‘Looked After’ is a term that refers to children for whom the Local Authority is sharing parental responsibility. This can happen either with parental agreement or when a Court makes a Care Order. The child may be living with foster carers, in a residential unit, with family members or sometimes with their parents. These children are therefore subject to corporate parenting.
“Under the Children Act 1989, a child is legally defined as ‘looked after’ by a local authority if he or she:
- gets accommodation from the local authority for a continuous period of more than 24 hours
- is subject to a care order (to put the child into the care of the local authority)
- is subject to a placement order (to put the child up for adoption).”
HM Government
Children who are looked after may be living:
- with foster parents;
- at home with their parents under the supervision of Children’s Social Care;
- in a residential children’s home;
- with extended family members (known as kinship placements);
- with friends of the the family (also known as non-relative placement); or
- other residential settings like schools or secure units.
Therefore, even though the child is looked after, they may not be living in what may be traditionally seen as a “care” environment.
Quarrydale Academy recognises that all pupils are entitled to a balanced, broad-based curriculum and aims to promote the educational achievement and welfare of pupils in public care. The school and the governing body endorses the Nottinghamshire County Council policy and welcomes Looked After Children who may be looked after by our local authority or those who may be in the care of another authority but living in Ashfield.