Page 86 - SEN113 SEN Magazine July-August 2021-V3

Looked after children Looked After Children Ian Butler details the needs of looked after children. 86 Having been to many personal education plan (PEP) meetings and listened to a multitude of children, young people and their carers and teachers, it is important to understand that the educational needs of young people are often met in mainstream education with the support of dedicated teachers and special-educational needs professionals. Sadly, looked after children have historically fared less well in mainstream school; although it is important to look behind the raw statistics to uncover success stories and advance our understanding of the very specific needs that many looked after children may have, and bring this to the classroom. Using research and a wide experience of working with looked after children, their carers and teachers, this article will look at practice here and abroad to unpick some of the issues facing these students. More than a statistic The DFE statistics published in 2020 make unpleasant reading for people looking to improve the life chances of looked after children. “Educational attainment gap continues... Educational outcomes for LAC continue to lag behind non- looked after peers by between 25-30% at KS2. “Achieved significantly lower scores” Looked After Children achieved significantly lower scores at KS4, scoring an average Attainment 8 score of 19.1 compared to 44.6 for all children; the percentage of LAC achieving the threshold in English and maths at grade 5 or above decreased from 7.7% in 2018 to 7.2%. At Key Stage 2 LAC tend to perform slightly better across reading, writing and mathematics compared to children in need. First year DfE has published destination measures for LAC and Children in Need. The rate of permanent exclusions for looked after children has fallen and is now less than the rate for all children and continues to be much less than the rate for children in need.” Equal Education: DfE releases latest outcomes data for Looked After Children 6 April 2020 SEN113 senmagazine.co.uk