Virtual School
Welcome to The Virtual School
The Virtual School, Together for Children, provides personalised support to ensure Cared for Children (CfC) receive the best educational experiences to maximise their outcomes. This enables them to achieve beyond expectations, build upon their successes and improve progression and future economic well-being.
All local authorities have a statutory duty to appoint a Virtual School Headteacher (VSH), and the Department for Education (DfE) publish statutory guidance which outlines their responsibilities. Whilst we are not a physical school; we have a team of dedicated professionals with a wide range of experience in education who are committed to ensuring the best possible life chances for our children and young people.
Support for cared for children
Our overall aim is to raise the aspirations of all professionals working with our children by offering support, advice, guidance and professional challenge to those involved in the education and care of our children and young people aged 2 to 18, attending a range of settings, including:
- Early Years Provision
- Mainstream Schools and Academies
- Special Schools
- Alternative Education Providers
- Colleges, Training Providers and Employers
The Virtual School maintains, tracks and monitors data for those children who are Cared for by Together for Children, on behalf of Sunderland City Council, this includes information on:
- School placements, admissions and transfers
- Attainment and progress
- Attendance, suspensions and exclusions
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
- Alternative education placements
- Young people and their education, employment or training
Support for previously cared for children and children with a social worker or living with kinship carers
In addition to children in our care, the Virtual School also has a duty to promote the education of previously cared for children (PCfC), children who have or have ever had a social worker (CWSW), as well as those children who live with kinship carers (CKC), through the provision of advice, guidance, representation and raising awareness of the barriers these children and young people may face in their education.
The Virtual School Team provide support for young people, parent/carers, education and social work colleagues as well as multi-agency professionals on a wide range of educational issues including:
- School and college admissions
- Attendance and suspension/exclusions
- School transitions
- Attainment and progress
- SEND and early identification of additional educational needs
- Aspirations and Post 16 pathways
- Understanding of the effect of adverse childhood experiences on educational progress
- Trauma-informed, attachment aware practice
This website aims to be a place to access information, advice, guidance, share best practice and navigate to multi-agency services.
Contact us
Call: 07880465962
