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Personal Education Plan (PEP)

A core element of the educational support offered to all children who are in the care of the local authority is a Personal Education Plan (PEP).

Every looked-after child must have a PEP plan as part of their care plan. The PEP is the joint statutory duty of the school and the local authority, to make sure it is completed and reviewed termly. All children are invited to attend their PEP meeting and encouraged to contribute to the Child's Voice voice section

The PEP document is reviewed and discussed at the termly PEP meeting which is organised by the Virtual School Education Officer (VSEO). In these meetings the education views of the children, their school, carers and social workers are recorded. It also records specific education targets called SMART targets these are targets that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed and are aimed to help cared for children reach their goals and should also demonstrate how pupil premium plus funding (available for school aged children) is going to be used to support this.

SMART targets should include strategies to achieve them and time frames to see the impact. Virtual School Education Officers (VSEOs) are responsible for organising and chairing the PEP meeting. Schools must provide and upload the required information before the meeting so it can be discussed by everyone attending. It's important for schools to ensure the young person's views are accurately represented.

PEP meetings

PEP meetings are held termly. They are often online but we aim to have face to face meetings at least once every four terms. If more frequent face to face meetings are needed then this can be organised.

Things that may be talked about at the meetings are:

Academic performance

  • What is going well for the pupils in school?
  • Are they achieving what is expected of them (in terms of the national average for their age group) in English and maths?
    • If not, how far behind are they and how significant is this?
  • Why does school/child think they aren't achieving as well as they should be doing?
  • What can be done to help them catch up?
  • Is the school providing the pupil with one-to-one tuition?
  • What progress would you expect them to make in the next 6 to12 months?
  • What subjects do they enjoy the most and least? What can we do to help them enjoy the subjects they do not like much?

Attendance

  • What is their attendance percentage?
  • Is it above or below 95%?
  • If significantly below 96%, what support is on place to improve this?
  • What factors are affecting any low attendance?

The Child's Voice

  • Do they feel safe in school?
  • What is going well?
  • What could be better?
  • What are their hopes and dreams for the future?
  • What experiences have they had of arts and sports activities?

Child's presentation in school

  • Are there any concerns?
  • Are there any triggers for the young person which could be supported?
  • What strategies have been tried?
    • How successful were they? What else can be tried?
  • If there have been any exclusions, what they were for? What actions are being taken to support the child to help prevent another exclusion occurring?

Things you may be asked

  • Do they bring the appropriate equipment to school?
  • Do they do homework on time and is it done well?
  • If there are homework issues what suggestions can school make to help child and carer?
  • How do you encourage them to do their homework?
  • Do you feel they enjoy reading with/to you?
  • What interests do you think could be developed outside of school?

In the PEP meeting, targets are also discussed and set:

  • The targets from the previous PEP will be discussed
  • School will provide some suggested new targets with details about how any Pupil Premium Plus money will be allocated to support the child's progress
  • The targets will often be agreed with the child. The child's targets should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed
  • There should be at least one academic target and this should be related to education information discussed. Maths, English and science should be considered priorities

After the meeting

A new date is set for the next the PEP meeting, normally in the next school term. However, additional educational meetings can be held if there are issues that need more support or feedback. The PEP is usually processed by Virtual School within two weeks after the meeting. It is quality assured and any financial information logged. Any supporting documents are also added to the ePEP system such as provision maps, support plans, achievements, examples of work, termly reports.