Personal Education Plans (PEP)

Every child and young person in care needs a Personal Education Plan (PEP). This looks at ways in which we can help you in school as well as helping teachers, carers and social workers learn about you.

For example, it could say:

How we will help you settle into a new school
What support you need with your work
What your strengths are
What things might affect your learning
What your interests and hobbies are

It will also help you to know what your teachers and carers are doing to support you at school. Everybody should know what needs to happen to help you achieve and we need to celebrate what you have achieved.

Your PEP should be done within 20 days of you first coming into care. It will be looked at again within 20 days if you have to change schools. Your PEP will then be talked about with your care plan after 3 months and then every 6 months after that. Your social worker will contact all the people who are needed to write the PEP. This will be school, your social worker, your carers and you. Other people like an educational psychologist or support teacher may be there too.

Special educational needs

Some children in care have special educational needs (SEN). This means they need extra help in one or more of these areas:

Learning
Behaviour
Speech and language
Physical or sensory needs (e.g. hearing impaired, visually impaired, physical disability)

School will set up an individual education programme. This will set targets to help you improve. You should take part in this. Your carer may be asked to help too. If you still find it hard, school may ask other people to work with you. For example this may be an educational psychologist, a support teacher or someone with medical knowledge. You can find out more about SEN by going to the external links section on this page.