Partners in learning

Why education is so important

Looked after children and young people face many barriers to their success in education. Many do well in school despite the difficulties faced in other aspects of their lives. However, they are much more likely than their peers to be behind in their attainment and to leave school earlier and with fewer qualifications, and are at far greater risk of being excluded from school.

Research shows that success in education - more than anything else - determines whether a young person who has been looked after has a fulfilling adult life. There are many reasons why looked after children and young people tend to have low attainment. Some face so many difficulties in their lives that schooling may seem to be of low priority to them and to the agencies providing support. Schooling is also often given insufficient priority when making and reviewing care plans.

Significant issues for parents, carers, social workers and educators include:

• School can, potentially, be a very good and consistent experience for a looked after child or young person.
• Difficult life events can affect concentration and the ability to make relationships.
• Frequent moves of placement and school disrupt education.
• The stigma of being looked after can cause isolation, low self-esteem, difficulty in making friends, and bullying.
• Carers do not always seem sufficiently aware of the importance of education.
• Residential establishments need educational resources and suitable arrangements for homework.
• Carers and teachers could do more to encourage looked after children and young people to achieve at school.

Homework

When parents and carers become actively involved in home reading schemes, their children’s reading scores improve, on average, by between 12 and 18 months. Doing homework regularly has roughly the same benefit as an extra year’s schooling. Research confirms that the benefits of doing regular homework include the following:

• Doing homework helps children and young people to become more enthusiastic about learning. This is more likely to happen when they have some choice about, for example, where to learn, what time to do it, what method or style suits them best and who to do it with.
• Homework provides opportunities to consolidate learning and develop skills. Skills practice may involve reading more quickly and confidently, better presentation of work or how to find information needed for projects.
• Achieving success in homework helps develop confidence to deal with setbacks and frustrations, to overcome difficulties and solve problems. Developing good homework habits is related to becoming an autonomous learner - important for higher attainment.

Key messages from research

• Teachers often have low expectations of the educational achievement and potential of looked after children and young people and social workers may have unrealistically high expectations.
• Carers may have limited education or bad memories of school.
• The education of looked after children and young people is given low priority and not adequately planned.
• Educational targets are often not set or monitored by education authorities and social services. There may be poor liaison between social work and education professionals.
• Children and young people often do not receive the educational support they need to enable them to do well at school. Social workers may underestimate their difficulties.
• Children and young people are often moved to different schools as a result of a change in their looked after placement, thus disrupting their education.
• Education reports prepared for children’s hearings or reviews often deal only with behaviour and attendance.
• Carers may have limited knowledge of the child or young person’s schoolwork.
• There is often insufficient planning or support to avoid non-attendance and exclusion.
• School records may be delayed or go missing following a move.
• Residential establishments and foster homes may lack books, newspapers, toys and other educational material.