Safeguarding Pupils School Admissions & Pupil Placements  Edwina Langley  Lead Attendance Officer/Court Officer  Karen Prosser  Team Leader – Left School No Trace

Service formerly known as Children Missing Education When to Refer to Left School No Trace Team (LSNT) Left School No Trace Team Tel: Fax: Office hours Monday to Thursday 08.45am pm Friday 08.45am pm

Order of the day!  Definition of ‘Left School No Trace’  Role of LSNT team & associated tracing procedure  Making a referral when you suspect a pupil has left school without trace  What happens when the CME team receives your referral  FAQ’s Is it Pupil Tracking referral or LSNT?

Definitions and Interpretations  Is it LSNT or Attendance?  It is ‘what it says on the tin’…..pupil whose absence cannot be explained and circumstances present as if the pupil has left school without trace (ordinarily accompanied by parents/guardians)  DEFINITION: When a pupil has not attended school for 20 consecutive school days or more without authorisation and the school have exhausted their reasonable enquiries and an address cannot be identified for the family.  IF YOUR REASONABLE ENQUIRIES UNEARTH SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS REFER TO MASH to have the ‘conversation’.

Role of LSNT Team & Tracing Procedure  Our statutory obligation….Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 LA’s to make arrangements to establish the identities of children residing in their area who are not receiving a suitable education  Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on key people and bodies to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children  To investigate and locate pupils deemed to have left school no trace using a variety of means (Housing Benefit/Council Tax trace, Social Care, NHS Child Health data, Electoral roll, Homelessness, Leisure, Census data, Facebook, UKBA where applicable, etc)  Team receives on average over 70 referrals a month just from schools and academies!  To work in partnership with other agencies to proactively prevent incidences where children leave school with no trace  To develop community links within Birmingham to strengthen relationships with communities of interest (eg. Gypsy Roma & Travelling Communities)

Making the referral…. Page 6  When you reach an exhaustive point! Complete the forms below with as much information as possible, involvement with agencies etc

Difference between Pupil Tracking and LSNT – FAQ’s  Q. Do you know where the pupil has moved to? Yes  Do you have a full address? Yes  Do you consider the information to be from a reliable source? Yes If yes, complete a Pupil Movement form (PMF) and send to your school contact in admissions For general enquiries

Pupil Tracking or LSNT? Page 8  Q. Can you confirm the child’s location? No – LSNT!  Is this absence considered to be out of character for this pupil? Y/N  Are there any agencies currently involved with the pupil? Does the pupil have a named SW/FSW? Y/N  If pupil is ‘believed to be abroad’ are there any safeguarding concerns associated with this? Could this be a Prevent situation?  If you are advised that the pupil has moved abroad, do you have a full address or evidence of travel for that destination?  If yes, complete a PMF and send to Pupil Tracking.  If no, complete a LSNT referral

In-year Admissions  NB: School Front Office Staff & Admissions Officer are fully conversant with process for notifying ‘schools contact’ of families applying for school places for in-year  It is essential that Admissions are advised of approaches even if your school is full or you have a long waiting list.  NEVER SEND FAMILIES AWAY – without them having filled in an application form! (even if you cannot offer a place/try and obtain proof of address). Each and every approach must be logged and recorded and data relayed on the weekly return  It is paramount that Admissions are aware of in-year applications so that they can ensure that the child is offered a school place and does not become lost in the system.  If ‘new to Bham’ advise to ring option 4

Andrew Gosden age 14 Lauren Wright age 6 Jon Venables age 10 Robert Thompson age 10 Victoria Climbie age 8 Tia Sharp age 12 Khyra Ishaq age 7 Daniel Pelka age 4

Pupil Attendance and Safeguarding “In individual cases, agencies overlooked or misinterpreted… the significance of poor school attendance” The voice of the child: learning lessons from serious case reviews, April

The Law  Parents are responsible for making sure that their children of compulsory school age receive efficient full-time education that is suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs the child may have.  This can be by regular attendance at school, alternative provision, or by Education Otherwise (e.g. the parent can choose to educate their child at home). Section 7, Education Act 1996

Attendance - Key Concepts  Whole school (Overall) absence (OA) (key group 85 – 95%)  Persistent Absence (PA) % of pupils with 10% or more absence  PA = Unauthorised + Authorised Absence (can only prosecute with Unauthorised Absence)

Attendance during one school year Equals days absent Which is approximately weeks absent Which means this number of lessons missed 95% 9 days 2 weeks 50 lessons 90% 19 days 4 weeks 100 lessons 85% 29 days 6 weeks 150 lessons 80% 38 days 8 weeks 200 lessons 75% 48 days 10 weeks 250 lessons

School Absence Procedures Essential  First day calling  Sending a letter  Home visit  Informal meeting  Pre-CAF  Time limited

Support for Attendance  fCAF/TAF  Right Services, Right Time/MASH  Think Family  Left School No Trace  School Nurse (Public Health)  James Brindley  Spotlight/Leave in Term Time Penalty Notice procedure

When parents won’t not can’t We want children back in school, so that they can benefit from their right to receive an education We want to improve whole school attendance We want to send out a message to the whole community that it is NOT okay for children to miss out on education We want to improve attainment We want children to be in a safe environment Why do we prosecute?

Absence from school School is a protective factor for children. So, when children are not in school…  Where are they?  Who are they with?  What are they doing?  Are they safe?