Previously Looked After Children
Every local authority in England and Wales has a virtual school. The Achieving for Children
virtual school encompasses three local authorities: the Royal Borough of Kingston upon
Thames; the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of
Windsor & Maidenhead.
On the 1st September 2018, virtual school head teachers became responsible for promoting
the educational achievement of previously looked-after children living within their local area.
Statutory guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) requires virtual school heads to
provide information and advice to adoptive parents, special guardians and carers and also to
providers of funded early years education and designated teachers. Virtual school heads
must also ensure that their local authority fulfils their duty to provide suitable advice and
information for the purpose of promoting the educational achievement of previously looked-
after children.
Previously looked-after children are defined by the DfE (February 2018) as those who:
are no longer looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because they
are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order;
were adopted from ‘state care’ outside England and Wales. ‘State care’ is care
provided by a local authority, a religious organisation, or any other organisation
whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
If you are a parent or guardian of a previously looked-after child or young person living in
one of these three boroughs, please contact us for information and advice about the
education of your child or young person. We also offer information and training to school
staff in nurseries, schools and colleges across the tri-borough area.
AfC’s virtual head teacher is Suzanne Parrott (suzanne.parrott@achievingforchildren.org.uk) and the lead for previously looked-after children is Rebecca Lloyd (rebecca.lloyd@achievingforchildren.org.uk). You can reach them by telephone on 0208 831 6037.
The Adopter Hub
We are currently offering adoptive parents, special guardians and designated teachers free
subscriptions to resources offered by the web-based adoption support platform, The Adopter
Hub.
For parents, this offer includes a confidential one-to-one adopter peer support web chat with
specially trained adopters, recruited and supported to provide peer support online.
The Adopter Hub resources include a 12 module introduction to attachment e-learning programme, developed and presented by a leading clinical psychologist, available on demand.
Please contact Rebecca Lloyd on 0208 831 6037 or by email
rebecca.lloyd@achievingforchildren.org.uk if you would like to us to include you in our free
subscription package.