Implementing the statutory guidance:
the roles and responsibilities of the
designated teacher for looked after
children
Nicola Blake
Multi Agency Team Manager (CLA)
The designated teacher’s journey so far…
 A feature of good practice in schools since
implementation of the guidance on education of
looked after children published in 2000
 Most schools have someone performing the
designated teacher role but status and provision
has been varied
 The regulations placing the role on a statutory
footing came into force on 1st September 2009
 Gives regulation making powers to the Secretary of
State about who does the role
Introducing the Statutory guidance
The statutory guidance includes sections on:
 Statutory framework
 The role of the governing body
 The role of the designated teacher in school
 The role of the designated teacher in
developing the PEP
 The relationship of the designated teacher to
others beyond the school
The Statutory Framework:
The Designated Teacher (Looked After Pupils etc) (England)
Regulations 2009
 From 1st September 2009 the governing bodies of all
maintained schools are required under the Children and
Young Persons Act 2008 to appoint a designated teacher to
promote the educational achievements of looked after
children and care leavers on the school roll
 Applies to governing bodies of maintained schools
(foundation, community, voluntary aided, voluntary
controlled, foundation special, community special and
maintained nursery school)
 Requires governing bodies to ensure that the person
appointed to this role has the prescribed qualifications and
experience
 Covers all pupils on the school’s roll who are looked after
The statutory framework
The Designated Teacher (Looked After Pupils etc)
(England) Regulations 2009 require that the person
designated is:
 A qualified teacher who has successfully completed an
induction period and is working as a teacher at the school or
 A head teacher or acting head teacher of the school or
 A person who has been carrying out the role of the
designated teacher for at least six months before the
regulations come into force and who is taking steps to
become a qualified teacher and is likely to be so qualified by
1 September 2012
The role of the governing body
 The governing body must ensure that the
designated teacher undertakes appropriate training
 The governors must consider an annual report by
the designated teacher
 The governing body and school leadership team
should consider the report and act on issues to
support the designated teacher to maximise the
impact of the role
The role of the governing body
 A strategic role in making sure that the role is effective
 Does the school have a clear overview of the educational
needs and progress of looked after children on roll?
 Are the school’s policies effective in reflecting the needs of
looked after children?
 Are resources allocated to support the designated teacher carry
out this role effectively?
 Has the designated teacher undertaken appropriate training?
 A monitoring of the role (not the person)
The role of the DT within school
 The annual report should include reference to:
 Workload issues arising as a result of numbers of looked after children
on roll
 Level of progress made by looked after children
 Patterns of attendance and exclusion
 Process or planning issues arising from PEPs
 Whether any children are identified as gifted and talented or as having
special educational needs (SEN) and how these needs are being met
 Training provided for the designated teacher in order to impart
knowledge and understanding to colleagues
The role of the DT within school
 Lead responsibility for helping all school staff
understand the world of being a looked after child
 Promoting a culture where everyone:
 has high expectations of looked after children
 is aware of the emotional, psychological and social effects of being
looked after and treats looked after children as individuals
 is aware of the need to be ‘sensitive’ about care status issues
 understands the central importance of the personal education plan
(PEP) in creating a shared understanding of needs
 Has a working knowledge on a ‘need to know’ basis of how the PEP
fits into wider care planning.
The role of the DT within school
 The designated teacher him/herself should:
 Contribute to the development and review of whole school
policies/procedures to make sure they are ‘looked after children’
friendly
 Lead the process of target setting and promote a culture in which
looked after children take responsibility for their own learning
 Be a source of advice for teachers at school about differentiated
teaching strategies appropriate for individual pupils
 Make sure looked after children are prioritised in one to one tuition and
challenge where this is not happening
 Promote good home school links
 Have lead responsibility within school for the development and
implementation of the PEP
The role of the DT in developing the PEP
 Some guiding principles to keep in mind
 Ownership of the PEP is shared between the school and local
authority which looks after the child. DT leads once the PEP is
received from the local authority
 It’s not for the school to deliver everything mentioned in the
PEP nor for the designated teacher to write everything it
contains
 Think of the PEP as a way of keeping the ‘collective memory’
about the child’s educational history and achievements
 The PEP is a living document which everyone feeds
The relationship of the designated teacher to
others beyond the school walls
 Remember the PEP is a vital part of a child’s wider care plan
 DT makes sure there is a central point of initial contact within
school
 Preparing the ground for how the school engages with social
workers, foster carers, residential carers, educational
psychologists, SEN and other services.
 Most local authorities have a dedicated team (like the multi
agency team in Richmond) and most have appointed a virtual
school head, a senior local authority manager with lead
responsibility in the authority for improving the educational
achievement of looked after children
 DT is key to building relationships with other professionals and
making sure there are agreed processes in place for how the
school works with others beyond the school.
The designated teacher’s involvement in the
care planning process
 DT plays a key role by:
 Being at the table as the ‘education champion’
 Finding ways to make sure that the latest information
about educational progress, primarily through the
PEP, is fed into the statutory review.
 Providing advice about the likely impact of disrupting
education and how this might be minimised.
 Making sure that when a looked after child moves
school that the new school and the LA looking after
the child gets her/his records (including the PEP)
quickly.
Developing the role of the designated
teacher…
The guidance includes a checklist of questions on good
practice. It is important to consider:
 What would I feel like if I were a looked after child?
 What would I want from my designated teacher?
 What would I want to make me feel secure and enjoy
learning?
 Does the young person mind it being known s/he is
looked after?
 Have you discussed with them who might
need to know in school and why?
Self evaluation: Support for looked
after young people
 Through out the day we are going to explore the
nine key qualities exhibited by effective schools.
These are identified in the guidance on improving
attainment in primary and secondary schools
 As an initial task, please evaluate the
effectiveness of your current practice using the
grid on page 25. We will return to this exercise at
the end of the day.
Secure relationships matter
‘It is about having a feel for urgency, being
‘First and foremost it’s not about
laptops or tutoring – it’s about that daily able to read situations so you know when
contact and intensive support from
to offer help and when to step back for a
dedicated adults in the school.’
while.’ (Headteacher)
(Headteacher)
‘Flexibility is the key. We never give up on
them – we just keep trying different
approaches’
(Designated Teacher)
‘We keep a watchful eye on our looked
after young people – discreetly behind
the scenes. We don’t make a big fuss.
We know they are disadvantaged and
underachieve, but we treat them as
normal. We look out for them and
make sure their needs are met.’
(Designated teacher)
… and someone
to trust
‘Jane is better than a teacher –
she can talk just to me – my
teacher has the whole class to
look after’
(Pupil)
‘My mentor pushes me in a nice
way’
(Pupil)
‘She listens. She is one of
those special people – like a
mum. She looks after you’
(Pupil)
Consistency counts…
‘I work closely with the carer to
ensure we are consistent. We
don’t want any mixed
messages. It’s not a soft
option. I say the hard things,
and sometimes he kicks back’
(Mentor)
…and support and sensitivity
‘Exclusion is just another form of rejection.
They don’t need it’
(Designated teacher)
‘You can’t just throw support at these
children. You have to be sensitive to
where they are, the approaches that are
most likely to work and when they will
work’
(Assistant Headteacher)
‘The speed of the support is important. If
the time is right for the child, you have to
be able to provide it straight away. The
virtual school helps us to do this’
(Headteacher)
The teachers never give
up on you, even when
you feel like giving up
yourself. They always
want you to do better’
(Pupil)
Acknowledgement
Slides and pictures on the last four slides
taken from a presentation by Barbara
Miller from the DCSF on Improving the
attainment of looked after children in
primary and secondary schools held on
20th November 2009