My Education

If you are aged between 5 and 16 you must be in education. Usually you will go to school near to where you live. It could also be a boarding school.  If you are between 16-18 years you must also be in education, training/ apprenticeship or employment.

Slough Children First will try to find you somewhere to live which is near enough for you to keep going to your own school. If this is not possible, you may have to change to a school which is nearer to where you are living. We will make sure that you attend a school that is rated ‘good’ or outstanding by Ofsted.

Any child or young person who is looked after (in care) must have a personal education plan, sometimes you may hear it called a PEP.

It’s a plan to make sure your educational needs are being met and you have the support in school that you need. Your PEP will set out targets that you and your teachers will work on together.

If you feel you are behind with schoolwork or are struggling to understand what you are being taught, you should talk with your social worker and carer about how you can get support with your work outside of school.

A PEP meeting will take place once a term or maybe held more often if this is needed.

A PEP meeting is usually held in your school. The meeting happens so that your personal education plan and targets can be talked about and everyone can agree what to write on your plan.

This is an opportunity for your views about school to be heard and considered.

You are the first person who is invited to come to your PEP meeting! Other people who will attend will be someone from your school who knows you, like your teacher, your social worker, your carer or key worker and your school’s designated teacher.  Sometimes, a member of the Virtual School will attend and sometimes a family member may be invited too.

Your PEP meetings will take place once a term or maybe held more often if this is needed.

Every school should have a “designated teacher” for children looked after. They should know that you are looked after and give you help with any problems in school.

The designated teacher should make sure you have a Personal Education Plan (PEP) and will let your carer and social worker know how you are doing.

Starting a new school can be difficult at any age and if you’ve moved from your family home or to a new foster home this can bring added pressure. The Virtual School isn’t actually a school, but it keeps a record of everyone who’s in our care care who attend any nursery, school or college.

Virtual School staff are there to help things to go as smoothly as possible. They also keep track of how you’re making progress and achieving. Like a real school, there is a Headteacher in charge and a board of Governors to make sure things are going as well for you as possible.

You should talk this through with your carers, key worker or social worker. They should work together to get you back to school as quickly as possible. Your school should set you work to do whilst you are on exclusion so that you do not miss out on you learning.

You may receive additional support from Slough Children First’s Virtual School or you may have a home tutor for a while.

You should be offered a place in a new school as soon as possible.

There are lots of opportunities for further education, whether that’s going on to college, to university or an apprenticeship, where you learn and go to work at the same time. details about all this can be found on the My Future (Care Leavers) page.

Please contact us if you would like some extra tuition, help in choosing your options, careers advice or any support in school, college or university.

Call: 01753 875920

Email: virtualschool@sloughchildrenfirst.co.uk