The Virtual School: Personal Education Planning (PEP)

What a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is

Personal Education Plans (PEPs) make sure that there is a clear strategy in place to support our young people in care. They focus on improving their access to high-quality education and, by extension, their outcomes.

It is a legally required obligation. Children in care should have a PEP from 2 years old (if they are in an education setting) until the age of 18.

PEPs should be carried out on a termly basis. Each child in care should have a PEP dated within the previous six months. It should be viewed as a customised, operating document that is used to keep track of and record the education of children in care.
 

What a PEP should cover

PEPs cover a range of topics, such as:

• how the young person thinks and feels about education
• their attendance (and how it can improve if needed)
• the young person's educational progress (and how it can be supported)
• any support they are getting in their educational setting
• how Pupil Premium Plus funding has supported the child's education experience
• how Pupil Premium Plus can support the child's current needs
• advice and guidance to support a child's next steps, including transitions to new settings, new school phases, or into employment or further education

The PEP has three parts: pre-meeting data collection, a planning meeting, and a final document. These are explained below.

Pre-meeting data collection

At least one week prior to a PEP meeting, designated teachers are required to complete their PEP submission, sharing information about children's attendance, attainment, progress, and any barriers they are currently facing. In West Berkshire, our PEPs are written to the young person, using the pronoun 'you', and we expect all professionals to write their submissions in this voice too.

Click here to complete the Designated Teacher's PEP submission.

Planning meetings

A PEP meeting is a multi-agency meeting, which means that a arrange of people will attend it. This includes:

• the child or young person, as their voice should be central to a PEP
• their Carer
• their Social Worker (as the child's corporate parent)
• their school's designated teacher
• other key members of staff from the education setting
• a member of the West Berkshire Virtual School team

The social worker may invite other people to the meeting, such as:

• other professionals, such as the carer's supervising social worker
• any educational or mental health professionals who have supported the child
• the child's parents

In west Berkshire, our Virtual School team support the running of PEP meetings and also write the PEP document to ensure it is clear, purposeful and needs-focused. PEP meetings should also happen if a young person is not in education including if they are post 16 and not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

The PEP Document

After the PEP meeting, the PEP form is completed and quality-assured by the Virtual School. It will then be sent to an agreed list of people by the child's Social Worker. At this point, the PEP can be processed by the Virtual School Business Manger and any agreed funding released to schools.

The voice of the child

In the PEP, the child's opinion is crucial. Should they be unable to attend, a responsible member of the education setting should go over the child's section of the from with them before the meeting. The child's social worker is required to attend all PEP meetings as the primary care plan professional. If the social worker is unable to attend, a substitute must be sent. The meeting should be rescheduled if a replacement cannot be sent.

Quality assurance

PEP meetings and documents should be high-quality, with the voice and educational needs of the child central to all discussion. In order to quality-assure each PEP document, the Virtual School team member will give their own RAG (Red, Amber, or Green) rating to a series of criteria. The Virtual school team carry out a termly moderation of PEP documents. The Virtual School Headteacher supports effective quality assurance by observing PEPs on a termly basis. They also do 'dip-testing' on a selection of PEPs to ensure a consistently high-quality plan is in place for all our Children in Care.