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Personal Education Plan(PEP)

What are the main functions of a PEP meeting and accompanying PEP?

Local authorities have a duty to promote the educational achievement of children in care under section 52 of The Children Act 2004 (detail found in Paragraphs 42-54) and must ensure that all children in care have an effective and robust Personal Education Plan.The PEP is an evolving record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them to make expected progress and fulfil their potential. The PEP should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning that meets the identified educational needs of the child, raises aspirations and builds life chances.

Educational achievement is a key building block to improve the life chances of Children in Care (CiC) and the PEP process is central to making sure that we can encourage CiC to achieve in compulsory education.

A PEP meeting is a tool to enable key partners to communicate and take early action to support childrenand young people to fulfil their potential. It should detail how partners invest in the child’s education; work to remove barriers to their learning and encourage them to develop skills, hobbies, interests and relationships that will sustain them into adulthood.

A PEP:

1.

  • is a means of collating and recording information about the education of children in care, including their progress and attainment;
  • isan integral part of the Care Plan and should clearly link to any other educational plans for the child, such as SEN Support Plan (SP), Statement of Special Educational Needs / Education, Health and Care Plan or Pastoral Support Plan;
  • follows the child regardless of where he/she lives, who cares for him/her or where he/she goes to school and should therefore act as an accurate trackingdocument of his/her progress to quickly inform partners of their previous and current progress.

2.setsclear targetsfor the child relating to academic and other achievements(e.g.personal and emotional) both in and out of school. It identifies needs and sets SMART (short, measurable, achievable, realistic, time related) targets, as well as long term ones, especially in relation to career aspirations.

3.identifies:

  • the action needed to support the child to meet the objectives or targets;
  • how the Pupil Premium Plus grant will be used. What interventions will it fund?
  • who will be responsible for carrying out the action;
  • timescales for action and review of outcomes. Was the target achieved in the time scale and the impact of the interventions evidenced?

4.is an opportunity to listen to the child’s views, wishes and feelings about his/her education.Therefore the child should be encouraged and supported to attend the PEP meeting or their views ascertained pre the meeting.

PEP Reviews:

The main purpose of a review meeting is for all parties to formally revise the action plan (in section D) and, if needs be, to take account of any new circumstances that may have arisen.

Completing and Reviewing the PEP

The first PEP should be completed:

  • within 20 school days of a child becoming looked after; or
  • when the child accesses learning via a nursery (pre- compulsory education) until completion of the end of the academic period referred to as ‘Raising Participation Age’, Post 16 or until the end of the Looked After status ends.*

*Promoting the education of looked after children. Statutory guidance for local authorities July 2014

Subsequently, the PEP should be reviewed and updated by the education setting e.g. nursery, school/ academy, post 16 provider, termly. This means that the PEP is reviewed and updated twice more in the (academic) year before the next annual review, amounting to three revisions per annum.This makes the document ‘live’ and more robust.

Ideally these reviews will be planned to coincide with a school’s normal processes for reviewing a child’s progress e.g. termly updated progress and attainment data, parent/carer evenings or days, review of the SEN IEP.

Good practice dictates that it may require reviewing and updatingmore frequently if and when new circumstances arise. For example, an appropriate adult may call further meetings for reasons such as those outlined below:

  • at all transition points, such as when a child has to change school for any reason; between Key Stages 1 and 2; primary to secondary education. Ideally the PEP meeting will include the designated teacher from the previous and receiving school;
  • whenever there is a cause for concerne.g. a series of exclusions; high absence.
  • before and after a major change that will need planning for such as a placement move; or a return to Doncaster from living out of the area.
  • a Statutory review for a child with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or high needs; or review of the EHCP. Ideally it will be agreed that one of the PEP review meetings will be combined with this meeting as the same people are usually invited to both.

The SEN Annual review meeting needs to be conducted in the normal way with additional time planned to review the PEP. Anything covered by the SEN review should be noted on the PEP Action Plan as ‘see attached SEN Annual Review’ and this information attached to the PEP.

Issues not covered in the statement/EHCPshould be addressed and noted on the PEP Action Plan.

It is important to complete the date for the next PEP meeting and who needs to be invited. For the purposes of the meeting, the 2 documents (SEN review and PEP) should be forwarded to everyone who would normally receive them.

Whenever possible, this process should occur when other plans are reviewed to avoid unnecessary repetition e.g. an Individual Education Plan or Pastoral Support Plan.

The PEP meeting:

Who is invited to the meeting and what are their responsibilities?

At the first PEP meeting for a child who has recently entered care, information about the child’s previous schooling and educational history should be brought – this may be provided by the social worker, education setting or other professionals.

The Social Worker (SW) is responsible for initiating the PEPas part of the Care Plan. Thereafter, responsibility for reviewing the PEP lies withthe Designated Teacher (DT) with support from the SW. This means that the social worker will start the process when a childbecomes looked after The DT will chair the meeting, record the academic data and section D of the PEP.

The Social Worker’s responsibilities will include:

  • ensuring that the first PEP meeting is scheduled within the appropriate time scales and in a convenient place to enable all parties (social worker, foster carer /parent, designated teacher,child) to attend;
  • completing informationrequired for Section A of the PEP prior to the meeting to ensure time is given for discussion and planning. This information should include, for example, thenames of key workers, the child’s legal position, who is allowed to contact the child, risks, etc. It is essential that any changes to this information areupdatedprior to the next PEP meeting;
  • ensuring that the plan is updated onto the system within 10 working days and copies of the completed plan are forwarded to the carer and child and school if required. Professionals who can access the social care database will be able to see the PEP on line e.g. the IRO.
  • confirming that:

a)the review date is still appropriate;

b)that it is still appropriate to invite all previous attendees; and

c)that any other potential attendees who may usefully contribute to thereview process are identified.

  • agreeing any necessary application to a new school and including a copy of the PEP with the application.

The Designated Teacher(DT) or appropriate other(e.g. personal tutor/ teacher who knows the child the best) attends the meeting. The DTis responsible for:

  • collating up-to-date informationon thechild’s academic attainmentbefore the meeting (Section B of the PEP). It includes prior attainment, Fischer Family Trust (FFT) PA estimates, the school’s predicted targets based on current performance, attendance (including reasons for absence) and any other broader achievements, including skills and attitudes. Copies of other plans, such as Individual Education Plans, should be available;
  • identifying appropriate SMART school based targets and interventions to support the child;
  • monitoring progress towards the targets included in the PEP, identifying and evidencing successes, and the ‘next steps’ to support continued progress;
  • reviewing and updating the PEP termly to enable robust tracking of progress;ensuringthat new information is forwarded to theappropriate parent/carer and other professionals;
  • forwarding the revisions to the child’s social worker and updating at the child’s Social Services Statutory LAC Review. If the DT is unable to attend the Statutory LAC Review then an updated copy of the PEP can be forwarded to the IRO or an update provided on progress since the last review meeting.
  • discussing with the child, their attendance at the PEP meeting and about completion of their part of the PEP (Section C) before the meeting.

The childis responsible for completing Section C of the PEP with support from their chosen adult to ensure their views; wishes and feelingsabout education are accurately represented.

The Foster Carer or Parent or Key worker(if the childis living in a residential unit) is responsible for:

  • contributing to Section D of the PEP at the PEP meeting in partnership with other professionals;
  • sharing information about the child’s involvement in out-of-school activities; successes and difficulties with home learning; and
  • identifying actions to support thechild’s progress towards the targets e.g. support with home learning; listening to the child read.

All the above are responsible for contributing to section D.

TheVirtual School staff (C&YPinCES)are responsible for:

  • ensuring that all children in care have a robust and effective personal education plan which is subject to a rigorous monitoring and evaluation process.This will involve the quality assurance of all plans;
  • challenging schools - in conjunction with the School Standards and Effectiveness Officers and StEPS -social care and others (when appropriate)about the quality of the PEP. The service will attend one PEP meeting per child per year to facilitate this process;
  • monitoring the completion of PEPs in relation to time scales;
  • providing advice, information and support to the PEP process if required by the professionals - especially those new to their respective roles; and
  • developing and leading multi-agency training to support the production of effective PEPs.

The Looked After Child Statutory Review Meeting

Thechild’sDesignated Teacher and or social worker will ensure that the PEP is accessible for the ‘Looked After Child Statutory Review’ Meeting to be reviewed along with the care plan. Prior to this school-based and other actions should be updated and addendums presented to the meeting.

The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)should have sight of the PEP at least 3 days before the review.

The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) will ensure there is discussion at the meeting about all the key points within the PEP:

  • Is the PEP action plan being followed up?
  • Is it still appropriate for the child’s needs?
  • Has the PEP been updated and amendments made?
  • What progress has the child/child made since the last meeting? Are they on track to meet age related expected progress and outcomes or appropriately challenging personal targets?

The IRO will ensure that any relevant issues arising from the discussion of the PEP are included in the recommendations which they make for thechild.

The PEP meeting must be completed prior to and not during a review meeting.

The Personal Education Plan Review

A change in circumstances might suggest that the next scheduled PEP review meeting be brought forward; e.g.behavioural, emotional or exclusion issues. On these occasions the DT should contact the social worker to discuss appropriate ways forward.

  • The social worker and DT will agree who is to be invited in addition to the child and carer/parent/key worker. This will take into consideration the need to refer to and invite other agencies, bearing in mind that children who are looked after have many adults involved in their lives. Examples include: the Education Welfare Officer (EWO); the Personal Advisor; the SEN Officer, Coordinator or Inclusion lead; CAMHS, an Educational Psychologist, Youth Inclusion Service or Youth Offending Service worker; or a member of C&YPinCES.
  • The social worker and DT may agree that a meeting is not needed if any additional support required is part of the school’s normal universal, targeted or intensive offer e.g. the use of one to one tuition to address learning needs, or a learning mentor to support the transition process. In cases such as thesethe action is recorded as part of the PEP action plan, and parents/ carers/key workers informed using the normal school systems (such as by letter or telephone call) and the appropriate adult’s permission obtained.

In all cases, the action plan should be reviewed, amended and updated.

Date for review and development of this policy: January 2017

DMBC January 2016