Barnsley Virtual School

Personal education plans (PEPs)

All young people in care have a personal education plan (PEP). This is a statutory document completed by the designated teacher and young person’s social worker. The plan is reviewed each term. We use Welfare Call to produce our PEP platform.

The PEP documents how a young person is moving along their educational journey, their attainment and targets. This supports the young person to achieve their full potential. The PEP is also a record of pupil premium plus spending and targets.

In Barnsley, all young people in care have statutory targets for attainment, student voice and Motional.

If you'd like to view our PEP pupil premium plus policy, email virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk.

Motional assessments

As part of our commitment to support the most vulnerable, we've enabled all schools in the borough to have the ability to have Motional assessments.

Motional provides tools to measure, analyse, implement and track progress to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. It's an integral element of our support mechanism, and forms a mandatory part of our personal education plans (PEPs). 

Motional assessments can also be carried out by the Virtual School upon request. Email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk for more details.

Education advocates

We have an experienced team of education advocates with specialisms and areas of expertise which promote the educational outcomes of our cohort. Their main duty is to promote the education of children in care and monitor their engagement, progress and attainment.

Education advocates support professionals in delivering a positive education experience for our young people. They also support them in securing the best outcomes possible in preparation for the next stages of their lives.  

Education advocates do the following:

• Provide advice and assistance to social care staff in relation to good practice in education. This includes the most recent legislative and guidance frameworks in relation to the education of looked after children.
• Provide advice to social workers on prospective new schools. 
• Provide strategic support around the education of previously looked after children. 
• Design and deliver bespoke training for schools, social workers, carers and other professional teams.
• Observe young people in their school or setting to ascertain next steps and support needed.
• Provide advice and guidance on the use of Motional and conduct assessments for out-of-area young people.
• Deliver training and support to new social workers and designated teachers via the Virtual School Clinic sessions.
• Mediate conflict which impacts upon the effective education of a young person. 
• Provide advocacy for young people experiencing exclusion or who are at risk of permanent exclusion and promote reintegration into the school setting via the use of the exclusions risk matrix.
• Provide appropriate professional challenge.
• Monitor assigned cohorts including their progress, attainment and attendance. 
• Attend meetings where necessary to provide advice and guidance.
• Provide advice and support to schools and social workers in developing personal education plans to support the education outcomes for looked after children and quality assure plans post deadline.
• Liaise with other council departments to facilitate the contribution from other services to meet needs identified within personal education plans (PEPs).
• Promote a joint approach between social care and the Virtual School to planning and reviewing the educational and social needs of children in our care.

Education welfare

We have a dedicated education welfare officer to support the attendance of our cohort, working across children in care, children with a social worker, and those in kinship care.

Our education welfare officer supports individual young people, social workers, carers and schools.

Help for children with a social worker and those in kinship care

We're dedicated to offering advice, support, and guidance to children with a social worker and those in kinship care. Our commitment to this group of young people includes providing a dedicated learning and engagement mentor. This team member supports young people in their learning journey, assists carers, and collaborates with professional teams to help young people reach their full potential.

To find out more, email us at virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk or visit us at a clinic.

Help for previously looked after children

We have a dedicated education advocate to support young people who are previously looked after. Working with One Adoption South Yorkshire, our education advocate can provide support for all aspects of education from early years to post-16 learning.

Helping Barnsley's young people thrive

The project is an exciting set of 3 research projects exploring how schools can best support children's social and emotional wellbeing.

Working in collaboration with Barnsley Council, the project aims to understand what young people in Barnsley need, how well current approaches are working, and what really helps schools make a lasting difference.

The research is running for 3 years and the first year will start from October 2025 to November 2026. It brings together three connected studies.

Study 1 - Understanding need

This explores the social and emotional needs of children and young people across Barnsley.

Study 2 - Measuring impact

Beginning in October 2026, it will study outcome data exploring how Motional, an emotional wellbeing tool for schools, supports pupil's wellbeing, behaviour and learning.

Study 3 - Learning what works

This study will look at facilitators and barriers to effective intervention delivery and understand what helps schools use wellbeing tools effectively.

What we are doing now

We are currently completing the first study of the project. This has measured children and young people's wellbeing at eight schools across Barnsley and conducted qualitative interviews with staff members in each school.

As part of the study, each school will receive a report summarising the key themes identified, including the risk and protective factors affecting wellbeing and the areas where schools have identified a need for more support.

The findings will also contribute to an academic publication examining the wellbeing of children and young people in Barnsley, including comparison of local wellbeing scores with available national data. This will provide an important baseline understanding of wellbeing across participating schools and help identify priorities for future research and intervention.

Who is leading the research

The project is being carried out by Barnsley Virtual School, in collaboration with Dr Shaun Liverpool and Dr Mia Eisenstadt, who are working closely with Thomas Oates, the Virtual Headteacher for Looked After Children and Vulnerable Groups.

Together they're combining academic expertise with local insight to make sure the research is practical, meaningful, and grounded in Barnsley's real experiences.

The roles of the researchers are:

• Dr Shaun Liverpool is a Senior Lecturer in Child Adolescent Mental Health at Edge Hill University. His work focuses on digital mental health, youth participation, and improving access to support for all children and young people

• Dr Mia Eisenstadt is a psychologist and researcher at University College London, specialising in resilience, family wellbeing, and amplifying young people's voices in research and practice Mia lectures on the Psychology and Trauma masters programme at UCL

• Thomas Oates is the Virtual Headteacher for Looked After Children and Vulnerable Groups within Barnsley Council's Children's Services. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the educational progress and wellbeing of children in care across the borough, ensuring they receive tailored support to achieve their full potential.

They are working independently as researchers, in partnership with Barnsley Council and in collaboration with Motional and Edge Hill University.

How young people are involved

Young people's voices are central to this project.

Their experiences, ideas, and feedback will shape both what we do and how we do it. In year 2 we plan to work with care-experienced young people to review our findings from the first year, as well contribute to a short video about how Motional has been experienced by young people and the staff who work with them.

Young people will be involved in the script writing, filming and production of the film.

Sharing what we learn

Throughout the project, we'll share updates, insights and stories from our work with schools and young people. Findings will be made available to the public through short, easy-to-read briefings, visual summaries and creative outputs.

Our goal is simple, to make sure what we learn helps children and young people in Barnsley feel understood, supported, and able to thrive.

Guidance for Virtual Schools

The Department for Education provides Virtual Schools with guidance of how they should best carry out their duties. This guidance includes:

• Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children
• Children’s social care: virtual school head role extension

For more information on our statutory duties, email virtualschool@barnsley.gov.uk.

Strategies

Our 70 Strategies is a resilience-based toolkit comprising of 70 research-led approaches, specifically designed to support young people. This toolkit aims to equip those who work with young people with the essential skills, knowledge, and understanding required to provide high-quality support and sensitive interventions.