Virtual School

The Virtual School supports children to do their very best at school by making sure that they all receive suitable education and feel safe to learn.

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Virtual school

The latest update from Northumberland's Virtual School Headteacher

Virtual School Headteacher's Annual Report 2023-24

Referrals

Making a referral into the Virtual School is easy.

To refer a pupil to Education Welfare please complete the form below and return it to educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk:

To refer to Education Other than at School (EOTAS) Health Needs for tuition please request a Virtual School Passport from EOTASHealth@northumberland.gov.uk

To refer to Education Support for Looked After Children (ESLAC) please email us at ESLAC.info@northumberland.gov.uk

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. The Council is registered as a ‘data controller’ under the Data Protection Act (registration no. Z1727733) as we collect, use and hold personal information about you in order to provide public services.

Please click here to see a notice which explains how we use and share your information. Information may be collected via a paper or online form, by telephone, email, CCTV or by a member of our staff, or one of our partners.

Virtual School for Cared for and Previously Cared for Children

Our Virtual School inspires and motivates children to learn, achieve and celebrate.

Our Virtual School Headteacher is Jane Walker who works with an ESLAC (Education Support for Looked After Children) team to promote the education of cared for and previously cared for children, and children who have or have had a social worker.  We fulfil statutory guidance from the Department for Education, and how well we are doing that is evaluated in the Virtual School Headteacher's annual report.  We also fulfil DfE guidance on promoting the education of children who have and have had a social worker.
All Designated Teachers working with Northumberland looked after children have access to a Sharepoint webpage of resources, advice and guidance to support them to fulfil the Statutory Guidance for the Designated Teacher of Looked After and Previously Looked After Children.
The Virtual School offers the following to schools, professionals, parents, carers and guardians who are seeking support and advice regarding the education of previously looked after children:

Our referral procedure is simple - telephone or email us. We accept referrals from carers, social workers, parents and teachers. We’re happy to talk to young people too.

Email: eslac.info@northumberland.gov.uk

The Virtual School Headteacher is Jane Walker.
The Virtual School Deputy Headteacher is Tara Prescott.

Safeguarding and schools

The Schools’ Safeguarding team provides services to make sure that children in schools and education settings are safe to learn.

Arrangements for safeguarding children in Northumberland can be found on the Northumberland Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership webpage.

Education providers are all required to comply with the DfE's statutory guidance for safeguarding children: 
Keeping Children Safe in Education

All Designated Safeguarding Leads in Northumberland have access to the Virtual School's Sharepoint webpage with information about training, resources, advice and guidance.

Children not in school

The Education Welfare Service fulfils the statutory duties of the local authority for safeguarding children in relation to school attendance, elective home education, children missing education, children  children in entertainment employment (and their chaperones)

The Education Welfare Team is responsible for working with schools and education providers to deliver a multi-agency approach to attendance improvement, in accordance with DfE guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance.  

Northumberland's attendance improvement strategy can be viewed and downloaded here: Improving Attendance to give children the best start in life 2023-2028

Attendance Leads in Northumberland schools have access to advice, guidance and resources on the Virtual School's Sharepoint webpage.

To refer a pupil to Education Welfare please complete the form below and return it to educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk:

Key information about school attendance:
Children in employment: We need to know about all children who are of school age and employed.  The work must be suitable and must not affect the child's health or education. Employment is any type of paid or voluntary work carried out for any person, organisation or business that can be deemed to be the employer of the child.
Children in entertainment: If a child of school age or below is involved in performances, they must be licensed and properly chaperoned.  For more information please visit the GOV.UK guidance on child performance and activities-  licensing legislation.   

Elective home education

Elective Home Education (EHE) is the term used by the DfE to describe a parent's decision to provide education for their children at home instead of sending them to school.

The responsibility for a child’s education rests with their parents. In England, education is compulsory but school is not.  If a child is not educated at school then parents should be providing a suitable full time education at home, and this is referred to as elective home education (or EHE).

For further information and contact details:

If you are considering home educating and would like advice then please contact the Education Welfare team educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk

Children missing from education

Education Welfare fulfils the local authority's statutory duty to identify, safeguard and re-engage children who are missing education.

The local authority has a duty to identify and engage with pupils who are not receiving their
entitlement to full time education.  These pupils are either at risk of missing out on, or are missing out on, full
time education. 

Our arrangements have been developed with Northumberland's safeguarding partnership so that we can identify children in our area who are not on roll at a school and who are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school. The agreed procedures include measures to prevent children at risk of becoming missing from education and fulfils statutory guidance.

The Lead Education Welfare Officer (LEWO), Dawn Westerby,  is the ‘named person’ for Children Missing from Education (CME).

Northumberland's arrangements can be downloaded here:

For further advice or guidance please contact Education Welfare by email:  educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk 

Education other than at school: EOTAS Health Needs

EOTAS is the name given to education provision which is not at school.

The Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) Health Needs team fulfils part of the local authority’s requirement to provide education for those young people who are of statutory school age but are unable to attend school full time due to a diagnosed health condition or medical need.  To be eligible for EOTAS Health Needs provision in Northumberland a pupil must have a medical assessment from a health professional stating that their health needs prevent them from attending school.

Teaching is provided in our small group venues located around the county and via our online teaching platform. ​

For advice or guidance if a pupil has medical or health needs, please contact EOTAShealth@northumberland.gov.uk 

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