Key actions for social care professionals

• Support and challenge children and young people to engage fully in the opportunities available to them in school. Young people want us to have high aspirations for them.
• Access the training opportunities available to you to ensure that you have a good knowledge and understanding of education policy and processes.
• Consider how you can help key staff and wider teams in school to understand the lived experiences of the child and how these may be a barrier to engagement and learning.
• Facilitate the engagement and contribution of schools and education providers in any meetings relating to the child or young person. Seeing them daily, school staff will be able to provide a valuable level of information and insight into the child’s presentation, needs and lived experience.
• Contact the Virtual School Advisory Service (VSAS) to discuss how to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for the children and young people you are working with.

Supporting documents

• Virtual Schools Advisory Service consultation (PDF, 138KB)

Although we are unable to attend Children in Need (CiN) or Child Protection Plan (CP) meetings or work directly with children and families; we will:

• create and deliver training to equip social workers with the necessary knowledge and understanding of education processes to enable them to work with schools and advocate for children and young people effectively.
• be available to offer advice around education to social workers working with young people aged 0-18. This can include advice and further signposting on:
  • well-being of the young person.
  • what to ask schools to put in place to support the young person
  • SEN processes.
  • interventions and strategies for a school to consider when meeting the needs of the young person.
  • improving attendance and reducing exclusions.
  • managing reduced timetables.
  • local area support systems, external organisations/activities that could support the young person.