Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has a Virtual School supporting the local authorities’ children and young people who are looked after. The Virtual School adopts an integrated approach and as such works with Children’s Services to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of all children and young people in care who are of statutory school age. The Virtual school also supports children looked after by Rhondda Cynon Taf where they attend schools out of the boundaries of RCT: in other local authorities in Wales, in England and Scotland. Currently there are no children looked after by Rhondda Cynon Taf attending schools in Northern Ireland. 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.
The school’s mission statement ‘Every Child Deserves a Champion,’ underpins the work of the Virtual School and ensures that every child/young person within its remit has a ‘voice’. A management Committee made up of Headteachers and Heads of Service from both Education and Children’s Services provides scrutiny to the Virtual School Headteacher in discharging her duties to improve the overall outcomes for looked after children.”
The team is made up of a Headteacher, an education coordinator for CLA, a CLA support worker, s specialist educational psychologist for CLA and an admin assistant. The team work collaboratively with education, children’s services, children and young people, foster carers and parents. The team are based in the Valleys Innovation Centre at Navigation Park, Abercynon. There is a central email address: virtualschool@rctcbc.gov.uk.
The role of ‘designated person (DP) for CLA’ in schools is now statutory and as such every school is expected to appoint a staff member to this role in line with their statutory duties. The Virtual School supports all DPs across RCT through online training, school visits and termly forums. The Virtual School works closely with schools in RCT to ensure school staff have training in making trauma informed decisions and CLA Friendly classrooms. The attendance, academic progress, mental health and emotional wellbeing of all care experienced children and young people in RCT is monitored by the Virtual School; ensuring children in care have the same life chances as children and young people not in care.
All children and young people of statutory school age are supported by a personal education plan (PEP). Within the PEP are aspirational and achievable educational targets. The Virtual School quality assure the PEP and track pupil progress against the targets set. The Virtual School holds a small bursary and can fund training, in-school support, online tuition, group projects and individual interventions. These are usually arranged with a child/young person’s social worker. All applications for funding must come through a social worker.