Virtual School Action Research Opportunity

Improving Outcomes for Children With a Social Worker (CWSW)

Premise

We need to further understand and address the disadvantages that children with a social worker can experience.

This cohort has been identified as a group of children who face significant barriers to education as a result of experiences of adversity and trauma, most commonly abuse and neglect.

These experiences can affect children’s attendance, learning, behaviour and wellbeing and, if children cannot access support, they may struggle to reach their full potential. Even after a child no longer has a social worker, poor educational outcomes can persist.

Background

These children are present in 98% of state schools and face barriers to education due to experiences of adversity and trauma, most commonly as a result of domestic abuse, mental ill-health and substance misuse, with 62% of children needing a social worker having experienced one or more of these. On average, children with a social worker do worse than their peers at every stage of their education. In 2018, 50% of children who had a social worker in the last six years were able to achieve a good level of development in the early years, compared to 72% of children who never had a social worker. Pupils who had a social worker in the year of their GCSEs were around half as likely to achieve a strong pass in English and Maths than their peers, and at the end of Key Stage 4 were around 3 times less likely to go on to study A levels at age 16, and almost 5 times less likely to enter higher education at age 18. After age 18 of those who needed a social worker in the year of their GCSEs, 6% were in higher education compared to 27% of those who did not have a social worker; and by age 21, half had still not achieved Level 2 qualifications (which include GCSEs), compared to 11% of those not in need of a social worker.

Children with a social worker are around 3 times more likely to be persistently absent from school and between 2 to 4 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than their peers. This group are also over ten times more likely to attend state funded alternative provision settings than all other pupils.

Opportunity

We are looking for individual or groups of schools to create projects that will develop understanding and  / or improve outcomes for CWSW.

The Virtual School will support with funding and all proposals will be considered. Your focus may be on something creative and bespoke to your setting or on evidence-based interventions.

Benefits

• Supporting most vulnerable children
• Developing leadership skills
• Shaping best practice for Warwickshire
• Virtual School funding
• Strengthening partnerships
• Freedom to investigate and explore

Next steps

Contact the Virtual School Headteacher – Deena Moorey for a project discussion:  deenamoorey@warwickshire.gov.uk 

 Further reading / references

What works in education for children who have had social workers. 

Challenging Education

Promoting the education of children with a social worker