Quality standard

Quality statement 2: Education plan

Quality statement 2: Education plan

Quality statement

Children and young people with attachment difficulties have an education plan setting out how they will be supported in school.

Rationale

Children and young people with attachment difficulties can have stress, fears and insecurities that impact on their experience of school, peer relationships and learning. An education plan for these children and young people can help educational staff understand and respond effectively to the child or young person. This can minimise disruption to their learning, ensure they are supported when at school and make it less likely the child or young person will be absent or excluded from school.

Quality measures

The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.

Structure

Evidence of local arrangements to develop education plans for all children and young people with attachment difficulties that set out how they will be supported in school.

Data source: Local data collection.

Process

Proportion of children and young people with attachment difficulties who have an education plan setting out how they will be supported in school.

Numerator – the number in the denominator who have an education plan setting out how they will be supported in school.

Denominator – the number of children and young people with attachment difficulties.

Data source: Local data collection.

Outcome

a) School attendance rates for children and young people with attachment difficulties.

Data source: Local data collection. See the National Audit Office's children in care (2014).

b) School exclusions for children and young people with attachment difficulties.

Data source: Local data collection. See the Department for Education's outcomes for children looked after by local authorities in England (2015).

What the quality statement means for different audiences

Education providers (schools and other settings such as early years providers) ensure that systems are in place for children and young people with attachment difficulties to have education plans setting out how they will be supported in school. Providers ensure staff involved in the design and development of education plans have had training in supporting children with attachment difficulties.

Education staff (such as designated teachers, virtual school heads and other identified teachers) work with health and social care practitioners to develop and maintain education plans for children and young people with attachment difficulties. Teachers, through the government framework of core content for initial teacher training (ITT) should have an awareness of the importance of emotional development such as attachment issues and mental health on pupils' performance.

Local authorities ensure that education providers have and maintain an education plan for children and young people with attachment difficulties that set out how they will be supported in school.

Children and young people with attachment difficulties have a plan that says how they will be supported in school.

Source guidance

Children's attachment. NICE guideline NG26 (2015), recommendations 1.2.5 and 1.2.7

Definitions of terms used in this quality statement

Education plan

An up-to-date plan for children and young people with attachment difficulties may contain:

  • details of how support in school will be provided

  • contact details for the parents, carers and health and social care professionals for the child or young person

  • details of a key person who can advocate for the child or young person and to whom the child or young person can go for support

  • details of a safe place in school, for example a room where a child or young person can go if they are distressed.

It should take into account the child or young person's preferences, needs and abilities when it is developed.

For children and young people in care this plan is known as a personal education plan (PEP). [Adapted from NICE's guideline on children's attachment, recommendations 1.2.4 and 1.2.5, and expert opinion]