SEND & Looked After Children (LAC)

LAC stands for Looked After Children. Being looked after means that parents are unable to care for a child and the council or court takes on parenting decisions. This can be temporary or permanent. There are a few ways the child’s new care might be provided. Two common ways are foster care or children’s homes.

NSPCC has a good introduction to LAC: learning.nspcc.org.uk/children-and-families-at-risk/looked-after-children.

 

Who's Who?

 

 

I lead LAC support in school.  The full name for this role is “Designated Teacher for Looked After and Previously Looked After Children".

Contact me:

Jessica.milnthorp@sandringham.school

01302 361 880

For our pupils who are LAC and have SEND, we:

  • Monitor progress through a termly Personal Education Plan (PEP).
  • As often as we can, schedule PEP meetings at the same time as SEND meetings so that PEPs and SEND plans are joined up.
  • Work well with LAC support services (e.g. social workers, the Virtual School Headteacher).
  • Make sure LAC pupils with SEND can join in extra activities, by making extra arrangements such as:
    • Permission from both a social worker and a pupil’s carer to allow them to go on a residential trip
    • Liaising with carers and taxi drivers so that a pupil is collected early and gets to school in time for the day trip leaving at 8.00am.
  • Use Pupil Premium plus money to get the best outcomes for the pupil.
  • Give LAC children equal access to SEND provision that is no less than they would get if they were not LAC.
  • Support our staff to understand the effects of loss or separation from birth families.
  • Know that SEND can make it even harder for some LAC children to trust adults, and how we might overcome this.
  • Have big ambitions for our pupils who are LAC and SEND. National data shows that this group of pupils aren't achieving well enough. We’ll make sure that every child who is LAC & SEND child achieves their very best.

 

Extra Funding (Pupil Premium Plus)

We get extra money for LAC pupils and those who were LAC but aren’t anymore (e.g. pupils who've been adopted after time in foster care). This money is called Pupil Premium Plus. From time to time, you might also hear it being called LAC Pupil Premium.

Being LAC and having SEND does not mean that a pupil is behind in their learning. For example, a LAC pupil who is very able at maths and English but experiences social difficulties that are identified as a SEND.