In Part 1 of this blog, Andy and Matthew highlighted how VSHTs work in partnership with LAs on a national and regional basis and how the role has developed.
And, also as mentioned in Part 1, the Children in Need review (DfE, 2019) provided the VSHT with the strategic leadership role to champion the educational attendance, attainment, and progress of children with a social worker.
This means that the VSHT will:
- make visible the disadvantages that children with a social worker can experience, enhance partnerships between education settings and local authorities, including with children’s social care, to help all agencies hold high aspirations for these children
- promote practice that supports children’s engagement in education, recognising that attending an education setting can be an important factor in helping to keep children safe from harm
- level up children’s outcomes and narrow the attainment gap so every child has the opportunity to reach their potential. This will include helping to ensure that children with a social worker benefit from support to recover educationally from the impact of the pandemic
