Virtual School Newsletter: Spring Term (February2025)

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Just a reminder that all our Protocols, Guidance, Forms, ePEP information and plenty of other useful resources can be found on the Virtual School Website by clicking here.

See Information for Schools, Settings and Governors

There is also a section for Adopted Children & those under Special Guardianship Orders

and info on the Extended Role of the Virtual School (to support children on CIN/CP Plans)

Dates for your Diary

Designated Teacher Network Meetings:

  • Tues 25 March 2025 (focus on children under Special Guardianship Orders & Kinship Care)
  • Tues 20 May 2025 (focus tbc)
  • Tues 15 July 2025 (focus tbc)
  • Mon 20 October 2025 (focus tbc) All meetings held 1.30 – 3.00pm via Teams.

Hold the dates in your diary and an Outlook calendar invite will be emailed to all DTs nearer each date, if you don’t receive the invite please request from kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk

If there are any topics you’d like us to focus on in these meetings please email kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk

New DT Refresher Training

We are aware that Designated Teachers change and move on and to help with this the

Virtual school and Educational Psychology Service are running a training/information session aimed at new DT`s or those who would like a refresher about the role. The virtual training sessions will be held termly to cover new people taking up the role as the school year unfolds and to give a choice of dates. Each session will be the same so you would only need to attend one. Structure of the training:

  • 1 hour to understand trauma, attachment and why a CiC may need something additional from a school setting;
  • 1 hour looking at ‘What it means to be a DT and the statutory duties it entails’.

Dates:

  • Mon 7 July 2025
  • Mon 22 September 2025

All training held from 2.00-4.15pm via Teams

To attend the New DT Refresher Training please request the calendar invite/Teams joining instructions from kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk

Pupil Premium Funding (request deadline 7 March 2025)

An important reminder that the deadline for Pupil Premium+ Funding requests is Friday 7 March 2025.

As we are coming towards the end of the financial year we need to process all PP+ funding requests to ensure monies reach schools before year end, to be able to do this we need your requests for PP+ by 7 March.

If the young person’s PEP meeting is scheduled to take place after 7 March, please ensure you access ePEP and pre-populate the PEP with your PP+ funding request before 7 March or you may miss out on the funding of up to £660 per term.

You can also discuss with your Area Learning Advocate if you have interventions, in addition to the £660, that you feel would help a young person, we can then look at possible additional funding.

If you have any queries regarding PEP meetings please contact our PEP Coordinators Rachel.Friend@devon.gov.uk or Heidi.FargherHarding@devon.gov.uk

Area Learning Advocates:

Matthew.Medd@devon.gov.uk (Exeter & East Devon) Tel: 01392 382210 Campbell.Orr@devon.gov.uk (North Devon) Tel: 01392 388448

Sarah.Acland@devon.gov.uk (Exeter & Mid Devon) Tel: 01392 382372 Andrew.Squire@devon.gov.uk (South & West Devon) Tel: 01392 380918

Penny.Goldsby-West@devon.gov.uk (Young Asylum Seekers) Tel: 01392 381542

PEP Support Officers:

Robert.Martin@devon.gov.uk (South Devon, Plymouth, Torbay & South Cornwall, also Post- 16 at Exeter College, Bicton College & Duchy College)

Bethan.Roberts@devon.gov.uk (North Devon, North Cornwall and North Somerset) Nenny.Wright@devon.gov.uk (Exeter & Mid Devon)

Kate.Stanley@devon.gov.uk (Exeter & East Devon)

The Virtual School website has lots of useful advice, guidance and forms too.

PEP Meetings / Quality Assurance

Reminder of our new ways of working

Following our Ofsted visit in October 2024, and as part of the Virtual School Development Plan, there are some changes to our ways of working that we would like to share with you.

In the New Year our focus will be on improving the quality of Personal Education Plans (PEPs) and pupil voice.

Currently Area Learning Advocates quality assure PEPs, from January PEP Support Officers

(PEPSOs) will be supporting them with this process. PEPSOs will be reviewing PEPs to see if they have been pre-populated before the PEP meeting and completing the first of our new two-stage quality assurance process.

  • Where PEPs are not complete or not completed on time, the PEPSO will be contacting the Designated Teacher to highlight the areas of the PEP that need to be completed, or improved upon, within the statutory timeframe of 5 days. In our experience this usually supports the PEP being fully completed in a timely manner.
  • Where there are exceptions to this, the PEPSO will then contact the DT again, 8 days after the PEP meeting and this time will be escalating the need for timely completion of PEPs with both the Designated Teacher and the Headteacher.

Once PEPs have been quality assured by both PEPSOs and Area Learning Advocates there

will be a PEP ‘dip sampling’ exercise with a panel that will include external moderators. This much extended process will ensure that we have consistently high standards of PEPs for our looked after young people.

As a result of this improvement work PEPSOs will not be able to attend as many PEP meetings in the Spring and Summer terms.

Spring Term 2025: the Virtual School will not be attending PEPs for years 1, 2, 8, 9 and 12

(unless there is a particular concern). Where the ALAs/PEPSOs cannot attend a PEP meeting, we request that the meeting goes ahead without us (as long as the Social Worker can attend).

If you have a particular concern about a young person that you would like to raise with the Virtual School, please get in touch with your Area Learning Advocate prior to the PEP meeting.

Our PEP Coordinators:

Rachel.Friend@devon.gov.uk (Mon/Tues/Wed)

and Heidi.Fargher-Harding@devon.gov.uk (Wed/Thurs/ Fri)

organise the PEP meetings and send out the Outlook Teams calendar invites, so if you have any queries regarding meeting dates/calendar invites etc please contact them in the first instance, or our VS Administrator, kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk

Your Life, Your Care Survey (for 4-11 year olds)

Deadline for completion 17 February 2024

Just a reminder that our Children in Care (aged 4-11 years old, in Primary school) need to complete their ‘Your Life, Your Care’ survey by 17 February 2025 and will need a trusted adult to help them. We’re asking for your help to assist them to do this please – it should only take around 10 minutes of your time.

Unfortunately their Social Workers and Carers cannot help as the survey asks questions regarding them and their care. Social Workers and Independent Reviewing Officers are also providing names of trusted adults who can help.

Our VS Administrator, Kate.Clarke@devon.gov.uk emailed the link for the survey and full instructions/guidance to all relevant primary schools in January and is sending regular

reminders.

The survey is anonymous so if you do complete it with any of our relevant CiC please email kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk to let us know, so we don’t keep chasing you.

If the child is unable to complete the survey due to SEN or they just don’t want to, please email kate.clarke@devon.gov.uk to let us know.

The Bright Spots ‘Your Life, Your Care’ survey helps Local Authorities to systematically gather the views of their children and young people, and to use the survey findings to influence practice, service development and strategic thinking. Read more about the Bright Spots offer.

Thank you in advance for your support with this important survey.

Education, Health & Care Plans / Annual Reviews

An Education and Health Plan (EHCP) is a long term plan that is only changed either at the end of each Key Stage or if there is a significant change of need.

However, progress and updates should be captured at every Annual Review, especially for our Children in Care. There are often significant updates in Social Care, in Health and/or

with the current situation for the young person. This would not trigger a change in the EHCP, but is still relevant.

Therefore, this is a reminder that if you are referring to an EHCP, it should always be read alongside the latest Annual Review.

We are also cascading this message to carers and Social Workers who often comment/worry that an EHCP is ‘old’ when actually the Needs, Outcomes and Provision for Education have not changed.

The Annual Review is also a legal document and should capture the short term plans and progress for that young person and, therefore, should keep the information contained in the EHCP relevant.

Exeter College Year 7/8/9 Experience Day for CiC (29 April 2025)

Exeter College are holding a Year 7/8/9 Experience Day for Children in Care and those on CIN / CP Plans on 29 April 2025 from 10am – 3pm.

This is ideally for schools to bring along a group of young people to experience a day at Exeter College (young people need to be a care-experience, to any Local Authority, or on a Child in Need or Child Protection Plan).


If any CiC you have on roll would like to attend then please see link to booking form below. All queries should be directed to careexperienced@exe-coll.ac.uk or call 01392 400144.

To book your places please click this booking link

It is essential to book so the college can plan catering and goody bag numbers.

Booking deadline is 1 April 2025.

Postponed: University of Exeter Open Day (5 March 2025)

Unfortunately this event has been postposed due to low attendee numbers. Once it has been reorganised we will advertise the new dates and details.

*FREE* Street Cricket Club (for 14-18 year olds)

Chance to Shine Street and Devon Cricket Foundation brings cricket to thousands of young people who traditionally face barriers to getting active. It uses the sport to increase aspiration, promote social cohesion and create opportunities in diverse communities and areas of deprivation.

It’s a fast-paced version of the game played with a tapeball – a tennis ball wrapped in

electrical tape – in small enclosed spaces. With six players per team and 20 balls per innings, it’s cricket’s answer to five-a-side football. Check the rules out here.

  • Tape Ball cricket;
  • Free Coaching;
  • Qualified staff;
  • No equipment needed;
  • Wear what you want;
  • All welcome.

Every Thursday, 4.30 – 5.30pm @ Riverside Leisure Centre, Exeter EX4 1AF

To book a place for any of your young people then please complete this quick online form. For any queries please contact alex.jopling@devoncricket.co.uk

Refugees Rock: Free Climbing Sessions

(first Fri of every month)

Please let any Young Asylum Seekers you have on roll know about this opportunity. Refugees Rock is a free group climbing session for people fleeing war, persecution and exploitation – hosted by The Climbing Hangar in collaboration with Action Asylum and the British Red Cross.

Every month groups of refugees and people seeking asylum are invited to climb for free alongside Hangar coaches, the charity staff and ‘boulder buddies’ (our volunteers from within the Hangar community).

Held on the first Friday of every month, 2.00 – 4.00pm

@ The Climbing Hangar, 6 Marsh Green Road N, Marsh Barton, Exeter, EX2 8NY

All refugees and asylum seekers welcome (also Boulder Buddies wanted).

Email Jen at ESOL@refugeesupportdevon.org.uk for more details.

Any Changes to Designated Teachers/Contact Info?

If you have a change of staff please email educate.virtualschool-mailbox@devon.gov.uk to inform us of your new Designated Teacher’s name and email address – so we can ensure that our emails are sent to the correct person and that your new DT is set up on the ePEP system. Many thanks.

We wish you a relaxing, enjoyable half term break and many thanks for all your support and work with our Children in Care

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch…