The Education of Children Who are Looked-after
01 March 1997
The book describes what can be done to give educational support to young people who are in the care system, 'looked-after' by the local authority. This group is notable for low educational attainment and troubled school careers, but there is strong evidence that these features are contingent rather than inevitable provided that the right support is available at the right time. The book argues that what is needed is not so much an injection of financial resources as increased awareness and commitment to joint action by a range of adults with whom the young persons come into contact. It describes the benefits to young people who are looked-after when teachers, carers, specialist support workers all play their own, often unique, part in what should be, but rarely is, a seamless web of support.
LEA officers, staff in LEA support services, managers in social services departments, youth justice workers, heads of residential care units, foster carers, pastoral staff in schools, school governors, schools and social services inspectors will all find this report useful, as will anyone else who is concerned about the welfare of some of the nation's most vulnerable and abused young people.