When children are placed for Adoption, they are, of course at various stages of
development, and may have had no experience of formal education, or may be
transferring between Education Authorities. The following pages seek to assist Adoptive
Parents, through this very important stage.
School aged children
Every child who has attended Nursery or is of school age will have been given their own
unique education number that will stay with them throughout their formal education. It is
important that you acquire this number, and keep a note of it, since it may be necessary
to quote it if extra resources or past records are required.
During the course of introductions with your child you will have learned as much about
your child’s previous life as possible. You will have found out about the child’s emotional
history, life experiences and the emotional climate in which she or he was born and
lived. Subsequent experiences with foster carers and/or children’s homes or other
carers, will also have been looked at carefully, giving you an appreciation of the state in
which the child came to you so that you could plan appropriate parenting strategies.
It goes without saying, therefore, that your child’s experience of Education will need the
same scrutiny. Research reminds us that children thrive when:
• They have someone who is proud of their achievements
• Parents are supportive of education
• They have access to books
• They have somewhere to do their homework
• They have access to After School Clubs where they can achieve nonacademically
• They have an adult to talk to, both at school and at home, who understands their
position.
In May 2000, the Government issued guidance on the Education of Children and Young
People in Public Care. It is supported by DH Circular LAC(2000)13.
The guidance seeks to address the serious underachievement of children in public care,
and its purpose is to bring their attainment closer to that of their peers.
Children in public care may have had a number of changes in placement and school
may also have been disrupted. In addition the child may have a disability and/or learning
disabilities. As a consequence, the child could be in need of extra or special help. They
may already be Statemented, which means that the child’s educational needs have been
identified by an Educational Psychologist and a Statement about these needs has been
drawn up. Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs are sometimes
entitled to receive assistance from a Learning Support Worker (until recently called a
Non-teaching Assistant) for a specified number of hours a week.
Integration into the new school
You may not have a choice about where you send your child to school, but if you do, it
always helps to make an appointment to see the Head Teacher to discuss your child. At
this stage you may not know the child sufficiently well to make a judgement about which
school to go for, but there are a few practical things you could explore at this stage.
It can be helpful to ask the Head Teacher to anticipate your child’s arrival by discussing
an Integration Plan. Your child may not have had a good experience of school in the
past, may have been bullied or, having enjoyed herself there, finds that she has yet
another move to contend with. The timing of her introduction into school is an important
factor to her settling down. The beginning of an academic year is obviously the best
option, when there may be other new children starting. Your child will stand out from the
crowd because she is new, because she may have a different regional accent to the
other children, she may be from a different culture and race, she may be small for her
age etc. These may seem minor things to adults, but they can cause children a great
deal of anxiety if not properly managed.
An Integration Plan should help to anticipate and intercept potential difficulties. Your
child should have a tour of the school, meet the Class Teacher and if possible, join in
some inter curricular activities to build up a friendship group. If she has special needs
and will have a Learning Support Worker, then she will need to meet that person too.
Some secondary schools have a ‘Buddy System’ where a friend is assigned to a new
pupil whose role it is to foster relationships with the new child’s peer group.
It will be helpful to find out if the school has an anti-bullying strategy, the name of the
person responsible for its implementation and how it works. The School should have a
leaflet listing the activities and various support systems that will benefit your child.
Simple things like a photograph of the school, and a photograph of the Teacher and the
Learning Support Teacher (if there is to be one) have been found to be helpful to
children who have had many changes in their lives. Anything that can be done to
relieve uncertainty and anxiety should help to smooth your child’s entry into this new and
scary part of her life. Above all, ease your child in gently.
Further information
You may be interested in visiting the Department of Education Website parent’s page at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/parentsgateway/index.shtml which will give you more
information.
‘Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Care’ is available on the
internet at www.dfee.gov.uk/incare.
Further information on the Quality Protects programme is available at
www.doh.gov.uk/qualityprotects/index.htm
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