Raising the attendance of Children in Care - Haringey

Date: 08 July 2008

This project has helped raise the profile of the attendance of children in care across the Children and Young People’s Service in Haringey -both with carers and with related agencies.

It provides a systematic approach to sharing the same accessible attendance data with a variety of audiences.

• An attendance baseline is collated within 48 hrs of a child coming into care.
• A Welfare Call is used to monitor attendance.
• The data is used by the Children in Care Education team weekly to band the children into categories according to number of days absent from school, for whatever reason, since entering care.

This information is discussed each week to: 

• Prevent children and young people drifting from 5+ days to 25+ days absence. 
• Ensure forward planning for those young people at risk of becoming NEET post statutory school age.
• Action plan for young people at risk of drifting out of the education system. 

This project has become established practice during the last year. Year on year impact will be reflected through the annual OC2 reporting process.Anecdotal feedback has been positive reporting that the system is easy to understand and share. There is a higher level of engagement by professionals and foster carers and they understand how they can contribute to improving attendance.

Contact:

Haringey’s Children in Care Education Team and Education Welfare Service
Attracta Craig – 0208 489 2446
Terry O’ Reirdan – 0208 489 3872

Further Information

Find out more about Haringey