Personal Education Plans: Guidance Notes

Every child and young person aged 3 and above should have a Personal Education Plan (PEP). For children below school age, this will help to ensure access to high quality early years provision. For older young people, the PEP will help to ensure that support is provided to achieve long term aspirations for education, training and employment drawn up as part of the care planning process.  Personal Education Plans are intended to ensure access to services and support; contribute to stability, minimise disruption and broken schooling; signal particular and special needs; establish clear goals and act as a record of progress and achievement.

The PEP will be prepared by the social worker and the content drawn up at a PEP meeting in conjunction with the school, Education Welfare Officer, (EWO), parents, carers and, where appropriate, include the young person. The PEP should be available in time for the first Looked After Review which needs to be held within 20 working days. Final copies of the full plan should be distributed following the Looked After Review(with a child friendly version being sent to the young person.) The PEP should be reviewed before subsequent Looked After Reviews held within 3 months of the initial Looked After Review and no less frequently than once every 6months. Designated Teachers will be expected to assume management at school level and communicate with the social worker and EWO regularly.

Action Required. These are the current educational priorities in each category. Not all of them may apply. If the young person is due to sit public examinations, the priority may be scheduling revision sessions under Study Support. If a young person is at risk of exclusion the priority may be support with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties supported by a Pastoral Support Programme included in the section on Short-term Educational Targets. If setting in certain subjects is about to take place, it may mean additional support in specific subjects.

This section should also identify actions to be taken by any individuals in relation to supporting the young person’s education prior to the next review date.

Responsible Person. The names of who takes responsibility for ensuring that specific elements of the Plan are implemented. This may be more than one person for any one objective.

Links with other plans. The value of the PEP is in making connections with, but not duplicating, other plans.

Related plans could include:

• Care Plan;
• Education, Health and Care Plans;
• SEN Support Plan;
• Pastoral Support Programme;
• Transition Plan;
• Career Plan;
• Pathway Plan;
• Personal Learning Plan.

Education, Health and Care Plan. If the child has a current Education, Health and Care Plan, a copy should be included with the initial PEP. Future PEPs need only contain information regarding Plan review dates and the levels of support offered and given within school. A new copy of the Plan should be attached to the PEP following any major changes in the Plan, child’s school or carers.

Any Other Comments or Actions Regarding Special Educational Needs or Disabilities. This may include any proposed Education, Health and Care Needs assessments, holding interim reviews of the Education, Health and Care Plan in exceptional circumstances where it is felt that the current Plan is failing to meet the child’s needs, actions regarding transport etc.

Changes in Education or Placement. These could include transitions such as:

• Key Stage 1-2;
• Key Stage 2-3;
• Re-integration into mainstream provision;
• Planned change of placement: e.g. adoptive placement or out of authority placement requiring a change of school or education provision.

In relation to all transitions, securing an educational placement will be a priority.

Key Stage 4 Options. These are the young persons GCSE / vocational options to be undertaken during Years 10 and 11, they will normally be chosen during the Spring Term of Year 9.

Curriculum Differentiation. This could include anything which is tailored for a particular child such as special literacy and numeracy programmes, development of skills to support learning. Alternative learning packages, are programmes of education arranged by the school that may take place in external settings, these packages are overseen by the school and may include work experience settings. The pupil remains on the roll of the school. The alternative learning package may include promotion of an individual’s cultural identity or religion etc. Where the curriculum is differentiated for Key Stage 4 pupils, this should be linked, where possible to their post 16 aspirations.

Local Authority Alternative Provision (LAAP’s) are alternative packages which are bought by the school direct from the local authority. These packages are managed by the local authority.

Extra Curricular Activities. These could include breakfast, lunchtime or after school clubs and could be used to help build a young person’s confidence and improve social skills or promote an educational activity such as playing a musical instrument, improving IT skills etc.

Educational Visits. Details of educational visits should be entered with reasons for not partaking. It is important that young people have access to and be encouraged to take part in as many activities as possible. Risk assessments should be drawn up to facilitate a young person’s participation where there are any concerns.

Youth and Family Service Interviews, Post 18 Aspirations and Work Experience. The plan should make links with Careers and Personal Advisers, identify who is arranging careers interviews and work experience, making links with Pathway Plan. A copy of the current career plan should be attached to the PEP where available. Any action to be taken by schools should link in with and encourage the young person’s post 18 aspirations.

Post year 11 – all post year 11 PEP’s are reviewed as a part of the Pathway Planning process every 6 months. Further education and training options will be discussed, and progress tracked within the Pathway Plan and in liaison with the Pathway team targeted youth advisor.

Levels, Test Results and Assessments. Data about attainment should help build a picture of individual progress within each Key Stage. National Curriculum levels should be entered for each completed Key Stage, these should be actual test results where tests have been taken or, alternatively, Teacher Assessments. Results of other tests or assessments undertaken during each Key Stage should also be entered in the appropriate table. National Curriculum / GCSE working levels should be entered along with effort grades where available.

Short-term academic targets. Targets from the previous PEP that have not been achieved should be indicated with reasons given, where known, for non-achievement. If the target is to be kept, additional information should be recorded in relation to any other strategies and supports required to help the young person achieve the target during the next review period.

New academic targets should be set relating to areas of underachievement, where appropriate. It is also desirable that these should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related. Strategies and supports required to help the young person achieve these targets should be identified along with the details of who is to take any required action or provide additional support.

Social Skills / Personal Development. This section relates mainly to the young person’s concentration, behaviour and social skills as these are an important pre-requisite to academic achievement. Any issues in these areas should be identified.

Education Inclusion Services. Advice should be taken from appropriate professionals with regard to managing difficult or disturbing behaviour.

Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP). Young people exhibiting challenging behaviour should have an IBP in place containing appropriate targets. This should be reviewed at least once a term.

Pastoral Support Plan (PSP) a Pastoral Support Plan is a school based and co-ordinated intervention to help individual pupils to improve their social, emotional and behavioural skills. As a result of a PSP pupils should be able to better manage their behaviour. A PSP should be set up for a young person who has several fixed period exclusions that may be leading to a permanent exclusion, who is identified as being at risk of failure at school through disaffection or where the situation is complex and a range of agencies are required to support the young person.

Targets. Targets from the previous PEP that have not been achieved should be indicated with reasons given, where known, for non-achievement. If the target is to be kept, additional information should be recorded in relation to any other strategies and supports required to help the young person achieve the target during the next review period. Where an Individual Behaviour Plan or Pastoral Support Plan exists, these should be used to inform the PEP targets. Strategies and supports required to help the young person achieve these targets should be identified along with the details of who is to take any required action or provide additional support.

Pupil Premium Grant. All looked after children are in receipt of funding from the pupil premium grant (PPG). The use of PPG should be discussed at all PEP meetings and its usage should be linked to attainment targets set during the PEP meeting.

Absences. Details of absences should be recorded and be cumulative during the current school year.

Holidays. The ERYC pledge for looked after children clearly states the following: ‘we will not take you out of school for term time holidays so that we don’t disrupt your education.’ It is expected that young people will not take time off school for the purpose of going on holiday.

Exclusions. Details regarding absences due to fixed term and permanent exclusions should be entered. Schools have a duty to provide first day provision for looked after children during fixed term exclusion. It is hoped that permanent exclusion will be avoided wherever possible: however, in the case of a permanent exclusion it is important that alternative education provision is sought without delay. Details of responsibility in this area should be indicated.

Transport. Where appropriate, transport will be arranged to ensure continuity of education. Transport details and issues should be identified and responsibilities in this area should be clarified to ensure that no time is taken off school due to transport problems.