Virtual School Team

The Virtual School for children in care

The Virtual School supports the educational progress of children in the care of Telford and Wrekin Borough Council.

The core purpose of the Telford and Wrekin Virtual School is to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of our children. We are a team of highly qualified, experienced and dedicated educational professionals. We work with all relevant partners in education, health and social care to ensure that our children's opportunities in school are the best they can be.

What we offer

We offer support, guidance, training and challenge to ensure that educational services are effective in maximising the progress that our children make in school. We do this through:

Tracking academic progress,attendance, and exclusions of CIC
Quality assuring all Personal Education Plans (PEPs)
Providing support and challenge to schools to ensure that academic standards are raised for CIC
Using our tracking data to highlight individuals who are not on target to achieve their predicted outcomes and challenging their settings to provide them with additional education support
Ensuring Special Education Needs or Disability needs are identified and supported appropriately with an integrated plan
Monitoring and challenging schools to make effective use of the Pupil Premium Grant for CIC
Ensuring effective transition between schools or specialist providers
Encouraging a culture that supports our young people to have high aspiration about their futures and removes barriers to further education
Leading training for Designated Teachers, Social Workers, School Governors, Foster Carers and bespoke training for educational settings and staff in schools
Providing advice to social workers and carers to ensure they contribute to the education outcomes of children on their case load or in their care placement
Celebrating CIC achievements
Supporting the delivery of the VoiceCare Council and Corporate Parenting Strategy
In addition to CIC and strategic oversight for Previous Looked After Children (PLAC), as from September 2021 the VSH has further extended duties –this encompasses strategic responsibility for overseeing the Education for Children with a Social Worker (CWSW). As such, the VST are able to provide further additional training to Designated Teachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and all Education Colleagues bespoke training to include these vulnerable groups.

What is a Virtual School Head (VSH)?

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires councils in England to appoint a Virtual School Head to discharge the local authority’s duty to promote the educational achievement of its children in care. The Virtual School Head is the lead responsible officer for ensuring that arrangements are in place to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of the authority’s children in care (CIC), including those placed outside the caring authority’s boundaries.

The Ofsted inspection framework for local authority services to CIC has very clear expectations of the information that will be available to inspectors, and these expectations influence both the work of the Virtual School Head and the organisation of the Virtual School.

In Telford and Wrekin the Virtual School Head leads a small team of professionals: the Telford & Wrekin Virtual School. You can read our brief guide to the work of the Virtual School.

For further more detailed information please follow link to our webpage Virtual school for children in care - Telford & Wrekin Council

Meet The Team

If you wish to meet the team, please click here.

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