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Previously Looked After and Kinship Support

Previously Looked After and Kinship Support

Support for Children Previously Looked After and in Kinship

Getting the right information and guidance can make a huge difference to a child's education and wellbeing. As a Virtual School we offer advice, guidance, signposting, training and resources for children who are previously-looked-after and those in Kinship families and the people who support them. 

For events, training, e-learning and resources please visit our training and resources page.

 

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What does Previously Looked After mean?

This term is used to refer to children and young people who have left care via an Adoption order, a Special Guardianship order or a Child Arrangements Order.

This currently does not included children who have been returned to parents after being in care by the Local Authority.

What is a Special Guardianship Order?

A special guardianship order (SGO) is a legal order given by a family court. When you become a special guardian, the child will live with you until they are 18 years old. You share parental responsibility with the child’s parents but can make nearly all major decisions about the child without the parents’ involvement.

What is an Adoption Order?

An Adoption Order (AO) is the legal process through which a person or couple becomes the legal parents of a child who is not their biological child. It typically involves a legal procedure that transfers parental rights and responsibilities from the child’s birth parents (or previous guardians) to the adoptive parents.

What is a Child Arrangement Order?

A Child Arrangement Order (CAO) is a legal order given by a family court, and usually lasts until the child is 18 years old. This specifies where the child should live and for what time frames. You share parental responsibility with the child’s parents but can made day-t0-day decisions without parental involvement. For any major decisions about the child, you must involve the parents.

Kinship care refers to the practice of children being raised by relatives or close family friends (often referred to as “kin”) when their biological parents are unable to care for them. This arrangement can occur for various reasons, including parental illness, substance abuse, incarceration, neglect, or death. Kinship care can provide children with a sense of stability and continuity, as they remain connected to their family and cultural roots.

There are two main types of kinship care:

Formal kinship care: This occurs when a child is placed with a relative through the child welfare or foster care system. The relative becomes a licensed foster parent and may receive financial support and other services to care for the child. This can also be through a court order, for example a special guardianship order.

Informal kinship care: This arrangement occurs without the involvement of child welfare agencies, where relatives take in the child privately, often without legal or financial assistance.

We have E-learning on different types of kinship care available 

Virtual Schools in Local Authorities should promote the educational achievement of children in Kinship and children previously-looked-after in their area by providing information, advice and signposting.

Here in Nottingham City, we offer:

  • A dedicated Education Support Officer who is available to answer any questions, concerns or queries. Contact us here
  • Training and E-learning for those supporting children previously-looked-after and/or in Kinship. You can also find our video and quick read guides.
    • Visit our Training page
    • Or explore our padlet of resources below.

Click here to download Nottingham City Virtual School’s previously looked after children flyer and Kinship flyer to share.

The Kinship Care Charity,

The leading kinship care charity in England and Wales, is available to provide support, advice and training for kinship carers, friends or family. They have free workshops and training sessions to give you more information about kinship care.

You can find more information and contact details, aswell as their events and workshops by visiting Kinship website on following link

 Look out for the The Kinship Care Charity Compass section on their website to find independent information, support and advice in your area.

Other support services: 

Kinship Foster Care:

For those with a child in Kinship Foster Care in Nottingham City our dedicated Kinship fostering social work tem are here to support you and offer regular virtual groups for carers.

Please get in touch, for more details click our contacts form

Children in Kinship foster care will have an allocated Virtual School Eduction Officer. They can often attend meetings with the school to promote a child's education. 

Social Care Support

We have a fantastic Permanency Team of social workers who support children who are previously-looked-after in Nottingham City. They can support carers with a wide range of support and work closely with us to promote children's education.

Their page here has details of how to get in touch

Adoption East Midlands (AEM)

Adoption East Midlands (AEM) is our Regional Adoption Agency. We work closely with them to promote educational outcomes for our children.
They work with schools, families and young people. Families can refer in for support via the website below. They have a dedicated Education Team. 

AEM also run regular peer support groups, solution groups, workshops, training and events for anyone involved with adopted children. We share their latest events on our events and training page.

Support and advice can be found on their Adoption East Midlands website,

Wider support for Previously-looked-after:

There are lots of charities who can help, advise and find solutions. Here are just some of the many specifically to support adoption:

Frequently Asked Questions

Previously looked after is a phrase which mean anyone who has left care because of:
  • Adoption 
  • A special guardianship order
  • A child arrangement order
If your child is adopted, has a special guardianship or child arrangement order after leaving care, they will be entitled to some funding support while they are in education.
The main source of funding is called Pupil Premium Plus. This is an amount schools get to put towards supporting all children who are previously-looked-after. It is not a set amount to be given to your child but the money should have a benefit for your child’s education. 
This is a pot of money from the Government to support children who are previously looked after. It is often used to pay for therapy or assessments to work out what might help your child.
Your local authority can help you apply for this or get in touch and we can signpost you to the right people.

If you want to get in touch with us you can call: 0115 876 4692 / 4694 or email: thevirtualschool@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

We will get back to you and listen to what you would like and need. We might be able to offer advice and guidance or signpost and get you in contact with a service who can help. 

The Nottingham City SEN Service, offer guidance and support for young people aged between 0-25 in relation to Special Educational Needs and/or Disability, including those young people with Education Health and Care Plans.
The SEND Service offers support for children in care and previously looked after children with SEND who:
  • Live in Nottingham City and/or
  • Attend a school in the city and/or
  • Are looked after by Nottingham City but living elsewhere.

Further information regarding the SEND service.

Schools have to have a Designated Teacher. This person should make sure support is in place for children in care and those who were previously looked after. We recommend calling or visiting school and asking if you can meet the Designated Teacher and asking if they can be your ‘go-to’ person to contact. Often this person will have had lots of training on working and supporting children who are in Kinship and/or are previously looked after.
You can ask to meet with the designated teacher to talk about your child and their needs. It might help you to take some notes and you can always ask to take someone to support you. You can see some local support groups and charities who can offer you support: 
Remember that school want the best for your child and you are working as a parent/guardian – school team to try to get education right so focus on finding solutions to problems together.
If you aren’t sure where to start you can always give the Virtual School a call or email and we can speak with you.

Related pages

Contact us

The Virtual School, Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG

thevirtualschool@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Tel: 0115 876 4692 / 4694

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