Coventry Virtual School - guidance and support - Print version

Information for designated teachers

Welcome Designated Teachers

Thank you for your vital role as the Designated Teacher (DT) for children in care and previously looked-after children in your school. Your commitment makes a real difference to the lives and educational outcomes of some of the most vulnerable learners in Coventry.

The Virtual School is here to support you in this important role, providing guidance, training, and practical resources to help you champion these young people effectively.

Your role as a designated teacher

The role of the Designated Teacher is a statutory one, as outlined in the Statutory Guidance. The DT must:

• Be a qualified teacher, having completed the appropriate induction period and currently working as a teacher at the school. (It may be the Head Teacher)
• Have responsibility for promoting the educational achievement of children in care and previously looked-after children
• Have sufficient influence within the school—ideally as a member of the Senior Management Team —to ‘make things happen’.

The DT’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Having a thorough understanding of the educational, social, and emotional needs of children in Care in the school, how those needs are being met, and evaluating the success of interventions.
• Ensuring every child in care has a current, high-quality Personal Education Plan (PEP).
• Collaborating with social workers, carers, the Virtual School, and school staff to monitor progress and support pupil development.
• Raising awareness within the school of the unique needs of children in care, including trauma and attachment-informed approaches.
• Supporting transitions, admissions, and inclusion.
• Removing barriers to education, including SEND, attendance, and exclusion. Permanent exclusions must be avoided for children in care. Schools have a duty to work closely with the Virtual School to ensure that appropriate provision and support plans are in place to prevent suspension and exclusion. The Virtual School will collaborate with schools to offer guidance and advice to implement necessary adjustments, and explore creative solutions.

While the Designated Teacher holds overall responsibility, many day-to-day tasks can be delegated to non-teaching staff with appropriate support.

Support available to you

To assist you in your role, Coventry Virtual School offers:

• School Support: Advisory teachers and education advisors will visit your school to support you in delivering your role. This can include attending meetings, reviewing policies, conducting trauma-informed learning walks or school audits, and supporting your engagement with Coventry’s Trauma Informed Attachment Aware Schools (TIAAS) Project.
• PEP Support: Advice and help with completing high-quality PEPs via the ePEP platform.
• Training and Professional Development: Including bespoke induction training for those new to the role.
• Funding Advice: Guidance on Pupil Premium Plus funding use and monitoring.
• One-to-One Advice: Access to advisory teachers and education advisors for tailored support.

Training and network opportunities

We encourage all Designated Teachers to participate in:

• Termly designated teacher network meetings
• Online and face-to-face training sessions
• PEP moderation opportunities
• Coventry’s Trauma Informed Attachment Aware Schools (TIAAS) Project

Upcoming training and booking details can be found on our training page.

We are here to help you ensure every Child in Care and previously looked-after child in your school succeeds. For advice, support or questions about your role, please get in touch.

Information for social workers

Your role in supporting education

As a social worker, you contribute to the child’s education by:

• Ensuring that education remains a priority in care planning and review meetings.
• Supporting timely completion and quality of Personal Education Plans (PEPs). The latest statutory guidance highlights that responsibility for ensuring high-quality, current PEPs lies jointly with social workers and schools.
• Liaising with schools, carers, and the Virtual School to coordinate support.
• Helping to secure and maintain appropriate education placements.
• Advocating for the child’s educational needs in multi-agency settings.
• Supporting transitions between schools and key stages, including admissions and reintegration.
• Raising concerns promptly if a child is at risk of exclusion, poor attendance, or disengagement.
• Encouraging attendance at school and participation in enrichment activities.

Working with the Virtual School

The Virtual School staff understand the wide range of responsibilities social workers manage and aim to provide practical support to ease the educational workload.

We provide:

• Access to your child’s ePEP records and education progress data.
• Allocation of a Virtual School professional who can offer advice and support tailored to individual cases.
• A platform to support the arranging and management of PEP meetings,
• Relevant training opportunities.
• Guidance on admissions, exclusions, and SEND processes.
• Collaboration with other local authority teams including SEND, Attendance, Alternative Provision, and Youth Justice to reduce barriers to education.
• Support with monitoring Pupil Premium Plus funding impact and usage.

Training opportunities

We encourage all Social Workers to participate in:

• New to role Education Training for Social Workers
• Termly Education Update session for Social Workers
• Themed drop-in sessions for Social Workers
• PEP moderation opportunities

Upcoming training and booking details can be found on our training page.

The importance of information sharing

Effective communication and information sharing from social workers are vital to enable Coventry Virtual School to proactively support the education and wellbeing of children and young people in care.

You must inform the Virtual School at the earliest opportunity about any changes to care planning that may impact education, including but not limited to:

• Changes of social worker
• Changes of placement, even during early planning stages
• Significant events or circumstances affecting the young person that may lead to heightened emotional needs, changes in behaviour, or disengagement at school

Early notification allows the Virtual School to:

• Adjust support plans swiftly
• Liaise with schools effectively
• Coordinate timely Personal Education Plan (PEP) reviews and multi-agency meetings
• Provide targeted interventions and guidance to all involved professionals
• Support you in initiating processes with other service areas such as EHCP file transfers, school admissions, and other key transitions to prevent drift and delay

By working together and sharing information promptly, we can help ensure every child’s education remains stable and responsive to their needs.

If you need support or have questions, please get in touch, we’re here to help.

Information for parents and foster carers

Welcome parents and carers

At Coventry Virtual School, we know that you play a vital role in supporting your child’s education and wellbeing. Whether you are a foster carer, kinship carer, or residential carer, your involvement and encouragement can make a real difference in your child’s learning and life chances.

This page is here to help you understand how we work together, what support is available, and how you can get involved to help your child thrive at school.

Your role in your child’s education

As a parent or carer, you are a key part of your child’s education team. You can help by:

• Being a positive role model who shows how important education is by supporting, encouraging, and setting high expectations for your child.
• Helping your child get ready for school and ready to learn each day.
• Attending and contributing to Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings—these are important opportunities for children in care, to discuss progress and plan for learning needs.
• Talking with your child before PEP meetings and helping them to share their views.
• Keeping track of PEP meeting dates and contacting the school or social worker if a PEP is overdue.
• Encouraging good school attendance and punctuality.
• Supporting learning at home by providing a positive environment for homework and reading.
• Communicating regularly with your child’s school and Designated Teacher.
• Raising any concerns you have about your child’s education, wellbeing, or happiness to school and the child’s social worker
• Helping your child access additional opportunities such as clubs, trips or Coventry Virtual School’s enrichment activities
• Working with the Virtual School and other professionals to support transitions between schools and into post-16 education, training or employment.
• Challenging others when you feel your child needs additional support to succeed.

How Coventry Virtual School supports you

We offer a range of help and resources to parents and carers, including:

• Information and advice about education rights and school support
• Access to training sessions designed to help you understand your child’s needs, including topics such as attachment, trauma, and supporting learning at home.
• Opportunities to get involved in enrichment activities and events to build confidence and skills.
• Dedicated staff you can contact for advice or to discuss any concerns about your child’s education.

Getting involved

We encourage all parents and carers to:

• Attend PEP meetings and other school meetings whenever possible.
• Take part in Virtual School training sessions and events
• Stay informed about your child’s progress and any additional support they are receiving.

If you need support or have questions, please get in touch - we’re here to help.

Policy and guidance

What to do when a young person comes into care

Whatever life has been like before, going into care is a traumatic experience for a young person. They may experience feelings of grief, guilt or shock in the period immediately afterwards, or sometimes later on. Often, there is little to see on the outside, and the child will come to school well cared-for and apparently happy. However, the effects of such a life-changing event should not be doubted.

What schools should do

School is often the most stable aspect of a looked after child's life, and has a crucial part to play in helping emotional wellbeing as well as planning for education:

• Make sure a meeting to write a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is held within 20 working days of the child going into care - you should discuss the timing for this with the Social Worker.  You may need to discuss important issues such as transport and contact with family members before this.
• Make sure there is one person who the child can talk to if they want to.  Make it clear that these conversations will be confidential unless there is something so serious that it has to be passed on (as in Child Protection guidance).
• Talk to the child about the information which can be shared with others.  For example, how should the foster carer be addressed?  Some children prefer to call their carer a family name such as Auntie, whilst others are comfortable with other children knowing they are in care.
• Watch out for name-calling or teasing.  Most looked after children remain fiercely loyal to their families and even low-level teasing can be the cause of great distress or conflict.
• Make a good relationship with the carer.  If the child arrives at school in a taxi and you rarely see the carer, set up another way of communication, by telephone or home-school book, for example.
• Try to attend Looked After reviews and other meetings called by Social Care. If this is not possible, make sure that a report is sent, outlining any issues or concerns relating to education.

If in doubt about procedures, please contact virtualschool@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:virtualschool@coventry.gov.uk] for further advice and guidance.