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Looked After Children
This page is
intended to provide education professionals with the following:
- A brief
guide to what it means to be ‘looked after’;
-
Signposting to relevant websites and resources which provide
more comprehensive information on looked after children and
their needs and in particular the challenges they face in terms
of educational achievement ; and
- Updates
on local developments being taken forward in Aberdeen City
Council which focus on looked after children and their
educational attainment.
LOOKED
AFTER CHILDREN – BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Looked
After Children is a term generally used to describe children who
have had had difficult life experiences which have necessitated
local authority involvement (through either voluntary or compulsory
measures). ‘Looked After Child’ is a broad term and is often further
defined as follows:
Looked
After Child: This
refers to children/ young people who may be living at home with
their parents or with friends or relatives but are still the
responsibility of the Council because it is felt that some degree of
supervision is necessary;
And
Looked
After and Accommodated Children:
This refers to children/ young people who are accommodated away from
home e.g. with foster carers, in a children’s home, in a residential
school or in secure care.
Difficult
life experiences that can lead to becoming looked after can include:
-
The child has been
neglected;
-
The child has
suffered physical, emotional and/ or sexual abuse;
-
The child’s parents
are unable to care for their child because of their own
substance abuse or poor parenting skills;
-
The child has
complex needs/disabilities and requires specialist
residential accommodation;
-
A small number of
children may become looked after because of their own offending
behaviour; or
-
It may be a
combination of the above
Children
and young people who are looked after can face additional barriers
to achieving success in education. Many do well in school but
educational outcomes for looked after children remain poor in
comparison with other children.
RELEVANT
WEBSITES
More
comprehensive information on what it means to be looked after can be
found at the following web address:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/lookedafterchildren/index.asp
This is a
newly set-up website administered by Learning and Teaching Scotland
(LTS) and is intended to be a source of information, resources and
views to support improving outcomes for looked after children. The
website contains a wealth of information and signposting that you
will find extremely useful if you have been assigned the role of
Designated Senior Manager (DSM) for looked after children within
your school, if you are part of the Guidance Team or if you just
wish to expand your knowledge in this area.
We Can and
Must Do Better, Scottish Government, Jan 2007 sets out the actions
that are required to improve the educational and life outcomes for
Scotland’s looked after children. Much of the development work that
is taking place both nationally and locally derives from this
document. The report is available at the following web link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/01/15084446/9
Further
information on other developments focusing on looked after children
can be found on the Scottish Government Website:
www.scotland.gov.uk
LOCAL
UPDATES
An update
was recently issued to all DSM’s within Aberdeen Primary and
Secondary schools containing information on local and national
developments around looked after children and their education.
(available
here).
This update
includes information relating to:
- the
draft core tasks for Designated Senior Managers for Looked After
Children (available
here); and
-
Aberdeen City Council’s Corporate Parenting Policy (available
here); and
KEY
CONTACTS
Developments
within Aberdeen City Council around looked after children and their
education are being lead by three key contacts:
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