – which include taking turns, sharing and understanding other people’s feelings. P11

Resources and Inclusive Learning Strategies Each child will be different and will need to be treated differently. Teacher’s TV… From this clip you can see social skills of children in care can be affected and ways to resolve this. Social skills groups can be set up for the child and the allocation of a learning mentor can help monitor pupil achievement.

Allowing the child to speak to their learning mentor also gives them the chance to participate in their education and be listened to. Johnson (2004, p2) found that pupil participation and pupil voice are central aspects in school to improve effective communication and understanding of children’s needs. Having a school council also improves pupil voice within school. Other strategies can include circle time and social time.

Having circle time within a class can allow the children to discuss any issues they may have as a child in care and help their peers to understand their situations, with continuous circle time it should help partnerships the child in care with the teacher and the child with their peers. Social time such as playing games in the playground can allow for pupils to have designated ‘buddies’ to help them improve their social skills and build up friendships.