Our aims

All young people in our cohort are supported by the Virtual School Headteacher and a team of education advocates.

We'll support you, your place of education and professionals to make sure that you:

• thrive in a high quality education setting that matches your needs
• achieve your potential
• have good attendance
• secure a pathway into post-16 education
• prepare you for lifelong learning

Our mission

We want to:

• raise your aspirations
• improve your learning experiences
• raise your attainment
• improve your attendance
• support and train professionals to best support you
• make people aware of the impact that your life experiences may have on your learning

Personal Education Plans (PEPs)

All young people in care have a Personal Education Plan, more commonly known as a PEP. We use Welfare Call to produce our PEP platform. A PEP is statutory document completed by the designated teacher and young person’s social worker. This is then reviewed each term.

The PEP documents how a young person is moving along their educational journey, their attainment and targets. This then supports the young person to achieve their full potential. The PEP is also record of pupil premium plus spending and targets.

In Barnsley, all young people in care have statutory targets for attainment, student voice and Motional.

If you'd like to view our PEP pupil premium plus policy please email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk.

Motional assessments

As part of our commitment to support the most vulnerable, we've enabled all schools in the borough to have the ability to have Motional assessments.

Motional is an integral element of our support mechanism and forms a mandatory part of our PEP. Motional provides tools to measure, analyse, implement and track progress to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Motional assessments can also be carried out by the Virtual School upon request. Please email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk for more details.

Read more about Motional

Our education advocates

We have an experienced team of education advocates with specialisms and areas of expertise which promote the educational outcomes of our cohort. Their main duty is to promote the education of children in care and monitor their engagement, progress and attainment.

Education advocates support professionals in delivering a positive education experience for our young people. They also support them in securing the best outcomes possible in preparation for the next stages of their lives.  

Education advocates are here to:

• Provide advice and assistance to social care staff in relation to good practice in education. This includes the most recent legislative and guidance frameworks in relation to the education of looked after children.
• Provide advice to social workers on prospective new schools. 
• Provide strategic support around the education of previously looked after children. 
• Design and deliver bespoke training for schools, social workers, carers and other professional teams.
• Observe young people in their school or setting to ascertain next steps and support needed.
• Provide advice and guidance on the use of Motional and conduct assessments for out of area young people.
• Deliver training and support to new social workers and designated teachers via the Virtual School Clinic sessions.
• Mediate conflict which impacts upon the effective education of a young person. 
• Provide advocacy for young people experiencing exclusion or who are at risk of permanent exclusion and promote reintegration into the school setting via the use of the exclusions risk matrix.
• Provide appropriate professional challenge.
• Monitor assigned cohorts including their progress, attainment and attendance. 
• Attend meetings where necessary to provide advice and guidance.
• Provide advice and support to schools and social workers in developing personal education plans to support the education outcomes for looked after children and quality assure plans post deadline.
• Liaise with other council departments to facilitate the contribution from other services to meet needs identified within personal education plans.
• Promote a joint approach between social care and the Virtual School to planning and reviewing the educational and social needs of children in our care.

Our Education Welfare Officer

We have a dedicated Education Welfare Officer at the Virtual School. Their role is to support the attendance of our cohort. They work across our cohort, including children in care, children with a social worker and those in kinship care. Our Education Welfare Officer is here to support individual young people, social workers, carers and schools.

Help for children with a social worker and those in kinship care

We're dedicated to offering advice, support, and guidance to children with a social worker and those in kinship care. Our commitment to this group of young people includes providing a dedicated learning and engagement mentor. This team member supports young people in their learning journey, assists carers, and collaborates with professional teams to help young people reach their full potential.

To find out more, please email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk or visit us in clinic.

Help for previously looked after children

We have a dedicated education advocate to support young people who are previously looked after. Working closely with One Adoption South Yorkshire, our education advocate can provide support for all aspects of education from early years to Post-16 learning.

The Virtual School Clinic

The Virtual School holds a clinic session for carers and professionals supporting our cohort who wish to explore avenues of support.

Our clinic is held on Mondays from 1pm to 5pm at 1 Westgate, Barnsley S70 2DR.

There's no need to book in advance, but, if possible, please contact us ahead of time via email at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk so we can make sure the most appropriate team member is available to support you.

Guidance for Virtual Schools

The Department for Education provides Virtual Schools with guidance of how they should best discharge their duties. This guidance includes:

• Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children
• Children’s social care: virtual school head role extension

For more information on our statutory duties please email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk.

Our 70 strategies

Our 70 Strategies is a resilience-based toolkit comprising of 70 research-led approaches, specifically designed to support young people. This toolkit aims to equip those who work with young people with the essential skills, knowledge, and understanding required to provide high-quality support and sensitive interventions.

Read our 70 strategies.