Guide to the Pupil Development Grant for children looked after

This guidance is non-statutory. It sets out the Welsh Government’s principles and expectations for use of the Pupil Development Grant for Children looked after (PDG-CLA). The grant aims to improve the educational outcomes of care-experienced children and young people (age 3 to 15). It is used to reduce the barriers these learners face to achieving their full potential.

This document is intended for those involved in managing the use of grant. They include:

• individuals in local authorities with responsibility for coordinating the education of care-experienced learners, for example looked after children education (LACE) coordinators, virtual school heads (VSHs) and advisory teachers
• staff in schools or settings, particularly the headteacher and senior leadership, designated person and cluster lead
• parents, carers, mentors and other professionals who support care-experienced children 

The guidance has been produced by the Welsh Government in partnership with the PDG-CLA Task and Finish Group, a subgroup of the National Delivery Group (NDG) for the education of care-experienced leaners. The NDG comprises stakeholders promoting and supporting the educational outcomes of care-experienced children in Wales. 

The Welsh Government has also engaged with secondary school-aged learners, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, on what support they felt care-experienced learners need to promote positive educational outcomes. Their views are reflected throughout the guidance. 

We have used the terms ‘care-experienced children and young people’ and ‘children looked after’ in this guidance. 

‘Care-experienced children and young people’ refers to children and young people currently in care and those who were previously in the care of the local authority

‘Children looked after’ refers to children currently in the care of the local authority. Children have told the Children’s Commissioner for Wales they prefer this term.

In the context of this guide, ‘children looked after’ and ‘care-experienced children’ refers to both children and young people.

At the heart of Welsh Government’s Our national mission: high standards and aspirations for all, is the commitment to ensure high standards supporting the success and well-being of every child and young person in Wales. The Welsh Government wants every child to:

• take part in and enjoy learning 
• have the best education possible to progress and expand their knowledge, skills and experience

This will support children and young people to become:

• ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives
• enterprising, creative contributors ready to play a full part in life and work
• ethical, informed citizens ready to be citizens of Wales and the world
• healthy, confident individuals ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society

The Programme for Government also includes 8 commitments which, taken together, describe a new vision to transform children’s services. One of these commitments is to ‘strengthen public bodies in their role as corporate parent’. It is about our ambition to ensure that care-experienced children have the same life chances as all children.

The ‘Corporate Parenting Charter – A Promise from Wales’ sets out the shared principles and promises all bodies and their leaders should follow when providing services (including education) to care-experienced children and young people. This includes the following principle:

‘A Good Education – We will provide opportunities and support for all care-experienced children and young people to learn and develop and help them become who they want to be.’ 

The Pupil Development Grant (PDG) is a key resource for realising these ambitions. The core PDG funding, along with the Early Years and Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) strands, aims to raise the attainment of children and young people from low-income households by reducing the barriers that they face to achieving their full potential. In recognition of the challenges faced by care-experienced children, there is a dedicated PDG-CLA strand. 

The PDG-CLA is intended to support the social, emotional and academic needs of:

• children looked after
• children who have been adopted 
• children who left care under a special guardianship order (SGO) 

The funding should not be used to back-fill the general school budget.

Funding allocation from Welsh Government

Funding of £1,150 per child is given to local authorities via the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) on a financial year basis. The allocation is based on the number of eligible children and young people aged 3 to 15 in local authority care from the previous year’s children looked after census. This data is at a local authority and not a school or setting level, with allocations available online at Pupil Development Grant allocations 2025 to 2026 (gov.wales). PDG-CLA funds are included in the Equity strand of the LAEG. 

Funding is allocated based on numbers of children looked after only. However, it is not ring-fenced and is intended to benefit all care-experienced children in the local authority. This recognises that children who have been adopted or are in a SGO arrangement, like children in care, have often experienced:

• trauma
• abuse
• neglect 
• loss

Any of these may impact on their ability to thrive in a school environment. 

Funding allocations by local authorities

Based on local needs, local authorities can choose to keep some or all of the funding for activities that will benefit: 

• individual children 
• groups of children with similar needs 
• all of the authority’s children and young people who are care-experienced with similar needs

Alternatively local authorities can pass all or some of the funding on to: 

• individual schools or settings (including pupil referral units (PRUs)
• clusters of schools or settings (including PRUs)

In the case of dual-registered learners, the grant will be paid to the school or setting registered as the main provider. There will be no in-year transfer of funding.

Local authorities could also keep some of the funding to employ PDG-CLA local authority or regional coordinators. This is in line with the Welsh Government’s expectation that PDG can be used to meet the costs associated with strategic coordination and oversight of the grant, whether in the local authority or existing regional arrangements

Further information on these funding allocation options and best practice is included in section 5.

PDG-CLA funding should be used to improve educational outcomes for care-experienced children. When deciding how to use the PDG-CLA local authorities and schools should consider the specific needs of care-experienced children. This includes their goals and aspirations. 

The approach and support needed for care-experienced learners may be different from children eligible for the PDG because they are from low-income households. Care-experienced children have often experienced trauma and loss in their lives. This means they may struggle with:

• attachment relationships with adults
• social skills and peer relationships
• managing their feelings and behaviour 
• coping with transition 

Based on the local context and the needs of care-experienced children in the area, funding could be directed to:

• academic support integrated with the curriculum (for example one-to-one or small group support, interventions delivered by teaching assistants, and support for language development, literacy and numeracy); schools should plan any activity to ensure that learners receiving targeted support do not miss out on accessing the curriculum 
• specific training for staff to support children who have experienced trauma and loss, for example training on attachment and the effects of early trauma on learning 
• extracurricular and leisure activities that will benefit care-experienced learners’ social and emotional development, or help them to engage in their education
• support for high-quality teaching through continuing professional development
• tackling barriers to learning, for example by supporting emotional well-being, social skills and promoting emotional regulation
• supporting transitions into the next stage of learning or new place of learning
• bespoke support (for example from an educational psychologist, play therapist or speech therapist) to overcome barriers to education 

The grant cannot be used to replace, sustain or develop existing services or entitlements under the additional learning needs (ALN) system. This includes progressing an ALN determination or providing additional learning provision (ALP).

Funding allocation arrangements

Local authorities and schools should ensure they are making strategic plans for future years well before the end of the previous financial year. They should not wait for exact allocations and grant letters to be issued. 

The following different approaches outline how local authorities and schools might choose to allocate funding (see also PDG-CLA funding allocation – advantages and disadvantages of different options).

Pooling funding at a local authority level

If local authorities choose to pool funding at a local authority level:

• the funding should not be used for services that the local authority is responsible for funding, such as support for foster carers, or school transport
• they are still required to demonstrate the impact of the funding on the children the grant is intended to benefit 
• they should consider setting aside some funding to support the individual needs of learners that may be identified at a school level

Funding to clusters of schools

If funding is passed onto clusters of schools:

• the cluster plan for using the funding should be co-produced and jointly agreed with all headteachers in the cluster (the designated leads should play a key part in ensuring the specific needs of care-experienced learners at their schools are reflected and met in the planning and implementation of the PDG-CLA)
• the cluster plan should clearly:
  • set out how the funding will be used to support care-experienced children in those schools
  • demonstrate an understanding of the desired impact on learner outcomes and how learner voice and needs have been captured 
• the local authority should consider whether the cluster plan will meet the needs of care-experienced learners in the cluster area
• each school in the cluster area should: 
  • advocate for their care-experienced learners to ensure that they benefit from what is provided 
  • evaluate the impact of the collective approach on the outcomes of their learners

Funding for groups of learners

If the funding is being utilised for a group of care-experienced learners there should be a clear understanding of the desired impact on learner outcomes. There should not be a broad approach hoping it will improve outcomes for the children it is needed for.

Support for children looked after

Interventions or approaches that children looked after access either individually or as part of a group should tie into the learner’s personal education plan (PEP).

Cross-border arrangements

The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) Regulations 2015 requires local authorities to ensure appropriate arrangements are made for a child looked after’s education or training before any placement is made. These arrangements must meet their needs and be consistent with their PEP.

The PDG-CLA funding is only based on numbers of children looked after. However, it is also intended to benefit all care-experienced children, including adopted children and those on an SGO. Unless there are very exceptional circumstances, each local authority should retain its original PDG-CLA funding allocation rather than transfer small amounts of money in response to individual moves by learners.

All 22 local authorities should have in place reciprocal arrangements as part of their strategic planning. These arrangements should enable each local authority to support all care-experienced child being educated in their area, regardless of whether or not they are the corporate parent. For instance, where funding is allocated at local authority or cluster level to support continuing professional development for staff or to facilitate group-based interventions, it may be appropriate for children looked after by a different authority to also benefit from the support provided by the authority in which they are placed and receive their education.

Where the child is placed from a local authority in Wales into a placement in England it is up to the local authority to reach an agreement on passing on the PDG funding. There is currently no formal arrangement between the Department for Education in England and the Welsh Government’s Education, Culture and Welsh Language department in relation to the passporting of the PDG or the Pupil Premium (a grant for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England). Under such agreements, it is not expected that the Welsh contribution will match the rate of the Pupil Premium.

Where the child is placed from a local authority in England into a school in Wales it is the responsibility of the local authority to reach an agreement on passing on Pupil Premium funding. There is currently no formal arrangement between the Department for Education in England and the Welsh Government’s Education Directorate in relation to the passporting of the PDG-CLA or the Pupil Premium.

Accountability

The local authority and school should have governance structures in place to:

• provide a strategic overview of grant expenditure 
• ensure maximum impact and value for the funding

The VSH and or LACE coordinator should have a key role to play. 

 As part of their wider PDG monitoring arrangements, local authorities should:

• have effective procedures in place to work with schools to identify the needs of care-experienced learners in their local authority to ensure that the funding is used most effectively to improve the outcomes for those learners
• provide a support plan setting out how they intend to spend the PDG-CLA allocation for care-experienced learners (including those adopted and in SGO arrangements) in each financial year, based on those learners’ needs
• identify how they will ensure those spending the funds will make effective use of the PDG funding to improve outcomes for care-experienced children 
• communicate with schools in their local authority area about how they intend to allocate funding and how they plan to spend the PDG-CLA at a local authority level
• provide progress reports to Welsh Government on their spending and activities using the PDG highlight reports
• have systems in place to plan, allocate and track spending and monitor uses and beneficiaries of the grant 
• have measures in place to regularly assess the value for money of the outcomes achieved 
• provide an evaluative report at the end of the financial year which includes an analysis of how expenditure has impacted on educational outcomes

Schools should: 

• identify the needs of the children in their school who are care-experienced (for children looked after this should be through their PEP) 
• consider how the school development plan links with PDG-CLA plans (viewing PDG-CLA funding holistically in relation to all school activities)
• regularly evaluate approaches by looking at the difference they are making to the outcomes of care-experienced children
• consider the impact of interventions funded through PDG-CLA for children currently at the school but also, where the school holds evidence of impact, those who have recently left
• seek feedback from care-experienced children and young people (see section 7 for further advice on capturing the learner’s voice) to improve outcomes and provision for them 
• collate and share information about the use and impact of the PDG-CLA with the local authority for the period of allocation

The PDG-CLA funding should be used in a way that recognises that every care-experienced child:

• is unique, with individual strengths and needs
• should have their voice heard 
• is central to the planning put in place for them
• should have the opportunity and support to build positive, secure relationships and social interactions with adults and their peers
• has a right to an education in a safe and inclusive environment where there is a culture of high educational aspirations
• can thrive with the right skills and support

Young people’s views on what should shape their education

Young people, who shared their views with the Welsh Government, highlighted the importance of these principles in how they want to be supported with their education:

“I want to be treated like the other students in the class and not singled out, however I want the teacher to have a recognition of my circumstances.”Young person

“Please make sure that everyone who works in education understands how to help us feel safe and supported. And we do mean everyone. For some of us people like cleaning staff or dinner ladies are really important. Everyone needs to understand what working in a trauma-informed way means and how to put that into practice in their own roles.” Young people

“They [the school] have supported me the most, helping me rebuild my confidence and show me that being in care doesn’t limit me, that I am my own person with my own voice and that I’m intelligent enough to do anything I put my mind to.” Young person

Creating supportive learning environments for care-experienced learners

No intervention or approach funded through the PDG-CLA will be effective unless the right approach to teaching and the learning environment is in place to support care-experienced learners’ progression. In delivering support and approaches funded by PDG-CLA, teachers and support staff working with care-experienced children should provide developmentally and pedagogically appropriate support:

• respecting and promoting the rights of the child as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• celebrating and valuing diversity and demonstrating inclusivity
• providing emotionally safe environments that support learners to express and regulate their feelings and behaviours in positive ways 
• being consistent in their care, and modelling compassion and kindness
• for learners to cope with uncertainty and change, preparing them to manage transitions and changes in daily routines
• for learners to develop secure attachments and relationships, so that they can feel confident in themselves and participate positively in everyday activities
• actively engaging with the wider system around the child, including social workers, carers, therapeutic support, youth workers or other trusted adults to ensure integration of care and support

The Curriculum for Wales Enabling Learning guidance provides more information on the key principles for holistic and meaningful learning. This should provide a framework for PDG-CLA spend.

Local authorities, schools and education settings should also take note of the duties expected of them in relation to the education of care-experienced learners.

Children and Young Persons Act 2008

Section 20 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 states that the governing body of a maintained school must designate a member of staff (‘the designated person’) as having responsibility for promoting the educational achievement of children who are looked after in the school. The designated lead should have a key role in ensuring that the PDG-CLA benefits care-experienced learners in the school. 

Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to promote the educational achievement of children looked after. 

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 Part 6 Code of Practice (Looked After and Accommodated Children) statutory guidance provides advice on the care and support planning duties of local authorities in relation to care and support plans, including health and education. The provisions under Part 6 of the Act also apply to asylum-seeking children. They have the same rights and entitlements as children looked after who are born in Wales and the UK.

Young people, who shared their views with the Welsh Government, highlighted the importance of having their voices heard:

“Professionals can support young people by listening to their ideas. Professionals can take action by taking young people’s ideas seriously. Professionals need the knowledge of a young person’s culture when supporting them.” Young person

Every decision about what approaches to use through the PDG-CLA should be rooted in a good understanding of each child's needs. According to their age and understanding, the views of children and young people should be sought and considered when:

• identifying their educational needs 
• deciding on actions at a school or individual level

School staff who have a good relationship with the learner should support them to:

• express their views
• identify their strengths, goals and aspirations

Alternatively, they may be supported to share their views by an independent advocate, for example, as provided by Tros Gynnal Plant, or the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).

Learner voice activities (for example the school council) should be: 

• accessible and inclusive and recognise that learners may have past experiences which may impact on how they choose to engage 
• purposeful and impactful, recognising that care-experienced children are involved in multiple meetings with lots of professionals asking them questions, which can be overwhelming

Useful information on this area can be found in:

• Estyn’s ‘Supplementary guidance: listening to learners on inspection -September 2021’
• Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ guidance on participation
• NSPCC’s Hearing the voice of the child: evidence snapshot
• The Welsh Government’s national participation standards
• Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) videos where children looked after share their experiences
• The Fostering Network’s Fostering Wellbeing - Team Around The Child (gydag isdeitlau Cymraeg) video about what care-experienced learners want from the professionals supporting them

 About me profile 

The About me profile (one-page profile) is a simple summary of what is important to a child or young person and how they want to be supported. An about me profile captures positive information about the child on a single sheet of paper which can promote pupil voice and support decision-making around PDG-CLA funding. It might include:

• what people like and admire about me 
• what is important to me 
• how best to support me in school

The child or young person should be involved as much as possible in the development of the one-page profile using a person-centred approach. It should be reviewed regularly and prior to transition so the new school has a clear and accurate picture of the child or young person.

The purpose of the About me profile is to: 

• support the young person to express their views and what is important to them
• help promote an understanding of the young person 
• identify how best to support the young person and ensure PDG-CLA provision matches the young person’s needs
• facilitate transitions planning

Useful resources include:

• Welsh Government’s Person-centred practice in education: a guide for early years, schools and colleges in Wales
• Adoption UK’s one-page profile template Breaking the barriers to attendance at school

The use of PDG-CLA to support care-experienced learners should be within the context of effective enquiry and evidence-informed practice. Consistent with the use of the wider PDG, schools should use a cyclical 4-stage approach (identification, evidence, implementation, monitoring and evaluation). This will ensure that their work:

• is strongly evidence-informed
• supports the progression of care-experienced children and young people.

Identification

Build a shared understanding of the strengths and needs of your care-experienced learners. As a leader you should consider a range of sources of information about children’s progress through:

• observations
• interaction with their families 
• engagement with your team 

Evidence

Use the information from step one to identify your priorities then consider the evidence for potential approaches or interventions that could address these.

Implementation

Having identified priorities and chosen an approach, engage with your team to develop a shared understanding. Reflect together on the potential barriers and enablers for implementing the approach in your setting.

Monitoring and evaluation

Take time to observe the new approach in action. Notice, analyse and respond to ensure it is being implemented as intended. Use observations to monitor how the children are responding over time. Reflect as a team on whether any extra support or any changes to the plan may be needed to ensure it’s having the desired impact. 

This aligns with the Welsh Government approach for undertaking school self-evaluation and development planning (see School improvement guidance - Hwb) and assessing learner progression within Curriculum for Wales (see The Evaluation and improvement resource (NR:EI): overview - Hwb). It also reflects the approaches to professional enquiry by teachers within the National Professional Enquiry Project. The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium (April 2024)) from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) can support development of the 4-stage approach.

Please see the guidance for PDG for further information. 

Before adopting an intervention or approach, local authorities or schools should consider whether it would meet the needs of the care-experienced child. 

Organisations

The following organisations may offer support in understanding the needs of care-experienced learners and on successful approaches to supporting them.

Adoption UK Cymru

Adoption UK Cymru provides support and services across Wales and works in collaboration with their partners in the National Adoption Service. Adoption UK has information for schools on supporting previously looked-after children to thrive in school. It explores why school can be challenging and offers strategies to help.

email: wales@adoptionuk.org.uk 

Helpline: 0300 666 0006 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 2.30pm)

Website: Adoption UK (Wales)

The Fostering Network Wales

The Fostering Network is a membership organisation supporting foster carers and fostering services. It is dedicated to empowering, enriching and supporting the relationships at the heart of the fostering community.

email: wales@fostering.net.

Advice line: 0800 316 7664 (Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays), 9.30am to 12.30pm)

Website: www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk

Voices from Care Cymru

Voices From Care Cymru is a national organisation dedicated to upholding the rights and welfare of care-experienced children and young people.

email: admin@vfcc.org.uk

Tel: 029 2045 1431

Website: Voices From Care Cymru 

TGP Cymru 

TGP Cymru is a children’s charity working with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised children, young people and families in Wales.

email: admin@tgpcymru.org.uk

Tel: 029 2039 6974

Website: TGP Cymru

Children’s Commissioner for Wales

The Children's Commissioner for Wales champions the rights of children and young people in Wales. 

email: post@childcomwales.org.uk

Tel: 01792 765600

Freephone: 0808 801 1000 (Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays), 9am to 5pm)

Website: Children's Rights Advice and Assistance Team, Children’s Commissioner for Wales

Care Leavers Activities and Student Support (CLASS) Cymru

The CLASS Cymru site has tips for care-experienced people (or anyone who supports those with care experience), directing them to helpful resources to support access into further and higher education.

Website: CLASS Cymru

Careers Wales

Careers Wales helps young people to:

• plan their career
• prepare to get a job
• find and apply for the right apprenticeships, courses and training

Contact: Contact us, Careers Wales

Tel:0800 028 4844 (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm; Friday, 9am to 4:30pm)

Website: Careers Wales

 Sources of support in relation to mental health and well-being

• ACE Hub Wales provides information, resources and training on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and taking a trauma-informed approach to policy and practice.
• Traumatic Stress Wales aims to improve the health and well-being of people at risk of developing or with post-traumatic stress disorder or complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Trauma-Informed Wales Resources
• NEST framework for improving mental health and well-being services for babies, children, young people and their families.
• NICE (2015) guidance on supporting care-experienced children with attachment difficulties. 
• Beacon House resources help with understanding of developmental trauma and how to heal it. 
• EEF Improving Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in Primary Schools report reviews the best available research to offer school leaders 6 practical recommendations to support good SEL for all children.
• ‘Framework on embedding a whole-school approach to emotional and mental well-being’ (Welsh Government) provides national guidance for all schools, PRUs, special schools, local authorities and other education settings to support the emotional and mental well-being of learners. School senior leadership teams are expected to consider their more vulnerable learners (including children looked after) when developing their well-being plan as part of the wider school improvement process, to ensure it accommodates their learners’ needs. 
• Public Health Wales have resources to support the Whole School Approach to Emotional and Mental Well-being.
• Public Health Wales’s interactive dashboard presents updated survey results on the health and well-being of secondary school-aged children in Wales. 

Support for speech, language and communication needs

Many care-experienced children have unidentified speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Developing the speech, language and communication (SLC) skills of care-experienced children supports:

• relationship building
• educational attainment 
• future life chances

Factsheet for professionals working with children looked after (CLA) and care experienced children provides evidence-based advice for how care-experienced children might be supported with SLCN in Wales.

Other related Welsh Government guidance and sources of support

• The All Wales Protocol: Reducing the criminalisation of care experienced children and young adults provides expectations for practice across agencies to reduce the unnecessary criminalisation of care-experienced children (up to the age of 18) and young adults (up to the age of 25). 
• Reducing the Criminalisation of care experienced children and young adults in Wales: A Practical Toolkit for Professionals turns the principles in the All Wales Protocol into practice.
• The Youth Engagement and Progression Framework is built around the early identification of young people aged 11 to 18 who are at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET) or homeless. 
• Guidance for Children seeking asylum in Wales
• Guide to the Pupil Development Grant explains what the PDG is and how to use it to reduce the impact of poverty on educational achievement.
• Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014: Part 6 Code of Practice (Looked After and Accommodated Children) provides advice on the care and support planning duties of local authorities in relation to care and support plans, including health and education. 
• Making a difference: A guide for the designated person for children looked after in schools is a practical resource to assist the designated person for children looked after in schools.
• Community Focused Schools guidance provides advice on how schools can engage with families, communities and multi-agencies to support the needs of their learners and families and benefit the wider community.
• Developing multi-agency engagement in Community Focused Schools has been developed to support schools and other key stakeholders to develop their multi-agency engagement as part of a Community Focused Schools approach.
• Curriculum for Wales guidance (on Hwb) includes guidance on designing your curriculum, assessment arrnagements and the areas of learning and experience.

School Essentials Grant: help with school costs explains the benefits of the School Essentials Grant and who qualifies for it.

Pass all the funding on to individual schools or settings or clusters of schools or settings

Pass all the funding on through either of the following options:

• individual schools or settings and clusters of schools or settings
• individual schools or settings, or clusters of schools or settings

Advantages

Funding to schools directly

• There may be a specific intervention that would support the learner. If the funding does not come directly to the school, the school may not have sufficient funding to put that support in place. 
• Schools understand the needs of the individual child what intervention would likely impact positively on them. 

Funding to clusters of schools or settings

• There will be a larger chunk of money, which could be utilised for employing specialist staff. For example, a mentor in the high school could support learners in the high school with transition from the primary schools in the cluster area. This can benefit all children looked after in the cluster area. 
• It will enable a strategic approach, enabling capacity-building and promoting schools to work together.
• Individual schools which get a child looked after unexpectedly mid-term, or whose numbers have increased since the PDG-CLA was allocated, may benefit from the support that is put in place at a cluster level.

Disadvantages

Funding to schools directly

• The school may only have one learner who is looked after. £1,150 may not be sufficient to meet the needs of the learner if that means employing support staff or paying for interventions which are more costly.
• The child may change school mid-term due to a placement change.
• It may be more challenging for the school to use the PDG-CLA to support adopted learners and those in SGO arrangements than if the funding was pooled and used strategically at local authority or school cluster level.

Funding to clusters of schools or settings

• Success in the arrangement may be dependent on the strength of the cluster and whether the PDG-CLA cluster plan is made in full consultation with the feeder primary schools.
• It may be harder to see the impact of the grant on individual learners when the funding is used at a cluster level.

Other things to consider

• Who will coordinate and monitor the cluster plan? Would this be done by the local authority or will it fall to the school? 
• Will there be robust procedures in place for all schools to agree, monitor and evaluate the impact of any cluster plans on care-experienced children in individual schools?
• In some local authorities the LACE coordinator or VSH (or equivalent role) will consider whether the PDG-CLA plan is evidence-informed and that what is planned is an appropriate use of funding.
• The local authority may need to keep some funding to employ an individual to evaluate plans, provide quality assurance and keep track of spend.

Keep some of the funding for activities that will benefit a group of, or all of, the authority’s children and young people who are care-experienced

Advantages

It may be useful for the local authority to keep a portion or all the funding to be used strategically in the following ways.

Discretionary fund

For example, this might include using the funding to:

• support a child new to the area
• support a child educated outside of Wales 
• provide specific funding for tuition

It can be an advantage to have a little bit of funding held for children looked after in real need or for special circumstances.

Training for schools across the local authority

For example, this might include using the funding in taking a trauma-informed approach. This provides a legacy of the funding as teachers in schools will be better equipped to support care-experienced learners in their schools. This benefits other vulnerable learners as well. When teachers are trained it ensures schools will be ready when or if they receive a care-experienced learner at short notice.

Disadvantages

Schools are closer to the needs of child. They may have a better understanding than the local authority of what interventions or approaches should be put in place.

Other things to consider

Has the local authority got effective procedures in place to work with schools to:

• identify the needs of care-experienced learners in their area?
• ensure that the funding is used most effectively to improve the outcomes for care-experienced learners in their area? 

Keep parts of the funding to employ PDG-CLA LA coordinators

Advantages

This role would provide a valuable resource for the local authority to:

• consider whether the PDG-CLA plan is evidence-informed and what is planned is an appropriate use of the funding
• coordinate and keep track of spend and liaise with the Welsh Government
• evaluate whether the PDG-CLA has supported positive outcomes for care-experienced learners and evidence these

Disadvantages

There will be less PDG-CLA funding to distribute to schools or clusters of schools.