Green Paper - Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care

The Government has published its Green Paper for Children in Care, highlighting the issues affecting this uniquely vulnerable group and setting out what needs to be done to improve outcomes for Looked After Children. There are wide-ranging implications for Local Authorities and Schools particularly in Chapter 5 'A first class education'. In summary this chapter has the following key proposals:

• Local authorities will have the power to direct schools to admit children in care, even where the school is already fully subscribed, and will be encouraged to place children in care in the top performing schools in their area;
  
• Local authorities will review the location of children in care in schools, as part of the new reports on fair admissions;
  
• A personalised annual budget of £500 per child for social workers will be drawn from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to support education. There will be pilots in private tutoring for children in care;
  
• The Designated Teacher for Children in Care will be statutory;
  
• Pilot a 'virtual head teacher' in each area will give leadership to professionals and monitor the education of children in care. There will be a new national training module for governors on how schools should cater for children in care;
  
• A presumption that young people in care will not move schools in years 10 and 11, unless it is in the young person's best interests;
  
• A free entitlement to school transport for children in care to allow children to remain in the same school after a placement move;
  
• Strengthening existing guidance on school exclusions to encourage schools not to exclude children in care other than in the most exceptional circumstances;
  
• New guidance to rationalise the planning processes for the education of children in care;
  
• Pilots to test the effectiveness of boarding provision for children in care;
  
• An entitlement for all children in care/care leavers to have support through Connexions until the age of 25.

A major consultation is underway in relation to the Green Paper and this will run until 15th January 2007. The Green Paper and consultation documents are located on the DfES website: www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations I strongly recommend that you read this Chapter and respond to the consultation exercise. In addition if you feed any comments through to your Headteachers' Associations I will be consulting with the Chairs of the Associations next term as to their views on the proposals.

If in the meantime you would like to discuss or raise any issue concerning the Care Matters Green Paper please contact Terry Cook, Head of School Performance Organisation and Inclusion at Children's Services, Professional Development Centre, Woodside Road, Norwich, NR7 9QL, telephone: 01603-433276.