Kinship Carers

Family members or friends who have stepped up to raise children, often at short notice, sometimes need support in finding their way around the education system.

All kinship carers can access support through Kinship, a leading care charity in England and Wales.

The Virtual School also offers educational information and advice to those kinship carers who have a special guardianship or child arrangements order.

We provide additional guidance if you have a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order, and your child was previously looked-after by a council.

Guidance

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

If your child is falling behind with their learning, they may have a learning difficulty and you should speak with the school's Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).

Around 15% of students are identified as having SEN.

The main broad areas of need are:

• cognition and learning
• communication and interaction
• social, emotional and mental health
• physical and / or sensory

Further advice

• IASS for SEND in West Northamptonshire
• Independent Provider of Special Education (IPSEA)

Selecting a school

Ofsted reports and exam results can be important when selecting a school but you should also consider how supportive, inclusive and nurturing the school will be if difficulties arise.

We can't give an opinion on a school - we recommend visiting potential schools and speaking to key staff.

School admissions

We provide information on applying for a school place.

You can express a preference of school for your child but whether they are offered a place will depend on the school’s admissions policy.

More information can be found in the school admissions code. This can be a complicated area. You can contact the School Admissions team or the Virtual School for further advice.

Support for attendance or behaviour

Help and guidance for parents is offered by our Educational Inclusion and Partnership team.

Individual advice

You can contact our team for individual advice. 

When contacting us please include: 

• your child's name
• date of birth
• home postcode
• the name of their school

We can provide educational advice and information only. We do not advocate for children unless they are looked-after by the council.

Last updated 15 November 2024