Virtual School

The latest information and resources from the Virtual School to support schools, parents and carers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This information was last updated on 17 September 2020.

The following links are for attendance leads, Designated Safeguarding Leads and Designated Teachers:

• Signs of Safety Newsletter, Issue 1
• Return to School briefing from the Virtual School teams, 1st September 2020
• FAQs: school attendance from 1st September 2020

​The following links are for Designated Safeguarding Leads:

• Safe to Learn Issue 47, 4th September 2020
• Safe to learn Issue 46, 17th July 2020
• A Guide for Education Settings Supporting Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Needs Which Have Arisen from COVID-19
• Addendum to Child Protection Policy in response to coronavirus goverment guidance
  • Checklist to accompany addendum to Child Protection Policy

The following links are for Designated Teachers:

• 10 things you should know about transition during the coronavirus outbreak
• Meet in the Middle: A guide to moving to middle school
• Step Up: A guide to moving to secondary school
• What Next? A guide to education after Year 11
• Applying the 4 Rs of trauma-informed approaches in the return to school
• Primary milestone: what's typical talk at primary
• Secondary milestone: what's typical talk at secondary
• 10 things you should know about ESLAC Psychologists
• Resources from our Virtual Summer Conference for Designated Teachers, 7th July 2020
  • #shoutout for our looked after children
  • Update from the Virtual School Headteacher
  • Sharing trauma informed practices in our schools
    • Human Givens Model
    • Supporting care experienced children and young people during the Covid 19 crisis and its aftermath
  • Getting back on track - the evolving ePEPs
  • Moving on - transition arrangements
  • Year 10 summer school and beyond
  • An introduction to good corporate parenting
  • Looking after yourself

​The following links are for Foster Carers and Residential Home Staff:

• Guided Tour of Britannica learning resource for Virtual Schools
• 10 things you should know about starting school - Early Years
• 10 things you should know about moving school
• 10 things you should know about further education/Post-16 
• Talking to children about coronavirus

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:

• Education Welfare Pupil referral form

To refer to Education Other than at School (EOTAS) Health Needs for tuition please complete the Virtual School Passport at the link below and send it with a supporting medical letter to EOTASHealth@northumberland.gov.uk:

• EOTAS referral passport - Health Needs (Word version)

To refer to Education Support for Looked After Children (ESLAC) please call 01670 622779 or email us at ESLAC.info@northumberland.gov.uk
 

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.  There is no Virtual School building but we do share some features of a ‘real’ school.  There is

• a Designated Teacher for looked after and previously looked after children in all of our schools and academies;
• a governing body called the multi-agency looked-after partnership (MALAP);
• a virtual school roll - although pupils are enrolled at and remain the responsibility of  real schools;
• a system to track and monitor the progress and attainment of all children looked after by Northumberland local authority; 
• a school improvement plan which sets out our priorities for each academic year;
• a Designated Teacher working group that meets every half term;
• please click here for statutory guidance from the Department for Education;
• inspection from Ofsted

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 Strategic Safeguarding Partnership webpage.

A bulletin called Safe to Learn is distributed to schools, academies and education providers across Northumberland every half term.

Bookings for the training programme for Designated Safeguarding Leads can be made here:
Virtual School Training Programme 2020-21

The NSSP's Schools' Engagement sub-group has developed the following guides to support Designated Safeguarding Leads through the referral process to Early Help and Social Care services:

• NEW - What meeting am I attending?
• The Referral Process- flowchart
• First Contact - what happens to your referral
• 10 top tips when making a referral
• Examples of application of thresholds to referrals at different levels
• Making a good referral

We also recommend the following:

• Northumberland's MASH - A Guide for Professionals
• Northumberland's Early Help Strategy - a summary for schools

Education settings are all required to comply with the DfE's statutory guidance for safeguarding children:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education

Training is available from the NSSP for schools/academies to access, and as detailed in the brochure for 2017-18:

• NSSP Training Catalogue 2020-21

For a summary of requirements and responsibilities please view and download our leaflets:

• 10 things you should know about safeguarding in schools
• 10 things you should know about Operation Encompass
• 10 things you should know about Operation Endeavour
• 10 things you should know about child exploitation
• 10 things you should know about Prevent
• 10 things you should know about modern slavery
• 10 things you should know about children with health needs

Schools are required to have their own Child Protection Policy which has to be reviewed annually.  A model policy and policy checklist are available here to download and adapt for your setting:

• Model Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy (September 2020)
• Checklist for reviewing a Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
• Policy appendices

We have developed a template Whole School Drug Policy 2020 for schools to adopt and adapt, written in relation to the safegurading of young people involved in a drug related incident in school and the procedures for schools to follow should an incident occur.

In response to the JTAI, we have highlighted the increased vulnerability of young people on fixed term exclusions as a result of their involvement in a drug related incident.

• Whole School Drug Policy 2020 - template

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 
• attendance of permanently excluded children 
• children in entertainment employment (and their chaperones)

The Education Welfare Team works to ensure that the local authority’s statutory duties and other responsibilities for safeguarding children in relation to the criteria listed are carried out to the highest possible standard.

The Education Welfare team promotes and enforces regular attendance at school and alternative provision for all children, including looked after children, vulnerable learners and those students with an education health care plan (EHCP), in order for them to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them.

Work is undertaken on behalf of children in partnership with their parents, schools, alternative providers, and other professionals, to enable each pupil the maximum opportunity to benefit from their educational entitlement.
 
Work is also undertaken at a whole school level to support schools with their policies and practices to improve attendance. This can involve support which is non-statutory but available through the team's service level agreement.
 
To refer a pupil to Education Welfare please complete the form below and return it to educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk:

• EWO referral form

Please click here to apply for a child employment, child entertainment, or chaperone licence.

For a summary of key services provided by the Education Welfare Team please view our leaflets below:

• School attendance, DfE statutory guidance August 2020
• 10 things you should know about child employment
• 10 things you should know about children in entertainment
• Leave of absence in term time -  guidance

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:

• Elective Home Education - guidance for parents, DfE April 2019
• 10 things you should know about elective home education
• Elective Home Education in Northumberland - guidance for parents and professionals 

If you are considering home educating in response to a school-based issue, please take advice available from the council’s lead officer for elective home education (EHE) or one of the independent home education organisations before making a decision. 

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

The EOTAS Health Needs team provides for learners who are of statutory school age but who are unable to attend school full time due to health and medical needs. Tuition is provided on a one to one basis or in small groups depending on the needs of each individual pupil. For a summary of the service provided by this team please view and download our leaflet:

• 10 things you should know about the education of pupils with health needs

Medical needs: referrals are usually made by Education Welfare Officers or school pastoral managers/heads of year with confirmation in writing from a medical professional (usually a consultant rather than a GP) that the learner is unable to attend school because of their medical condition.

Mental health needs: referrals are usually made by Education Welfare Officers or school pastoral managers/heads of year with confirmation in writing from a mental health professional that the learner is unable to attend school because of their mental health condition.

For advice or guidance if a pupil has medical or health needs, please telephone 01670 624182.

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

The local authority has a duty to identify and engage with pupils who are not receiving their
entitlement to full time education. Full time education is defined as 25 hours per week for 39
weeks per year. These pupils are either at risk of missing out on or are missing out on full
time education. The Education Welfare team delivers this service for Northumberland local authority.

Our arrangements have been developed in partnership with the NSSP and enable us to establish the identities of 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.

Northumberland Local Authority can demonstrate that the statutory guidance regarding children missing from education is followed.

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:

• 10 things you should know about children missing education
• Children Missing Education, DfE statutory guidance for local authorities September 2016
• Children Missing from and Missing out on education, Northumberland guidance October 2019

For further advice or guidance please contact Education Welfare 01670 622800 or email educationwelfare@northumberland.gov.uk