Education Leaders: Working in partnership with the Virtual School (part 1)

The support, influence, advice and impact of Virtual Schools (VS) is certainly increasing as the role of the Virtual School Head Teacher (VSHT) is extended and developed. The leaders of all schools and colleges will have children and young people (CYP) who will also be in the VS cohort – what support is being provided for each of these CYP?

There are 150 VS across England representing each local authority (LA), all with differing cohort numbers, internal organisational and financial arrangements and approaches. The number of young people in care and the LA context are variables that affect the number of staff employed and the roles they hold. This VS cohort is from Early Years through primary and secondary into post-16, with strong links and influence over care leavers. Significantly, an individual VS cohort could include CYP who do not reside in their LA, sometimes up to 70%, meaning that in addition to working across local schools, their responsibilities and partnerships extend across LAs in England, Wales and Scotland.

At a national level, VSHT are represented by the NAVSH, who are organised into regions and where the local VSHT work collaboratively to support their cohorts. There are VSHT emerging in Scotland, different to those south of the border but also linked closely to NAVSH.