LAC - Swansea County Council

Swansea has 558 Looked after Children as at May 2011 . Numbers have increased significantly over the past five years. On—going RAlSE funding has provided opportunity to support additionai targeted support for looked after children and young people. Support has been developed and established over the life of the Grant and is now embedded as part of the package of support for Swansea looked after children and young people. It is hoped to continue this level of targeted support through the ring- fenced element of the SEG Grant. The total number of year 1 1 pupils who have directly benefitted from this support since 2006 is 167 with a similar number of year 10 pupils and support extended to year 9 pupils since 2009.

RAISE funding has enabled Swansea to engage two dedicated project workers offering mentoring support to pupils in years 9, 10 and 1 1 and for those progressing to further education in year 12. The Local Authority has historically employed one project worker for looked after children and since the introduction of the RAISE Grant this worker has been able to focus support on young people in year 8 and below. Thus, the package of support is now available through nursery to higher education for looked after children and young people as requested by schools and colleges.

RAISE funding has enabled provision of evening home tuition for our looked after children from years 9 to 13 placed in county and outside the City and County of Swansea- Study resources are provided to each young person from years 9, 10 and 1 1 with additional individual requests also supported.

The Local Authority is proud of the information and data collated across Swansea. Data collated in relation to looked after children enables performance to be monitored against potential with the support indicating improved education outcomes for LAC. RAISE project staff link ciosely with education and social services information officers to ensure accuracy for data collection and reporting and a robust system is in place. This good practice is believed to be quite unique to Swansea Local Authority. The Local Authority actively monitors performance, attendance, exclusions and other pertinent aspects and reports are presented to the LAC Education Group and the Council’s Scrutiny Committee.

Of particular note is the improving trend of year 1 1 LAC achieving one GCSE and five GCSE’s. There is also a downward trend of those LAC leaving full time education without qualification- Improved planning to support young people to engage in further education, employment and training opportunities also indicates an improving trend. RAISE data has emphasised a significant increase in the number of looked after young people with special educational needs. Priority is given to looked after young people at the County's SEN and Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) Panels, for in and out-of—county looked after young people placed in Swansea.

Every looked after young person leaving year 1 1 with a recognised qualification has been awarded a certificate and a letter of commendation from the Education and Social Services Directorates. Pupils are also awarded a small token/voucher. Academic achievement is further recognised at the annual award ceremony —— three have been held to date.

During the five year period of the RAISE Grant, Swansea has hosted a very successful conference on Supporting Looked After Children in Education (2008) and piloted the BT Work Experience Scheme for LAC (2009). Swansea LAC also made a presentation to the Welsh Assembly Government Transversal International Visitors (2009)- In addition, in 2009, Swansea successfully obtained a Reading Grant from the Welsh Assembly Government and provided book tokens for looked after children and young people. In 2010 Swansea worked on a regional basis (SWAMWAC) and contributed resources on transition for looked after children as part of the RAISE Schoois Project.

Planning for on-going support

Two RAISE project workers will continue to offer individual support according to need to all our looked after children and young people. This support will focus on academic provision but counselling and behaviour support is also available as required. There is close liaison with County Specialist Teachers.

Project workers will continue to provide:

• One-to-one, group or in class support sessions

• Links betvveen placement, school and social workers

• Links with residential chiIdren’s homes

• Supporting young people experiencing school change

• Supporting re—integration of excluded pupils

• Links with other agencies and partners including FE Colleges, Career Wales West

Other on-going support will include:

• Home tuition for pupils in years 9 - 13

• Resources for pupils in years 9 - 13 in county and out-of-county

• Study and revision aids, calcuiators, memory sticks

• Individual requests for extraordinary resources

• Equipment for students progressing to further education courses

• Updating educational resources for Local Authority Children’s Homes

• Support for educational visits and activities