5. Background
5.1 Research has shown that looked after children generally have lower attainment and leave school with far poorer qualifications than their peers. The inspection considered the attainments and qualifications obtained by the children in the sample.
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Lesley (16) lived happily with her mother and her stepfather until she was 10 years old. Her mother died tragically and Lesley continued to live with her stepfather. Her school reports for this stage in her life were very positive about her attainments. However, Lesley’s stepfather developed depression and alcohol dependency and she moved to live with a relative carer. This placement also broke down. Lesley then moved to a children's unit where she has lived for 3 years. She has had periods of absconding from the unit. School and unit staff are supportive and caring of Lesley, but she is no longer motivated to attain at school. She recently took up a part-time college placement. She has now left school with no Standard Grade qualifications, but has gained one SQA16 award at Intermediate Level 2 and one at Access Level 3. |
Evaluation and recommendations
Progress and attainment
5.2 Social workers, teachers and carers were asked if the children in their care were responding well at school and if they received work appropriate to their age and level of understanding. In most cases it was reported that the children had good experiences in their schools. However, there were a few cases where social workers and carers reported that teachers had been insensitive to, or unaware of, the needs of a particular child.
5.3 n relation to attainment in English language and mathematics, the majority of children in the sample were underachieving in terms of 5-14 targets. Of the pupils at the primary stages, just under half were achieving the expected targets, about one fifth were achieving targets one level below that expected for their age, and about one third were achieving 2 or more levels below that expected for their age.
5.4 The Table in Appendix 2 gives information about the educational qualifications gained by those young people in the sample who had recently completed S4 or S5 in their schools. The national average number of Standard Grade awards per candidate at any level is 7. Of the 25 young people in the sample only 8 achieved this number of awards. The national average number of Credit level awards is 3 per candidate. In this sample, only 2 young people achieved this number of awards. None achieved awards at Higher Grade. Three of the young people in the sample had not been entered for any national examinations and consequently had not gained any awards. While it is very likely that the results obtained by individuals in this sample represent significant achievements for them and their schools, the results as a whole present a disappointing picture in comparison with Scottish students as a whole. This is especially true in terms of the quality of awards obtained.
5.5 Some schools tended to be too complacent about the low attainment of their looked after children, perhaps feeling that the children were doing as well as could be expected. When schools were asked to comment on the children's progress, most tended to comment on aspects of their behaviour and how well "settled" they were in school. Generally, insufficient attention was paid to the children’s educational progress and how they compared with national levels of attainment. Schools should take particular care to identify the learning needs of all their looked after children, set them challenging but realistic educational targets and systematically monitor the progress made.
5.6 Almost all children in the sample were set regular homework by their teachers, unless it had been decided in individual cases that homework was not to be given. However, one school which provided for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, gave no homework to any of its pupils as staff felt that this would de-motivate them. Looked after children should receive homework commensurate with their age and level of ability. Most in the sample completed their homework tasks. Issues of non-completion of homework were found mainly in secondary schools. In 2 local authorities general disaffection with school, coupled with homework issues and truancy, was a feature for 5 out of 10 young people in the sample. In another local authority there were no reported cases of non-completion of homework.
Support for learning
5.7 About half of the children in the sample were receiving, or had received, learning and/or behaviour support. In total, 19 of the children had special educational needs. Of these 5 had Records of Needs and 2, in special schools, were without Records. While in general the level of support was appropriate, there were some exceptions. For example, one boy waited for a number of years before the school asked for his needs to be assessed by the psychological service. He was found to have significant special educational needs.
5.8 All authorities in Scotland were asked through questionnaires whether they were involved in any special projects, or employed designated staff, to support the education of looked after children. Twenty-one of the 30 authorities who replied said that they did have projects and provided the information in the Table 2.
Table 2: Special projects in support of looked after children across 30 authorities.
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PROJECT/STAFF |
NO OF AUTHORITIES |
|
Home-school link workers or similar |
9 |
|
Other projects specifically dedicated to the education of looked after children |
3 |
|
Special budget for outreach teaching staff, tuition, musical instruments etc for looked after children |
2 |
|
Projects to provide support for pupils having difficulties but not specifically focussed on looked after children |
6 |
|
Project for looked after children but focussed on mental health not education |
1 |
|
No details provided of projects |
2 |
|
TOTAL |
23* |
5.9 The 5 local authorities inspected had a range of support which they provided to looked after children.
Main recommendation 4
Schools should take particular care to identify the learning needs of all their looked after children, set them challenging but realistic educational targets and systematically monitor the progress made. A senior member of staff in each school should maintain an overview of looked after children’s progress and take responsibility for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place for supporting the children’s education. (5.4-5.5, 9.19)