looked-after children - Doubled Up

Janette Owen's article in the Guardian yesterday reported how Surrey County Council has asked governors to become 'pushy parents' for looked-after children.

I think this is a great idea, although I take issue with the term 'pushy parent' being used for someone who wants to ensure that a child has every opportunity to succeed by having access to an excellent education.

Surrey County Council wants governing bodies to train a governor to act as an advocate for any looked-after children and to scrutinise the arrangements that are in place for these children. Governing bodies should do this regardless of whether the school has any looked-after children, as they could come onto the school roll at any time.

One of the reasons that Surrey CC has done this is because only 13% of looked-after children gain five A-C grades, whilst their county average is 60%.

Janette Owen warns that governors must use sensitivity when acting as 'pushy parents', referring to Ofsted's report that looked after children hate being made to feel different.