A personal education plan (PEP) is the statutory document used when planning for the education of looked-after children. All looked-after children must have a PEP as part of their overall care plan:
- PEPs feed into the statutory care planning framework, in collaboration with the social worker, independent reviewing officer, carer and other relevant professionals
- The PEP includes information to help with conversations, planning and the delivery of strategies required to ensure the child gets the support and provision needed to succeed
- The views of the child or young person must be evidenced and used to inform the setting of target
- Targets should be child specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and have clear timescales attached to them
- The designated teacher leads on how the PEP is used as a tool in school (living document)
- PEPs ensure that the child’s progress towards education targets is monitored
- A child must have a PEP 3 times a year (termly) and within 20 working days of being placed in care
- A care plan is incomplete without a PEP and a health plan – at PEP meetings, the previous PEP should be reviewed
- Looked-after children should benefit from school-based interventions. Where pupils have had turbulent schooling, there will be gaps in understanding that must be identified and addressed in order to succeed.
- Looked-after children should be making progress at least in line with other pupils at the school and nationally. Many looked-after children need to make more progress than their peers to ‘close the gap’ and attain at least expected standards.
- Any transition is difficult for looked-after children and should be planned for and actions documented – always consider which adults the child has a trusting relationship with at school
- Always focus on life-long outcomes and how today’s decisions will impact on a young person at the age of 25 – education impacts positively on the life chances of children and young people
- DfE statutory guidance ‘Designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children’
Target setting for PEPs
It is important that the attainment of looked-after children is a focus in target setting. All those around LAC should provide support and guidance to help them progress forward with high aspirations.
Targets for a PEP need to be aspirational with high expectations. The designated teacher (DT) has a responsibility for the targets and to ensure that all strategies are in place to monitor them to ensure they have been met before the next PEP meeting. Only a teacher should set targets, if the pastoral support team have contributed, they must be checked by the DT. Targets need to be reviewed at each PEP.
The Foster Carers also play an important part in supporting the achievement of the targets.
Targets should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related) in a way that will support the child’s learning based on their current progress and educational targets. Two targets should directly address academic progress. Targets one and two need to be drafted before the meeting takes place and can be informed from work scrutiny, attendance and behaviour records. Information from teachers can be used in advance of meetings but needs to be sent out two weeks before the PEP meeting.
Academic targets can also include issues surrounding transition and career aspirations. The third target should be more holistic concerning social emotional and mental health needs of the child. It is vital that this target is child centred and if possible, reflects their views. All targets need to cover the following:
- Type of target – What?
- Reason – Why?
- Specific action – How?
- Responsibility – Who?
- Timescale – When?
- Pupil premium plus – Funding required to support the target
The targets set should be achievable before the next PEP and they need to be reviewed and monitored regularly. Examples of SMART targets are included in the pack.
It is important that the child’s views are listened to when the targets are being written. The PEP is a live, evolving document that must reflect the needs of the child.
Quality targets will ensure that LAC children achieve their educational potential and have a positive experience of learning.
Transition targets
Transition support needs to be part of PEP targets where needed, such as when a child begins to attend a new school or returns to school (for example, moving from pre-school, primary to secondary school or following illness or exclusion) or when a child has a plan for permanence (for example, placed for adoption) and may change schools as part of that plan.
The transition targets should identify the support needed to help the child realise their short and long-term academic achievements and aspirations. This includes:
- support to achieve expected levels of progress for the relevant national curriculum key stage and to complete an appropriate range of approved qualifications
- careers advice and guidance and financial information about further and higher education, training and employment
- out-of-school learning activities
- school attendance and where appropriate, behaviour support
Early years PEPs
The Virtual School ensures that all pre-school looked-after children accessing early education have good quality PEPs and the best provision possible.
All young children undergo considerable change prior to starting school. They may spend time with child minders and attend different playgroups and nurseries. Their parents usually plan ahead and take care to settle them into each setting so that when they start school they feel secure and learn. Young children who are in public care are particularly vulnerable. Usually, they will have had restricted and distorted experiences and undergone considerable upheavals, including trauma and difficult separations. This means even more careful thought and planning is needed to help them feel secure at each transition.
The purpose of an early years PEP is to ensure that all the involved adults work together so that children in public care receive the support they need to access appropriate, good quality pre-school play opportunities and settle when they start school.
In line with government guidance, Enfield Council is committed to increasing the life chances of all children for whom we are the corporate parents. Ideally a PEP should be held by the time the child reaches the age of 3 years, so careful plans can be made enabling them to access appropriate pre-school provision when ready.
All children in public care attending nursery are required to have a PEP. If a child changes their nursery or care placement, then a PEP meeting should be held within 20 working days. A PEP helps provide continuity and stability. It ensures that essential information is passed on to those that need to know including their receiving school.
Target examples
EFYS
- To be able to take turns when playing with toys with friends 2 out of 3 occasions
- To be able to throw, catch, roll and kick different things like large balls, hoops, beanbags and balloons
- To be able to follow two- step adult instructions
KS1
- To be able to express her ideas, thoughts and feelings in longer phrases/sentences
- To be able to count with 1:1 correspondence to 10
- To be able to share and join in play with a wider group of friends
- To be able to count to 100 and beyond, forwards and backwards from any given number
KS2
- To be able to use a dictionary to check the meaning of words that I do not know
- To be able to add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits, including using formal written methods (columnar addition and subtraction)
- To face new challenges positively by collecting information, looking for help, making responsible choices and taking action
KS3
- To plan writing by developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research if needed
- Attendance improves from 90 to 95% in the next 12 weeks
- To work with, rearrange and solve increasing complex algebraic equations involving brackets and variables and constants and both sides of the equals sign
KS4
- To securely achieve a Grade 6 by the end of the spring term by further practicing working memory skills to improve retention of key characters, events and quotations in preparation for exams
- To improve understanding of algebra and to be able to factorise, solve, rearrange and simplify basic algebraic expressions
- Learn key vocabulary in science and increase accuracy of spelling, so that 90% of words are spelt correctly in a piece of work