Poole Virtual School
Enjoying and Achieving 2010 – 2011
The Educational Attainment of Looked After Children
Data published by the Department for Education shows the disparity between theattainment of children in care and that of their peers although there have been improvements in recent years. However, at primary level less than half of looked after children reach the nationally expected standard across all subjects and at secondary level only about one in seven looked after children achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C, which is generally recognised as the basic threshold for employability. Recent improvements have been small and the concerns around looked after young people being more likely to be part of the NEET group ( not in employment or education) because of lack of basic qualifications, is significant.
Set against this context, the results of our own Poole cohort of looked after children are encouraging. Schools, social workers, foster carers and independent reviewing officers work together to raise expectations and promote educational achievement, increasing our children’s sense of self worth and providing a stabilised environment. It is from here that they can begin to make up for any barriers to learning and progress which they might have as a result of their circumstances before coming into care and as a result of being in care.
The following table shows an improving year on year trend for outcomes of Poole Looked after children, but it needs to be noted that the small cohort sizes can make the data prone to significant swings between years and figures should be read with caution.
How good are the outcomes for Looked After Children
& Young People in Poole?
Key Education outcomes for children in care are measured by:
School attendance
Poole is consistently better than average in this area and achieved further improvements in the 2010 - 2011 school year.
Indicator / 2006/07 / 2007/08 / 2008/09 / 2009/10 / 2010/11 / England2008/09
CIC missing 25+ days school / 11.9% / 8.6% / 11.9% / 8.6% / 4.8%
CIC Permanently Excluded / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0.71% / 0.34%
Regular school attendance is important for any child but particularly important for a looked after child who might have missed periods of education in the past and because schools and other educational settings provide them with the necessary stability in a sometimes unstable period in their lives.
GCSE Results of Care Leavers
Indicator / 2006/07 / 2007/08 / 2008/09 / 2009/10 / 2010/11 / England2009/10
Care leavers aged 16+ with a GCSE pass / 50.0% / 66.7% / 50% / 63% / 73% / -
This indicator counts all young people who ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March, who were aged 16 or over at the time of ceasing to be looked after, regardless of the length of time in care prior to exams or whether or not they were in care when they sat the exam.
Key Stage Assessments & GCSEs:
Year assessed / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011 / England CIC 2010Key Stage 1
Eligible children
/ 2 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 5 / 1400Achieved Level 2+
Reading
/ 50% / 50% / 100% / 60% / 60% / 58%Writing
/ 50% / 50% / 100% / 40% / 40% / 51%Maths
/ 50% / 50% / 100% / 60% / 40% / 62%Key Stage 2
Eligible children
/ 8 / 7 / 2 / 7 / 4 / 1800Sat all tests
/ 3 / 4 / 2 / 6 / 4 / -Achieved Level 4 +
English
/ 50% / 43% / 50% / 71% / 75% / 45%Maths
/ 50% / 57% / 50% / 71% / 50% / 44%GCSEs
Eligible children
/ 9 / 13 / 9 / 5 / 15 / 5100Sitting 1 or more GCSE exams
/ 6 / 9 / 5 / 4 / 12 / 77.6%Achieved 1+ GCSE grade A*-G
/ 67% / 69% / 56% / 80% / 80% / 72.5%Achieved 5+ GCSE grade A*-G
/ 67% / 46% / 44% / 40% / 83% / 50.6%Achieved 5+ GCSE grade A*-C
/ - / - / - / 20% / 42% / 26.1%Achieved 5+ GCSE grade A*-C including English & Maths
/ - / - / 0% / 20% / 33% / 11.6%Key Stage 1 results
The cohort includes one pupil with a statement of SEN attending a special school; two pupils at school action plus and one pupil at school action. Only one of this cohort does not have additional educational needs.
The progress and attainment indicated by the results is good considering the level of need and low starting point of these children.
The table shows the very small cohorts of key stage one pupils and it is difficult to make year on year comparisons.
Key Stage Two Results
Of this small cohort, one pupil is statemented and attends a special school, one is at school action plus and one is at school action. Only one of this cohort does not have any identified special needs.
English: One pupil made significantly better than expected progress (three levels) and two pupils made the expected two levels of progress between KS1 and 2. One pupil was below the entry level for KS1 and KS2
Maths: Two pupils made significantly better than expected progress (three levels),one pupil made less than expected progress (one level)and one pupil was below the entry level.
Science: Three pupils reached the nationally expected level and one pupil with a statement for learning, reached a KS1 level which showed better than expected progress.
GCSE Results
This year’s Poole results for young people achieving 5+ Grades at A* - C are above the national average. Poole performs particularly well when looking at the number of children achieving 5 good (A*- C) passes.
Due to the very small school year cohorts in Poole, % results data is prone to significant swings between years and figures above should be read with some caution, although this year’s cohort is bigger than in past years. The cohort includes an unaccompanied asylum seeker who left care in June without sitting any GCSEs but who is now at Bournemouth and Poole College, and three students with moderate and severe learning difficulties, who attended special schools.
Poole’s overall profile of a high % exam success rate for young people who have been in care for a significant length of time indicates good quality and effective individual education support from the education support team, social care, schools and foster carers.
Nationally the attainment gap between all pupils and looked after children has been gradually widening at KS4, although it has been stable at KS2 over the same period.
The new, year 11 Transition PEP has been a useful tool to ensure that all possible intervention and support is being planned and implemented by the team around the pupil to combat this widening gap. Sadly a few pupils are unwilling to engage in the support offered and we have seen how factors outside the foster home and school have impacted negatively on motivation and engagement. However, it is pleasing that all this year’s year 11 cohort has continued in education, either at school or at college.
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