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After Year 11, students in England have the choice of:
- remaining in full-time education
- starting an apprenticeship or traineeship
- spending 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training
There are lots of options to choose from whether your young person is staying in education or going on to training.
There are different arrangements for students in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Schools and education settings will give young people information about their options after Year 11.
The HOPE can also talk to young people to help them decide which option is best for them. Post 16 young people can get support from The HOPE if they have an ongoing involvement with social care, or up to the age of 25 if they have an EHCP.
Who to contact:
- Angela Ryan supports post 16 young people who have an EHCP.
- Penny Russell supports post 16 young people who don't have an EHCP.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is money that your foster child or their education or training provider can use to pay for things like:
- clothing, books and other equipment for their course
- transport and lunch on days they study
The 16-19 Bursary is available to children in care and care leavers aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of their course. The student needs to be on a full-time course (16 hours or more). Different colleges pay the bursary in different ways. The student must meet their education provider's attendance requirements to get the payment.
Your young person should apply for the bursary through their education provider. The young person's social worker or The HOPE need to provide evidence that the student is in the care of the local authority.
The fund is currently up to £1,200 per year.
If the young person you foster is doing an apprenticeship they will get a one-off payment of £1,000. This is paid through their training provider.
GOV.UK has information about becoming an apprentice and see Bristol City Council's apprenticeships website.
Free meals in Further Education funded institutions
Some Post 16 students are entitled to free meals.
In very exceptional circumstances Post 16 students may be eligible for home to school travel support. Bristol City Council's Home to School Travel policy has a section about children in care.
There's also a pdf (109 KB) for students who have SEND in post 16 education.
If the young person you foster is having any problems, or if you have any concerns regarding any aspect of their education, you should encourage them to talk to:
- their course tutor
- college support workers
- learner support services, sometimes called student well being
- their social worker or personal adviser
- The HOPE
If they're not comfortable talking to someone on their own, you should go with them.
If the young person you foster has started a course but isn't enjoying it, talk to them about swapping to do something else rather than leaving college.
If they don't want to do that, speak to their tutor and social worker or personal adviser before you make any decisions so that the young person understands their options.
If the young person you foster is told they may be withdrawn from their course
Your young person may be told that they can't carry on with a course if:
- they haven't attended regularly
- they've been involved in a behavioural incident
Please contact us and the young person's social worker or personal adviser as soon as possible.
You can appeal a decision made by the college. All colleges will have a disciplinary procedure and an appeals procedure on their website.
All young people in care must have PEP meetings up to the age of 18 if they are either in education or if they're not in education, employment or training (NEET). Young people on apprenticeships do not need to have PEP meetings, but may have them if they'd like to.
When a young person turns 18 and they're in education or NEET they should continue to have PEP meetings until the end of that academic year. It's good practice for PEP meetings to continue for young people in education.
For young people in care Post 16 or care leavers who have SEND, refer to the SEND Code of Practice 0 - 25 and ensure the SEND caseworker is involved if a young person has an EHCP.
The HOPE has a post 16 PEP form, guidance and PEP descriptors.
Young people can get support and guidance about going into higher education from:
- their school or college
- their training provider
- Propel
- UCAS
- The HOPE, up to the age of 25, including information about courses, open days, funding, accommodation and specific support from universities
- Bristol City Council, including financial support and support from a personal adviser (the young person's social worker or personal adviser will be able to tell you more about what's available)
- Financial support for university or college holiday accommodation if they're studying away from home
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) continue to the age of 25. This means that there will be support available for your young person post 16. Annual Reviews will also continue. The post 16 provider will lead on meetings about the EHCP, and the HOPE may attend some of these meetings.
You must make sure the SEND caseworker knows about the young person's intention to attend a particular education setting. It's important that the SEND team consult with the post 16 provider to ensure they can meet the young person's needs.
You can find more information about SEND on Bristol's Local Offer website.
Young people in care can be very vulnerable and may need extra support to keep them safe.
Each child is individual and will have different strengths and difficulties. Being aware of the risks your foster child may face or may pose is an important part of the safeguarding process.
If you have any safeguarding concerns about your foster child, speak to your supervising social worker, the child's social worker or the child's education setting as soon as you become concerned. You should also speak to your supervising social worker if you have a safeguarding concern about any member of your family.
Education settings have a statutory duty to safeguard children and young people. Schools have a designated safeguarding lead and you should know who that person is and how to contact them.
Talk to your supervising social worker about making sure your safeguarding training is up to date.
Bristol City Council's child protection pages have information for a range of people including professionals.
The South West Child Protection Procedures has information on the Bristol Safeguarding Partnership.
Resources and training for foster carers available from The HOPE Virtual School.
Training and how to access it
If you’re a carer you can get training to support your foster child to do better at school.
We can provide training on:
- Personal Education Plans (PEPs)
- promoting reading
- encouraging attendance
- tests and exams
- anti-bullying
All our training is in partnership with our fostering teams’ training leaders.
If you’re a Bristol City Council carer you can access a course by talking to your supervising social worker or contacting The HOPE.
Training resources
These are some examples of The HOPE’s training for carers.
Is your child being bullied?
Bullying is a common problem for children and young people, including those in care. pdf Is your child being bullied? (2.25 MB) explains:
- different forms of bullying
- some reasons why children are bullied
- what young people say about it
- things you can do to help tackle bullying
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Graduated approach checklist
The pdf SEND Graduated approach checklist (2.63 MB) has information about how the SEND Code of Practice recommends using a cycle of ‘assess, plan, do, review’ to support young people with SEND in education.
The checklist explains:
- the use of the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle mentioned in the Code of Practice
- the graduated response that schools may make when they assess a young person’s SEND
What a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is
A PEP is part of the young person's care plan. It's a record of how a young person is doing in their education. It also shows how the professionals working with the young person are supporting them in their education.
PEP meetings
It's important that you go to the PEP meetings as they're a good opportunity to talk about your foster child's education.
Your foster child's social worker needs to:
- talk to you to find a good time for the meetings
- contact your foster child's school or education setting to organise the meetings
Meetings are held:
- within 28 days of a child first coming into care
- within 3 months of the first PEP, and then every 6 months after that
The timings of the PEP meetings are set so that the latest PEP can be reviewed at each Child in Care review.
What happens after the meeting
You and your foster child will be given a copy of the PEP.
All the people involved in the PEP must do their actions.
If you think any actions on the PEP form aren't being done:
- talk to the person responsible for that action
- discuss it at the PEP review meeting
- raise it at the next PEP meeting
How you can support your foster child with their PEP
You can support your child's PEP by:
- making sure your foster child adds their views, especially if they can't go to the meeting
- going to and contributing to each meeting
- making sure you understand what has been talked about and agreed
- making sure you do the things from the PEP that are your responsibility
PEP reviews
The PEP is reviewed by the designated teacher each term to make sure that it's up to date with the child's current educational progress and needs. The young person, their social worker and their carer are also involved in the review.
What Pupil Premium funding is and how it's used.
What Pupil Premium is
Pupil Premium is extra funding from the government to help disadvantaged children and young people do better in their education. Pupil Premium funding only applies to England.
Children in care can get Pupil Premium funding if they've been in care for at least one day.
There are two types of Pupil Premium funding for children in care:
- Early Years Pupil Premium: three and some four year olds
- Children in Care (CiC) Pupil Premium: Reception Year up to the end of Year 11 for state school pupils. This is sometimes called Looked After Children (LAC) Pupil Premium.
We give the funding to education settings in three payments across the year because children sometimes move education settings or schools.
How the funding works
Early Years
Your foster child can get Early Years Pupil Premium funding if they're 3, or 4 and not in a school reception class yet.
The funding is up to £302 per year depending on the number of hours the child goes to their education setting, up to a maximum of 15 hours per week.
You should talk to the designated person in the early years setting about:
- what difference the funding has already made to your foster child
- how the next amount of Pupil Premium will be used to help with things that have been identified as important in your foster child's Personal Education Plan
Bristol City Council's Early Years team organise Pupil Premium for this age group. Early Years Pupil Premium is given to mainstream settings, and private, voluntary and independent or special settings which Bristol looked after children mainly attend, both in Bristol and in other local authorities.
Reception to Year 11 pupils
Your foster child will be eligible for Children in Care Pupil Premium funding from Reception Year up to Year 11 if they're on the roll of a state school.
The HOPE expects at least 80% to be spent on English and maths.
Our virtual headteacher is responsible for allocating CiC Pupil Premium to schools. Schools have to meet certain criteria set by The HOPE to receive the funding.
You'll talk about how the Pupil Premium will be used and what difference it makes at your foster child's Personal Education Plan meetings.
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