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Children Missing Education Procedures

1. Introduction

1.1. The statutory guidance Children Missing Education (September 2016) sets out the key principles to enable local authorities in England to implement their legal duty under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, children missing education (CME).

1.2. All children, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled to an efficient, full time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. CME are at significant risk of underachieving, being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life.

2. Overview

2.1. This document sets out Plymouth’s approach to CME, in terms of process and the identification of children who are CME. It also sets out key strategies to secure appropriate provision for all children and young people and recognises the overall vulnerability of children and the risk therein, not just because they are missing education.

2.2. This document sets out the joint responsibilities of all agencies, all staff in schools, the Local Authority (LA) and Plymouth Safeguarding Children’s Partnership in ensuring that all children and young people have the opportunity to access appropriate and suitable educational provision. This guidance informs all agencies about the procedures to be followed in order to:

  • Identify, maintain contact and re-engage children who reside in Plymouth and are CME.
  • Track children who move out of Plymouth until such time as they are known elsewhere.
  • Consistently identify risk and to carry out joint risk assessments with partners as necessary.

2.3. The Children Act 2004 places a duty on all agencies to work together to promote the welfare of the child and to share information. There is an expectation that all agencies will subscribe to these procedures in order to protect Plymouth’s children and young people.

2.4. All frontline staff in each agency that come into contact with families must ensure that in each new contact, basic information about the child is recorded. This must include the child’s name, address, age, the name of the child’s primary carer, GP and the name of the child’s school, if the child is of school age (17.97 of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report, Lord Laming recommendations).

2.5. In September 2016 the Department for Education set out in its Children Missing Education statutory guidance that robust multi-agency systems should be in place in each LA to identify and track children missing education or at risk of missing education.

2.6. The addition of Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on LA’s to make arrangements to enable them to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children residing in their area who are not receiving a suitable education. The duty applies to all children of compulsory school age who are not on a school roll and are not receiving a suitable education other than at school. This does not apply where parents have elected to educate their children at home.

2.7. Education (Pupil Registration) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2016 makes a number of amendments to the regulations to enable local authorities in England to implement their legal duty under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 and make arrangements to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, children missing education (CME).

2.8. Ofsted’s report ‘Pupils Missing out on Education’ (November 2013) makes recommendations for children and young people who are not in full-time education at school. Ofsted will ask local authorities for detailed and specific data on school-age children, for whom the authority is responsible but who are not in full-time education, as part of the inspection of LA Children’s Social Care. These children are often the most vulnerable and very likely to become missing. It is therefore important that in the overall strategy for preventing children becoming missing, those most at risk should be a key focus in terms of identification and tracking to facilitate early intervention to reduce the risk of their disengagement from education.

3. Plymouth Context

3.1. The reasons for children disengaging from the education system are complex and the procedures aimed at reducing the risk of this happening need to be robust and comprehensive. Plymouth has developed systems, procedures and processes in order to reduce the risk of children’s disengagement from the system and going missing.

These CME procedures will be widely circulated amongst schools and other stakeholders.

4. Missing Children

4.1. Plymouth is committed to ensuring that we quickly locate all pupils who go missing or are lost from schools in Plymouth and we support other LA’s in locating their missing/lost pupils. We believe that we can best achieve this if our procedures:

  • Are underpinned by the relevant legal requirements in relation to missing/lost pupils;
  • Interconnect with the DFE central s2s (school-to-school) Lost Pupils Database;
  • Are consistent with and support local safeguarding arrangements and best practice.

We will therefore:

  • Make all Plymouth Schools fully aware of their responsibilities in relation to missing/lost pupils and support them in meeting these responsibilities.
  • We will closely monitor the operation of our missing/lost children procedures to ensure best practice with regard to child protection.

5. Children Missing Education

5.1. Children missing education can be vulnerable; it is essential that all services work together to identify and re-engage these children back into appropriate education provision as quickly as possible. It is important to establish the reasons for the child being missing at the earliest possible stage; the list below is not exhaustive but provides examples of reasons for children missing from education:

  • failed to start appropriate education provision and never enter the system;
  • moved into Plymouth from another area without a school place;
  • are on a reduced timetable;
  • have attendance is below 50%;
  • are returning from Custody;
  • are missing from education;
  • have medical needs which prevents them from attending school;
  • are from refugee and asylum seeking families;
  • traveller children;
  • Elective Home Education has been deemed unsatisfactory/failed by the LA;
  • Children who are permanently excluded;
  • CAMHS inpatients;
  • Pregnant/young mothers;
  • Children with complex needs where there is no suitable school;
  • Children who are new to the country;
  • Children who stopped attending, due to illegal exclusion or withdrawal by parent/carers;
  • Children from families who are highly mobile;
  • Children at risk of a forced marriage;
  • Children experiencing abuse and neglect.
  • Other.

6. Statutory responsibilities of schools

6.1. All schools must notify the local authority within five days of adding a pupil’s name to the admission register at a non-standard transition point. Schools must enter pupils on the admission register at the beginning of the first day on which the school has agreed, or been notified, that the pupil will attend the school. If a pupil fails to attend on the agreed or notified date, the school should undertake reasonable enquiries to establish the child’s whereabouts and consider notifying the local authority at the earliest opportunity.

6.2. With effect from 1 September 2016, all schools must notify their local authority when they are about to remove a statutory school age pupil’s name from the school admission register. When removing a pupil’s name, the notification to the local authority must include: (a) the full name of the pupil, (b) the full name and address of

any parent with whom the pupil normally resides, (c) at least one telephone number of

the parent, (d) the pupil’s future address and destination school, if applicable, and (e) the ground under which the pupil’s name is to be removed from the admission register

- applicable only to non-standard transition point.

6.3. Schools must make reasonable enquiries to establish the whereabouts of the child jointly with the local authority, before deleting the pupil’s name from the register if the deletion is under regulation 8(1), sub-paragraphs (f)(iii) and (h)(iii) of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006.

6.4. Schools must monitor pupils’ attendance through their daily register. Schools should agree with the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service the intervals at which they will inform Plymouth City Council of the details of pupils who fail to attend regularly, or have missed ten school days or more without permission. Schools should monitor attendance closely and address poor or irregular attendance. It is important that pupils’ poor attendance is referred to the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service.

6.5. Where a pupil has not returned to school for ten days after an authorised absence or is absent from school without authorisation for twenty consecutive school days, and the school and local authority have failed after jointly making reasonable enquiries to establish the child whereabouts; the pupil can be removed from the admission register. This only applies if the school does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend because of sickness or unavoidable cause.

6.6. Schools must arrange full-time education for excluded pupils from the sixth school day of a fixed period exclusion.

6.7. Schools have a safeguarding duty in respect of their pupils, and as part of this should investigate any unexplained absences.

6.8. In line with the duty under section 10 of the Children Act 2004, the expectation is that the school and the local authority will have in place procedures designed to carry out reasonable enquiries. The type of procedures may include the appropriate person checking with relatives, neighbours, landlords – private or social housing providers – and other local stakeholders who are involved. They should also record that they have completed these procedures. If there is reason to believe a child is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, a referral should be made to Children’s Social Care (and the police if appropriate).

7. Role of Plymouth City Council:

7.1. The Inclusion and Attendance Manager is the named officer with responsibility for coordinating the Children Missing Education arrangements in Plymouth.

7.2. It is the responsibility of all agencies to alert the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service if they believe a child is either missing education or at risk of missing education.

7.3. Children and young people can refer themselves to the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service if they need help to access education provision or if they believe that another child is missing education.

7.4. Members of the public can report a child who they believe is missing education.

7.5. Robust processes for monitoring and tracking pupils will reduce the risk of children disengaging with the education system and becoming a child missing education.

7.6. Monthly reviews on progress will be reported to the Head of Virtual School and Inclusion who has overall responsibility for Children Missing Education and who will report to the Director for Education, Participation and Skills.

7.7 The Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service will record details of the children and each child will be monitored on the CME list until re-engagement in education is secured.

7.8. All concerned regarding children and young people missing education will be routed through a single point of referral. The Inclusion and Attendance Manager will be the key central point for Children Missing Education. Upon receipt of the notification, the Inclusion and Attendance Manager will be responsible for:

  • Coordinating the tracking process of pupils when their whereabouts are unknown;
  • Maintaining and updating the Children Missing Education database;
  • Coordinating referrals to appropriate services to support the child or young person back into education;
  • Ensuring the accurate compilation of data and actions related to identifying children missing education;
  • Undertaking regular monitoring and review of individual children held on the CME list;
  • Providing relevant data for senior officers and members, also producing an annual report;
  • Undertaking regular review of processes to ensure that tracking processes are effective;
  • Coordinating receipt of school notifications regarding children and young people leaving their provision and undertake regular audit and reconciliation of the children and young people joining new provisions.

7.9. To raise awareness of the Children Missing Education Procedures, the Inclusion and Attendance Manager will:

  • Circulate details of the notification routes to all relevant areas of the LA and partner agencies on an annual basis, and post information on the intra and internet.
  • Contact senior managers in all agencies if a change of personnel or process occurs.
  • Make contact with teams both in and beyond the LA to further disseminate the notification of referral routes.
  • Remind schools annually to adhere to the Education (Pupils Registration) Regulations 2006, and local policy on the removal of children from school roll and to create a Common Transfer File (uploaded into the secure S2S website) where a child has left the school to an unknown destination.

7.10. The Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service will maintain and continuously monitor a database of referrals. This will record the educational status of all children who are not in education or at risk of missing education. Details recorded will include:

  • Date of referral
  • Actions taken to locate a missing child
  • Actions taken to reengage a child in suitable full-time education
  • Provision offered.
  • Provision start date
  • Date of confirmed attendance
  • Review dates
  • Date when placement is deemed secure (following 1 terms attendance)

8. Procedure for locating a missing child

8.1. The Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service will coordinate an appropriate response with regard to the following cohorts of children:

  • Preschool children from the point of application to when attendance is confirmed.
  • Children transferring between provisions in Plymouth.
  • Children transferring between phases (e.g. Primary to Secondary).
  • Children leaving a Plymouth provision where the destination is unknown.
  • Children moving into Plymouth requiring new provision, where a school place is not available.

8.2. The Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service will make reasonable efforts to identify the child’s current whereabouts/destination. This will include:

  • A home visit within 10 working days of referral to make enquiries at home (or known contacts) and neighbours as appropriate.
  • Checks through LA databases within 10 working days to establish whether the child has moved within the city.
  • Contact other agencies known to be involved with the family within 10 working days.
  • Checking with Plymouth Community Housing within 10 working days, if appropriate.
  • Once all checks have been completed and the child is still missing. Refer the details to the Children Missing Education Administrator within 5 working days to be recorded on the Children Missing Education database

8.3. If at any point during the checking process, the child is located, the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service will:

  • Inform the school by letter informing them of the action to be taken within 5 working days.
  • Inform the school’s Education Welfare Officer within 5 working days.
  • Where a forwarding address is identified a referral to the Children Missing Education Coordinator of that Local Authority within 10 working days will be made.
  • Inform the Children Missing Education Administrator within 5 working days.

8.4. Following reasonable enquiries, if the child is still missing, the Inclusion and Attendance Manager will make arrangements for the CME Administrator to contact both local and national agencies who may have information e.g. jobcentre, other

authorities , NHS, Police, UK Border Force etc. The Inclusion and Attendance Manager and CME Administrator will make arrangements to review and follow up each missing child fortnightly until the child’s whereabouts is established.

8.5. If the child is located the process detailed in 7.3 will be followed and the referral closed, the child’s name will then be removed from the Children Missing Education database within 5 working days.

8.6. The child must not be removed from the school roll until notified by the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service that it is appropriate to do so.

9. Tracking and cross boundary arrangements

9.1. If a child goes missing from a Plymouth school, but lives in another local authority area, the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service will refer to the Children Missing Education Co-ordinator for that authority within 5 working days.

9.2. If a child is permanently excluded from a Plymouth school, but lives in another authority, information is sent to the home authority by the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service within 48 hours so that interim education support may be provided. Similarly, if a child is absent from school due to long term medical needs or pregnancy, the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service will inform the home authorities CME Officer in order to access support for the child. Their details will be logged on the CME list until an education placement is identified.

9.3. Where a child is removed from a Plymouth school roll because the parent has notified them in writing that the family are moving to another Local Authority area, the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service will retain the details of the child until either attendance at an alternative school has been confirmed, or the child’s details have been passed on to the Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service responsible for the area in which the family now resides.

10. Children who cannot be found:

10.1. Once all checks have been made by the CME Administrator periodically over a 12 month period, the Inclusion and Attendance Manager will make a decision as to whether all available strategies to locate the child have been exhausted. If so, a detailed chronology will be submitted to the Head of Access and Planning and Head of Special Education Needs and Disabilities, who will make a decision as to whether the child’s case can be made ‘inactive’.

11. Safeguarding:

11.1. If a child who is open to Children’s Social Care goes missing from education the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the school should notify the child’s allocated Social Worker without delay.

11.2. If the case is not open to Children’s Social Care and a professional has a concern about the risk of harm to the child, a referral should be made to the Early Help advice line or MASH as per Plymouth’s safeguarding and child protection procedures.

11.3. The Inclusion and Attendance Manager may request a case discussion with the police who will consider whether the circumstances suggest the case, in respect of the child and/or their parents should be managed in accordance with the Police Missing Persons Policy, and undertaking proportionate investigation to locate those individuals.

11.4. If a child goes missing from education the Inclusion Attendance and Welfare Service will ensure that reasonable enquiries are made - e.g. home visits, liaison with Children’s Services and/or Housing - and notify the school if it appears that the child has moved out of the area.

11.5. Further information regarding Plymouths Local Safeguarding Procedures in relation to Children Missing Education and other safeguarding responsibilities can be found at: http://www.proceduresonline.com/swcpp/plymouth/contents.html

12. Role of the School Admissions Team

12.1. Where children and young people move into Plymouth and/or find themselves without a school place, the School Admissions Team are likely to be the first point of contact for the parents/carers. All parents or carers will be required to complete an application for a change of school place. The admissions team will undertake a number of initial investigations based on information provided by the parents and the child's previous school and discuss with the Inclusion and Attendance Manager any issues that may impact on their ability to offer a school place quickly.

13. Elective Home Education

13.1. It is the parents’ legal duty to ensure their children receive a suitable full time education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. Some parents decide to educate their children at home, these children are not deemed to be missing education. The parents have no responsibility to inform the local authority if the child has not started school, although many of them do. The local authority would expect to identify these children through the process set out in sections 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4. Any such children identified in this way or through any other notification route will be recorded on the pupil database and registered as home educated.

13.2. The Inclusion, Attendance and Welfare Service will continue to track these children to ensure that the child is receiving a suitable education at school or otherwise.

13.3. When parents withdraw their child to educate them at home, the name of the child can only be withdrawn from the admissions register of the school where the parents inform the school in writing (section 9 (1) (c) of the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 1995). It is then the duty of the head teacher to inform the Inclusion and Attendance Manager within 10 working days of when the pupil has been deleted from the register.

13.4. In Plymouth, the responsibility for monitoring the suitability of home education lies with Plymouth City Council. If Plymouth City Council deem the provision of education unsuitable Plymouth's Policy for Elective Home Education gives details of the process that will be followed. Under certain circumstances, it is possible for the Local Authority to issue a School Attendance Order. Any child where the provision of home education is deemed to be unsuitable and a School Attendance Order has been issued will be placed on the CME list and referred to the Children Missing Education Panel. Further information can be found at: https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/schoolroom/inclusionattendanceandwelfare/electivehomeeducation

14. Role of the Children Missing Education Panel

14.1. The Panel monitors the provision of education and agency involvement for Plymouth’s most vulnerable statutory school age pupils who are missing education. Further information can be found at: https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/schoolroom/inclusionattendanceandwelfare/childrenmissingeducation

15. Reduced Timetables

15.1. All children have a right to a full-time, efficient education suitable to their age, ability and any special needs they may have. Reduced timetables should be considered only within the context of a school’s wider strategic planning for all pupils regardless of their needs. Plymouth’s Reduced Timetable Guidance, developed in partnership with Plymouth schools sets out Plymouth’s position in relation to reduced timetable.

16. Further Information

16.1. This guidance should be read in the context of the statutory duties upon local authorities and parents as set out in the following:

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