Looked After Children and Educational Attainment - Essay Example

A child becomes "looked after" when he or she fails to get the protection and nurture expected within normal home situations, due to family breakdown or any other reason leaving the child bereft of proper parental care. Children and young people can also become "looked after" for many reasons such as physical and/or emotional abuse, sexual abuse, some may have suffered the death of a parent, or have parents who can't look after them properly because of illness or other family circumstances; others may have disabilities and many different needs, and a small number are looked after and accommodated due to offences they have committed.

The child may be taken in to be looked after voluntarily, or as a result of court proceedings and has been bailed. Most looked-after children are placed with foster families. Others live in children's homes, and some with their parents, usually as part of the transition from public care back to their respective homes. All children who are looked after and required to live away from their families, will experience the trauma of being separated from these families. Many looked after children and young people do not treat the issues of educational attainments and purpose of living with the same importance that their peers in the normal families accord.

(Integrated children's services) [2] Under the Children Act, 1989, the term 'looked after children' (LAC) refers to children, below 18 years of age, in public care, who are placed with foster carers, in residential home or with parents or other relatives. Looked after children are those subject to normal care or under emergency protection where the local authority has acquired parental responsibility. Status of the Looked After ChildrenSome looked-after children do well at school, and by many standards their average attainment show improvement.

However, overall it remains low as compared to the wider school population although the annual improvement curves showed upward trends in almost every aspect during the years 2003 to 2006. Statistics and experience prove that the services and support provided to these children are inadequate. Educational performance of a child is largely dependent on his or her emotional wellbeing and status, and these are found wanting in large measure. The child's self-esteem counts on his or her attainments in academic, non-academic and extra-curricular activities.

For this purpose it is necessary for regular, formal, and informal interactions between those representing the local authorities, foster carers and social workers involved with LAC. It was found out by research that looked after children were not receiving the care and attention they need. (A Report of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee) [3] In order to raise educational attainment of looked after children to a level equal or close to their peers, it is necessary to provide support to schools and other institutions concerned with the upbringing of these children, provide support facilities to such institutions by a number of ways which includes regular and additional help such as transfer and preparation for examinations, additional help to those who have fallen behind so