Looked-After Children Provision Audit and Action Plan

There's no guidance in this bundle - just a fully editable audit document and accompanying action plan & log that will support you in looking at all facets of your provision and procedures for supporting looked-after children and previously looked-after children (sometimes referred to by schools as LAC and post-LAC respectively). 

When you make your purchase, you'll receive a ZIP file containing the following documents: 

• An 11-page fully editable Looked-After Children Provision Audit document, with over 60 questions that school leaders and designated teachers can use to evaluate their current provision for looked-after and previously looked-after pupils.
• An editable Looked-After Children Provision Action Plan which can be used straight away to start planning improvements, saving you time and energy.
•  A Looked-After Children Information Log template that allows you to keep track of basic information for LAC and previously LAC in your care.

The audit resource guides you through key questions based on the following themes:

• Strategic and Administrative Factors - who is responsible for looked-after pupils?
• Staff and CPD - how can staff be trained to support looked-after pupils?
• Home-School Communication and Multi-Agency Working - how can schools best work with families, carers and other professionals, e.g. social workers and the virtual school headteacher (VSH), to support looked-after pupils?
• Inclusive Education - how can our curriculum best support looked-after pupils, pupils in care and previously looked-after pupils to learn, make progress and attain well?
• Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) - how can we support pupils who are looked-after and have additional needs or SEND?
• Pastoral, Physical Health and Mental Health Support - what do we have in place to support the social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) of looked-after, previously looked-after and vulnerable pupils?
• Admissions - how effective are our procedures for admitting and welcoming looked-after pupils to our school?
• Exclusions - how do we support young people in care to remain in school?

Answering the audit questions in these domains allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your current offer. You can then use the accompanying action plan to take things forward and use the handy looked-after pupil log to keep a strategic view of pupils looked after by the local authority in your school. 

This resource is perfect if you are the designated teacher for looked-after children and previously looked-after children. You can use it to assess the effectiveness of your current policies, procedures and systems for supporting looked-after pupils.

It's also ideal if you're a headteacher, senior leader, DSL, SENDCo, pastoral leader or in another senior role in school, and you have a looked-after child joining your setting for the first time. You may have named a designated teacher for LAC because it's a statutory requirement, but now that person will need to ensure the school is meeting the looked-after child's unique needs. This resource bundle will help support that initial process and allow you to consider what you need to put into place. 

Looked-after pupils and previously looked-after pupils often face many challenges that other pupils do not. This could include disrupted learning, missing periods of school, abuse or trauma, separation and trust issues, additional learning needs, and mental health and/or emotional difficulties. Schools must have a designated teacher who acts as a champion and advocate for these pupils so they can have the best possible chance of thriving and succeeding in their education, as well as having the same chance to engage in activities, support and opportunities that non-looked-after children do. 

It's for this reason that schools should ensure they have a designated teacher who puts in place robust, effective and supportive provision for all looked-after children, previously looked-after children, children in care and vulnerable pupils - this audit and action plan bundle will support this process.

Browse Honeyguide's safeguarding resources for more support.