CHAMPIONING EDUCATION

Is your child welfare organisation fully leveraging the power of education to improve OOHC outcomes? Take schooling for example – like with our own children, nephews and nieces, great attendance and engagement helps ensure that children in OOHC get to socialise with others, build relationships, are part of a community, become literate and numerate, get more training options on leaving school, and have the choice to enter further and higher education etc. As well as improving education outcomes, education is also an important protective factor. Furthermore, beyond keeping children and young people safe and secure, having an effective education strategy is arguably the single most important way in which child welfare organisations can meaningfully improve their long-term non-education outcomes too.  

Education matters. It always did. But as we tentatively begin to emerge from the pandemic and recession, it is important to recognise that the extraordinary pace of technological (and societal) change that we have seen over recent decades continues to quicken, and with it comes the increased risk that many in OOHC, and some others, will be left even further behind.  

So, who is championing education in your organisation, what’s the strategy, and how effective is it?

One important English initiative worth looking at is Virtual School Heads for looked after children (those in OOHC). More recently a similar scheme has also been developed in some Scottish local authorities. The English Virtual School Heads initiative was piloted back in 2007-09 across 11 local authorities. It was also evaluated for the Department for Education by a team that included David Berridge and Sonia Jackson (both research leaders on the education of children in care), and was subsequently rolled out across the all of England. One of several policy initiatives in place in relation to the education of children in care, the Virtual School Heads initiative has been pivotal to England’s significant improvement in the educational attainment of looked after children.

Virtual School Heads are usually senior roles – often former primary or secondary Principals or Deputy Principals. Straddling care and education, they are essentially champions and oversee, influence, direct, plan and monitor. They may also provide support and advice to schools and those in residential and foster care, and in some instances may manage some direct education provision. 

These are also statutory roles. The English Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities in England to appoint at least one person for the purpose of discharging the local authority’s duty to promote the educational achievement of its looked after children.

As such, and usually with little or no additional staffing under their direct control, they complement the role of traditional school heads and senior staff. Importantly the role is not centred on digital learning platform delivery. Looked after children attend local schools. However, the role of the Virtual School Head is to take responsibility for improving educational standards as if they were all attending a single school.

While your education and child welfare systems may be different, how could your organisation champion, or more effectively champion, education for those in OOHC? 

I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can email me at: iain@betteroutcomes.co.nz

Kia kaha (Stay Strong).

Iain