Annex: PEP case studies

In Powys, the virtual school team use a trauma-informed style questionnaire to gather the views of learners and to understand whether they need support in school. This is done prior to the PEP being completed and feeds into the PEP process. The intention is to use the questionnaire as a proactive approach to any issues the learner might have so that the right support can be identified. For example, if it is an issue with attendance the virtual school team will try to:

• signpost them to support (for example child and adolescent mental health services)
• work with the school directly

This has started to increase the engagement of schools with the PEP process and helped them to understand their purpose, as this case study exemplifies:

Situation

Child K is an out-of-county child looked after on a placement with parents’ agreement to support reunification over a 12-month period. Previously the child had been in long-term foster care. Due to attachment needs, the transition to high school was difficult and led to several fixed-term exclusions for dysregulated behaviour and verbal and physical assault.

PEP questionnaire 

In the autumn PEP meeting the child was not present due to illness. Nevertheless, the school recorded the child’s views and all appeared well, with no concerns. However, a well-being questionnaire was completed on the child’s return to school which raised some concerns around the child’s well-being and not feeling safe on the school bus.

Intervention

To ensure the child felt safe at school they were provided with an emotionally available adult who listened to the child’s concerns. The adult helped the child avoid internalising their feelings, which may have risked a return to dysregulation and increased the risk of exclusion. The school also ensured the child was aware of several staff members they could talk to in school if they felt unhappy or had concerns. This will ensure a timelier response to any future concerns as opposed to waiting for the PEP meeting. Issues on the school bus were appropriately dealt with, including having an increased adult presence on the bus.

Follow-up

This was followed-up in the spring term PEP process so K’s views could be sought before and during the PEP meeting and the questionnaire repeated. 

The Vale of Glamorgan has created a virtual school which uses an online PEP portal. The virtual school education team keep the PEPs in a central, secure location and provide training on how to use the PEP portal to:

• teachers
• foster carers
• social workers 
• independent reviewing officers

Once all the information is submitted, social services are notified and the portal will trigger a reminder every 6 months when the PEP needs to be updated. The professional portal to populate the PEP is secure because the education team manually authenticates users.

The online PEP portal has the following advantages. 

• It is easier to ensure that only the master copy is updated and there are not multiple versions of the PEP in circulation.
• It is easy to access and quality assure.
• It uses a traffic light system for when PEPs are due and completed.
• Notifications are sent to schools when there are changes to the PEP, such as legal status or an address change.
• Secure access means there is greater transparency.
• The virtual school team can share the PEPs with schools promptly.
• The steps to input information are clear to follow.
• More than one professional can view the PEP at the same time.
• The professional portal to complete the PEP is accessible for schools, both in and out of county.
• The PEP is secure on the portal so carers can be part of the process. This is essential as the independent foster agency does not have secure emails.

The education team in the Vale of Glamorgan quality assures the PEP on a regular basis and they expect:

• the PEP to be person-centred
• education information to be updated regularly and by those who know the child best
• the child’s views to be clear for all professionals to see
• appropriate historic information to be recorded and shared
• outcome data and relevant reports to be recorded