There are many reasons why children may come into care and become, 'looked after' by the Local Authority. In some cases it will be as a result of family breakdown, in others it may be because of neglect or abuse.
These experiences, as well as being separated from family and friends and having to adapt to changing circumstances, can make it much harder to learn. Although some do well, many looked after children under achieve.
The government is determined to make things better for looked after children. It has asked authorities to narrow the gap between the achievements of children in care and those of their peers and to make sure they have the opportunity to enjoy the same life chances as any other child.
In Blackpool, we have formed The Virtual School for Looked After Children to raise educational attainment and promote better life chances for all children in the care of the authority.
We provide training for carers and professionals from the areas of education and social care to provide looked after children in Blackpool with the best educational support we can offer.
In addition, we monitor attendance and attainment on a regular basis and provide casework intervention with the aim of making sure that looked after children are attending school regularly and achieving in line with their ability.
The Virtual School is a system for monitoring and tracking the education of all Blackpool's looked after children, wherever they are taught. Information about the education of looked after children is kept centrally and used to check that pupils are benefiting from regular and beneficial education and making the progress they should.
It resembles a school in its structure, reporting mechanism and the fact that an attendance register is kept and attainment is monitored.
The Virtual School has strong evidence of improvements in outcomes for looked after children in attendance and attainment and in individual success stories.
For more information, please use these links to other useful websites:
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Every Child Matters
Who Cares? Trust
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