Children living in Kinship Care Arrangements
The extended duties of the Virtual School Headteacher have been extended to include all children living in Kinship Care Arrangements from September 2024. Hillingdon Virtual School has merged this duty with the already existing duty to support the education of Previously Looked After Children and Adopted Children.
Across England there are more than 130,000 children living in Kinship Care Arrangements. There are two categories of Kinship Care Arrangements, formal and informal. Within these categories there are different types of arrangements.
Formal Kinship Care Arrangements
- Kinship Foster Care - a family member or friend is assessed and becomes a child's approved foster carer; they will receive a regular foster care allowance to help support the child. The child is in the care of children's services, who share parental responsibility with the child's birth parents.
- Private Foster Care - when someone who is not a child's parent or close relative looks after them for 28 days or more. Arrangements are agreed by the individual and the child's parents and they should alert the local authority and undergo a short assessment. Private Foster Carers can be asked to make day-to-day decisions for the child but birth parents maintain full parental responsibility.
- Special Guardianship Order - a legal order given by family court, when granted the child will continue to live with the carer until they reach 18 years old. Parental responsibility is shared with the child's parents, but most major decisions can be made without the parents' involvement.
- Child Arrangements Order - a legal order given by a family court that usually lasts until the child is 18 years old. Parental responsibility is shared with the child's birth parents and the carer. The carer can make day-to-day decisions however, any major decisions must involve the birth parents.
- Testamentary Guardianship - someone who has been appointed, formally in writing, by a parent or special guardian. If there is no-one else with parental responsibility, the testamentary guardian gains parental responsibility upon the parent or special guardian's death.
Informal Kinship Care Arrangements
- A close relative, distant relative or family friend looks after a child. Overall parental responsibility remains with the child's birth parents and there are no court orders in place.
Previously Looked After Children
- Previously Looked After Children are those no longer looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order or, they were adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales.
Adopted Children
- When a child is adopted, their adoptive parents gain full parental responsibility. The link between the child and their birth parents is legally and permanently broken.
The support Hillingdon Virtual School offers Adopted Children and children living in Kinship Care Arrangements is as follows:
- Impartial advice and information to key professionals, with consent from the child's carer or adoptive parent
- Guidance on us of PP+ for previously looked after children and PP for children receiving Free School Meals
- Invitations to CPD training for relevant professionals on trauma and attachment
- Signposting to relevant services
- Advice on further education and training
- Impartial advice to carers with Special Guardianship Orders or Child Arrangements Orders or, Adopted Parents regarding the education of their child
However, Hillingdon Virtual School do not usually provide for Adopted Children or Children living in Kinship Care Arrangements:
- Case work
- Equipment
- Educational visits
- Payment for uniform, trips, exam entry fees etc.
- Regular meetings
Professionals can request educational advice from Hillingdon Virtual School for Adopted Children and children living in Kinship Care Arrangements using the following link Virtual Clinic for Education of Children with a Social Worker OR Kinship Care (2024-25).
Carers with Special Guardianship Orders or Child Arrangements Orders or, Adoptive Parents can seek advice regarding the education of their child by contacting Hillingdon Virtual School via the following email - virtualschoolplac@hillingdon.gov.uk.
Please see the Hillingdon Virtual School Extended Duties Handbook for further information regarding the support available for Adopted Children and Children living in Kinship Care Arrangements: Virtual School Extended Duties Handbook.
