Slough Borough Council: Educational Support for Looked After Children

Educational Support for Looked After Children

We have a Looked after Children’s Education Service (LACES) which monitors the educational progress of all children in its care and offers advice and support to both children and carers. Where required, any special needs will be considered when making educational arrangements for looked after children.

Parents, carers, schools and social workers can access additional educational support for a looked after child by contacting the LACES team on 01753 577688 and by completing and forwarding the appropriate referral form (which can be downloaded from the links at the bottom of the page) to the service, at LACES, 53 Stoke Road, Slough. SL2 5BW or by faxing it to 01753 512202. An 'Individual Pupil Referral form' is used by schools and an 'Individual Child/Young Person Referral form' is for the use of social workers and carers. Thereafter, a planning meeting will be held with the referer to discuss the request and put a timetable of support into action.

The Looked After Children’s Education Service (LACES) can provide funding to schools or carers, in addition to what is required of them, to help provide support to looked after children in order for them to make educational progress and achieve their full potential. The categories for receiving additional funding are set out in the request forms.

Funding is provided for a maximum of one academic term to give a child or young person time to settle into school, catch up on missed schooling and curricular areas or have additional tuition for SATs in years 6 and 9 or GCSEs in year 11. If a school thinks that a child or young person is in need and would benefit from a statement of SEN then funding can be made available to support and keep him/her in a mainstream school while he/she is going through the statutory process. In such circumstances the length of time for funding is negotiable and can be extended to coincide with the issue of the statement of SEN.

Schools or carers requesting additional financial support should complete the request form outlining the needs of the child or young person and what support is already in place and send to the advisory headteacher, LACES. Careful consideration will be given to each individual request and a reply outlining the decision will be returned within one working week.

At the end of the period of financial support an audit form, outlining the benefits and outcomes of the additional provision, should be completed and returned to LACES. At this stage, consideration may be given to extending the funding depending on need, outcomes and available finance.

The aim of the service is to work in partnership with schools and parents/carers to achieve the best possible educational outcomes for looked after children.

Carers or schools can request additional funding by contacting the LACES team on 01753 577688 and by completing and forwarding the 'Request for Additional Funding form' (which can be downloaded from the link below) to the service, at LACES, 53 Stoke Road, Slough. SL2 5BW or by faxing it to 01753 512202.