Supporting Children in Kinship Care: How Walsall Virtual School Can Help
From September 2024, Walsall Virtual School’s role has expanded to provide advice and information to support children and young people in kinship care arrangements. This change reflects our commitment to ensuring that every child in kinship care receives the support they need to succeed in education and beyond.
What Is Kinship Care?
Kinship care happens when a child cannot live with their parents and is instead cared for by relatives or family friends. This could include grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, or close family friends. While kinship care provides stability and familiarity, children in these arrangements may face unique challenges that can affect their education, attendance, and progress.
How We Support Kinship Children
Our role is to champion the education of all children in kinship care. While we don’t work directly with individual children or families, we focus on creating a system that meets their needs and helps them thrive.
1. Raising Awareness About Kinship Care Needs
We work with schools, carers, and other professionals to ensure they understand the unique challenges faced by children in kinship care. This includes:
- Training school staff, including Designated Teachers and Safeguarding Leads, on how to support children in kinship care.
- Promoting a “kinship-friendly” culture in schools, where policies and practices recognise the unique experiences of kinship families.
- Helping schools identify and address barriers to learning for children in kinship care.
2. Supporting School Attendance and Engagement
Children in kinship care may face difficulties attending or fully engaging with school. We help schools and other services to:
- Build stronger partnerships with carers and kinship care teams to ensure children feel supported.
- Develop strategies to improve attendance and make sure children feel welcome and included in their school community.
3. Improving Educational Outcomes
Education is the foundation for every child’s future, and we are committed to helping children in kinship care achieve their best. We work with schools to:
- Provide tailored support that helps children overcome challenges and reach their potential.
- Share best practices and ideas to close any learning gaps and improve progress.
What This Means for You
Our expanded role means we are here to ensure that children in kinship care are visible, supported, and included in the education system. While we do not work directly with families, we are always available to offer advice and guidance to carers, schools, and other professionals.
If you have questions or need advice about supporting a child in kinship care, please contact Walsall Virtual School. Together, we can make sure that every child in kinship care has the opportunity to succeed.