Advisory service
The West Sussex Virtual School Advisory Service champions the educational experiences and outcomes of children and young people who have, or have ever had social care involvement, and those who have achieved permanence through a court order.
We work with schools, social care colleagues, parents and carers and the wider professional network to raise awareness of the impact of a child’s lived experiences on their ability to engage in learning, and most importantly to understand how best to improve their educational outcomes.
The type of advice and guidance available depends on which cohort the young person is in. Further information is available below, including definitions of each cohort.
Children with a social worker
'Children with a social worker’ is a term used to refer to the cohort of children and young people aged 0–18 who are (or have ever been) assessed as needing intervention from social care for safeguarding and/or welfare reasons, including those who are or have ever been subject to Child in Need Planning or Child Protection Planning.
Children who have achieved permanence
Children have achieved permanence if they were previously looked after (PLAC) by a local authority in England or Wales because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order; or were adopted from state care outside England and Wales.