Only 40% of children with a social worker in school according to Government figures published this week?

[Doublefaced]

And only 34% of pupils with an EHCP attending school on 13th January.

Given that total attendance at state primary schools was 21%, state secondary schools was 5% and 30% at state funded special schools, surely much more needs to be done to get these vulnerable children into school?

Just to give one view: our local authority is supporting any long term looked after children who are well supported at home to remain at home (with their foster carers). Last lockdown a great majority chose to do so, this time a few more are in school. This is a positive choice for children & foster families who are well supported by their social workers & schools, but will skew the data.

Work in social care and our families with kids on CPR don’t want to send them in as they don’t want their friends and neighbours to see their child is deemed vulnerable due to the stigma.

[quote Babamamasheep]@Doublefaced they just don’t want to come and despite having a social worker, they can’t be made. It’s MUCH easier for us having them in school rather than spending substantial time liasing with the family, tracking work completion or not and dealing with basic issues such as food/basic needs.[/quote]
Completely agree- the pressure is huge on frontline staff due to this.

Many special schools aren't open to all children, both my children's aren't.

Also, the head of children's services at our LA wrote to all parents urging them to keep their children at home if they can, to reduce covid transmission.

So of course many parents are just following instructions to keep children at home.

@Doublefaced

‘Not every child with a social worker is necessarily a vulnerable child as such though.’

I would have assumed that they were vulnerable in some sense ?

I know a couple of families with ongoing social services involvement due to a past violent relationship or mental health issues. Both families are doing much better now than when social services originally got involved, kids are considered to be safe at home so the parents were given the choice by school & social workers whether to send them in or not.

I think this is one of the reasons why the umbrella term of 'vulnerable children', to include children with EHCPs, is problematic (and personally think this was the case pre covid too) ...but I was in the overwhelming minority on a thread about this the other week!!

Ds attends a non state special school ( place LA funded) and his school has remained open to all children and most are attending. The county special schools are only open to a few. The number of available places varies widely.

I personally think all children with an EHCP should be at least offered a school space. This isn't happening at the moment.

Of course there should be no complusion to take the space, that should be totally up to the parents.

Two specific examples:
-y11 boy with EHCP working from home. In school he works with his 1:1 over teams. She is not allowed in the classroom. He could be in school but would still be working with his 1:1 over teams. No benefit to his being in school.
-y10 student with social worker. Working from home very well. No benefit to her being in school.
Neither of those students would be better served by being in the building.

Parents of DC with social workers are just as concerned about their DC health as any other parents and just as entitled to keep them at home.
I encouraged my parents to send their kids in but respect their right not to.

Not all children with a social worker would be best served by being in school. For example my family fostered, one of the children it was because of their lone parent's illness. If a child like that attended school, they would massively increase their risk of being orphaned, despite not having a problem with getting education at home.

Every child with a social worker is different.

Yes good to see that people on here agree that EHCP doesn't equal vulnerable in the home.
There's also settled foster children as a PP mentioned who are much better off at home.

Of course there's a huge worry that some children aren't being physically seen by outside agencies and therefore more at risk but making every child with an EHCP attend school wouldn't solve this problem.

@HazeyJaneII

I think this is one of the reasons why the umbrella term of 'vulnerable children', to include children with EHCPs, is problematic (and personally think this was the case pre covid too) ...but I was in the overwhelming minority on a thread about this the other week!!

I can see your point from some of the responses here. I can’t make the bloody link to the Gov. figures work! But they don’t use the term vulnerable children-instead it’s separate figures relating to children with social workers/children with EHCPs. Thank you for the responses-so many issues that have been raised.

Have got a vulnerable child who is offered a place, the biggest issue is that his friends are not there and doesn't want to be seen as different or to spend the day with those that are there.
So cant force him in and home learning is basically just the subjects he likes, so looking like a whole term lost for him.

The children at ds's school are generally in because they have a need for routine or mental health issues or have needs that are too great for families to cope with 24/7 without outside support.

‘I personally think all children with an EHCP should be at least offered a school space. This isn't happening at the moment.’

I actually assumed that it was!

My daughter has an EHCP (year 11)
and was offered a place

She has severe social anxiety and Tourette’s.

I had a chat with her year mentor and we came to the conclusion DD was better off at home. Even in school she would be receiving the same remote lessons - they are supervised in a classroom by a TA, but all teaching is done remotely.

Given her anxiety and the fact that she is more comfortable at home, none of her friends or support staff are in school and she wouldn’t have access to any quiet spaces we decided she would be better off at home.

We’re all keeping a close eye on her, she is engaging with the remote learning, completing tasks, doing everything that’s asked of her and working hard. If that changes we’ll rethink, but at the moment it’s working fine.

DH and I used to foster and several of our friends are still foster carers. Their experiences are, if remote leaning is working well, their social workers are generally happy for them to remain at home.

Some children have a social worker because of medical needs, that might necessitate staying at home. Yes obviously some parents may use covid as a reason not to bother getting up in time for school but I doubt they will be that numerous, entertaining whining kids for 7 hours is hard work

@Doublefaced

‘I personally think all children with an EHCP should be at least offered a school space. This isn't happening at the moment.’

I actually assumed that it was!

Haha (hollow laughter)

Noooooo

Our disabled foster child is at home and not attending his special school because our adopted child has extremely complex needs. We can't risk the foster child bringing it in to the home so are forced to shield everyone. Believe me it is no fun being stuck at home with a teenager with autism and challenging behaviour. We would love to send him and are on our knees after nearly a year of this but we can't risk it.
And indeed we couldn't if we wanted to at the moment as it is shut at present due to the high number of cases amongst children and staff. At least 2 staff have been v ill and one hospitalised so we are not at all confident about the school measures keeping our children safe.

@Doublefaced

‘Not every child with a social worker is necessarily a vulnerable child as such though.’

I would have assumed that they were vulnerable in some sense ?

You assume wrong you seem to equate social worker with some kind of risk to the child's life or emotional harm and neglect that isnt always the case my neighbours child has a social worker because he is very disabled my son has one allocated currently as we are going through ehcp ive never met my sons I don't expect too either technically a lot of children have a social worker but they are not "at risk"

@Allmyfavouritepeople

Yes good to see that people on here agree that EHCP doesn't equal vulnerable in the home. There's also settled foster children as a PP mentioned who are much better off at home.

Of course there's a huge worry that some children aren't being physically seen by outside agencies and therefore more at risk but making every child with an EHCP attend school wouldn't solve this problem.

I think children with an EHCP should be considered vulnerable. Not vulnerable in the home, but vulnerable in other ways - educationally (less likely to be able to access virtual learning), family stress (due to care needs) etc. etc. Obviously not all, but many.

@2021isthenew2020

I personally think all children with an EHCP should be at least offered a school space. This isn't happening at the moment.

Of course there should be no complusion to take the space, that should be totally up to the parents.

Mine is being offered provision but limited so he will be allowed into school on quiet days rather than him attending daily this didnt happen the last lockdown

@chowmeinblame

I am a Social Worker and my experience is that all agencies are promoting school attendance and working extremely hard to work to ensure the safety of vulnerable pupils. Whilst the places are available, there are still parents fearful of sending their children due to worrying about health implications or citing this as an issue which is a barrier. Although school attendance can be recommended in planning for children, parents or children cannot be forced in this decision leading to huge pressure on other professionals by way of daily visits/ contact to ensure children are safe. Secondary school pupils are also reluctant to attend due to feeling different from their peers. It is hoped that as the current restrictions continue, parents may be more open to discussion regarding school places however this will be dependent on how long the school closures are forecast.

This. I can see everything possible being done to get these kids into school. Offering support and reassurance, in some cases supporting work transport. Some kids do perfectly well at home but schools and social workers want them in and seen daily, believe me.

Some children with social workers and EHCP’s will be shielding, I teach in a special school and many of our medically vulnerable children are shielding so that’s a perfect reason why they won’t be in school! Because we are not able to open fully at the moment due to staffing issues the children are on a rota. They’re all getting some part-time provision in school but they would not all have been in school on that given day. So from a special school point of view there are several good reasons why we don’t have 100% attendance at the moment