Children with a social worker
Good attendance at school offers additional safeguarding for vulnerable children. Historically, children with a social worker have had higher absence rates with a quarter of children who have ever needed a social worker being persistently absent compared with 10% for those who have never been known to or supported by social services.
Therefore, additional monitoring is required to improve the attendance of this cohort and this will be carried out by the virtual school as part of their expansion to the role of overseeing the education of pupils with a social worker.
This will include:
- regular monitoring of attendance of children with a social worker including those looked-after by the local authority, Education Progress Coordinators
- setting aspirational targets for attendance within child protection plans and as part of the personal education plans for Children in Care
- specific attendance training for designated teachers who support children who have ever needed a social worker
- work across children’s social care services to make sure social workers understand the importance of good school attendance and that it is a key part of all Child in Need and Child Protection Plans if attendance is a concern
- ensure schools inform a child’s social worker if there are unexplained absences from school