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Kinship care

From September 2024 the Virtual School will be providing advice and training for schools, relevant LA teams, and kinship carers for children who have a formal Kinship care order, such as an SGO, but who have not previously been in care.

We can provide information, advice and training to schools and formal kinship carers on how to support children in formal kinship care. All schools should identify a member of staff to oversee this support, and these staff are able to access all training offered by the Virtual School to designated teachers and designated safeguarding leads.

Our objectives are to:

  • Enhance partnerships between education settings and the local authority so agencies can work together in a child focused manner.
  • Promote practice that supports children’s engagement in education, recognising the crucial importance of good school attendance.
  • Establish strong relationships with education settings to raise awareness and expertise of schools to meet the needs of children in formal Kinship care.

To achieve this, we will:

  • Promote professional practice which: champions high levels of support alongside high standards for children in Kinship care, recognises how stability and consistency in relationships can help children to overcome barriers to learning and encourages effective information sharing between professionals so that anyone supporting children and families understands their context.
  • Provide expert advice around education at local panels in relation to formal Kinship care.
  • Provide training and advice to schools and relevant local authority teams to strengthen how education settings understand the impact of adversity on learning and educational outcomes of children within this distinct cohort.
  • Provide training, advice and signposting to formal kinship carers about aspects of their child’s education.

We have a dedicated email address for all your queries: VSTAdvice@salford.gov.uk 

Further information

A helpful website for Kinship carers is Kinship Compass, they are an independent online information, advice and support hub just for Kinship Carers.

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