LAC - Pembrokeshire County Council

Raising educational achievement for children who have not had the best of starts in life is an important outcome of the work of the services for children in Pembrokeshire.
Initiatives from WAG including RAISE enabled Directorates within the County Council to work together to achieve this. It is the joint working with the child at the centre of the team that is vital for success.

INNOVATION – What was new about the project?

The project developed many basic principles of child care – joint working to provide a team of support for the child. Already in place was a Corporate Parenting group that met at practitioner level. However it also moved on the principle of joint working in the form of two “Learning Coaches ” who worked jointly with schools, social workers, foster carers, reviewing officers, advocates and most importantly the children and young people themselves. The role is of a flexible and peripatetic nature and sets out an individual plan for each child.

IMPACT – What difference has it made?

The learning coaches can be involved in any aspect of the child’s life. Each child can have a different support package. They can be involved regularly and intensively with pupils in the classroom or can simply support pupils at exam times. They can link up with foster carers and social workers about school issues and also vice versa. For some carers they have been a “lifeline ”  One carer wrote that the support of the learning coach had been “invaluable” and had “eased the pressure of those important teenage years”

Academic achievement is measured in exam results. In Pembrokeshire very few LAC leave schools without qualifications and the success of the support packages are measures in terms of stability of school placements, reducing NEETS and increasing motivation to succeed academically for future life.

Overall RAISE has helped boost the self esteem of Pembrokeshire Looked After Children by giving them extra support to join up school and social worker and foster carer to gain academic success.

The grant for the year of reading epitomised this joined up working. Looked after Children and young carers meet together at a forum during half term holidays. During one session the reading grant financed activities for children to make audio CDs of children’s books to be distributed to other LAC in the authority.

Joint working was evident with social workers, foster carers, elected members and of course the children, all enjoying the day.

LAC learning coaches are working with young people to motivate and to emphasise the importance of engaging in education. This partnership with social workers and foster carers encourages social and emotional skills and builds up self esteem. The LAC learning coaches have joined the Pembrokeshire schools development of the learning coach principle which builds on the nurture and support for different children and for different learning styles and development of thinking skills and developing their own learning. The LAC learning coach acts as a mentor and counsellor.

Future initiatives

Young people who have benefited from the help of RAISE learning coaches have agreed to act as mentors for younger LAC. Also a celebratory event for LAC is to be arranged in the new year.

• The RAISE grant in year 4, financed an initiative between the 6 authorities in SWAMWAC, producing different materials to support Looked After Children through their school careers.

• Pembrokeshire felt that literacy was vital to all areas of development and produced a CD and pack for parents and foster carers to support adult input to their child’s reading.

• The CD was produced by staff and pupils at Fenton Community School Haverfordwest.

• It is called Reading Rollercoaster.

• It gives advice to parents how to work with all children from reluctant readers to those who are reading independently.

• The pack contains advice on different genres of books and prompt questions to discuss with their child. It also suggests extension activities for all the family based on the reading book

• The CD will be launched with the Pembrokeshire Family Placement team in September and a copy given to all Pembrokeshire foster carers.