Welcome
Welcome to Staffordshire Virtual School. Our team of passionate professionals want all children to have great education experiences. Whether they are currently in care or have left care, or have social work involvement, the team have high aspirations for our children.
We want our children to have stable education placements, in great settings that understand the impact and potential barriers that their life experiences may have on their education, attainment and achievement and do everything they can to help them aspire to and achieve positive outcomes.
Role of the Virtual School
All local authorities in England are required to have a Virtual School Head who monitors the education of individual children in care as if they were in one school. We also offer support and advice for children who have left care, are in kinship care or have a social care involvement. Our Virtual School works with schools, social care partners, parents and carers to help improve education outcomes for our children.
We encourage everyone including education and social care colleagues to adopt Raising Attainment of Disadvantaged Youngsters (RADY) approaches for our children. Every education setting in Staffordshire has access to free CPD resources “Thinking Differently for Disadvantaged Learners”.
Our aspiration is that all of our Staffordshire Schools become relational and restorative in their approaches underpinned by a knowledge of attachment and trauma. We know that this understanding is key to ensure that our children in care, children who have left our care and children with a social work involvement can feel secure and supported to thrive in their education. All educational institutions in Staffordshire are entitled to membership in the Attachment Research Community.
Our work is guided by statutory guidance and non-statutory guidance, which can be found on the gov.uk website:
Our Staffordshire Virtual School governing body acts as a forum for discussions and decisions that will support our children. Our Virtual School council gives our children in care the opportunity to shape the priorities and work of the governing body.
Please use our website to find out more about the support and advice that we can offer you and of course how to contact us.
Sarah Rivers
Virtual Head Teacher
Staffordshire Virtual School has produced a Handbook designed to provide support and guidance to our children and young people, their parents and carers, their Designated Teachers and social workers. We hope you find it useful.
The Team together
