Celebrating Success: Internal Staff Changes
We have recently conducted internal interviews for two senior posts and are pleased to announce the following internal staff changes: Rebecca Fevers – Head of Product Development Rebecca has worked for Welfare Call for over ten years and over… Read more
Welfare Call Forum: Give us your views
For the last two years, we have been unable to host our annual forums (usually hosted in Leeds and central London in November) due to the impact which COVID has had. Instead, we have hosted and conducted a series of… Read more
Increased government focus on children with a social worker: how do you monitor CiN & CP attendance?
On the 6th May 2022, the DfE published a guidance document named Working together to improve school attendance. The guidance is intended to help schools, academy trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance. It… Read more
Youth Justice Board to Pilot Supported Accommodation Scheme for Children In Custody
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is working with London councils to establish a specialist supported accommodation programme as an alternative to placing young people in custody. The board wants to pilot a bespoke supported setting to address the high number… Read more
Pupil Premium allocations and conditions of grant for 2022-2023
The goal of the pupil premium grant(PPG) is to raise the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to help them reach their potential. The government has just published its Pupil Premium allocations and conditions of grant for 2022-2023… Read more
Further £16.6m Funding Confirmed for Virtual Schools by Will Quince MP
Last month saw the return of the National Association of Virtual School Heads Conference as an in-person event at London’s Earls Court. It was great to catch up with virtual heads in person after working alongside them remotely for so… Read more
Where are England’s Children? Safeguarding the most vulnerable children through Attendance monitoring
This week saw the publication of Where are England’s Children? Interim findings from the Children’s Commissioner’s Attendance Audit. In order to investigate how much Local Authorities (LAs) know about children that are missing education, the Children’s Commissioner’s office… Read more
Lisa Linscott & Dorset Virtual School: Our Journey with Welfare Call
Lisa Linscott is Virtual School Head and Principal Teacher at Dorset Council. The Virtual School provides education for children in care (CiC), and also for previously looked after children (PLAC). Its mission is to improve the education and life… Read more
The use of Pupil Premium Plus to Improve Educational Outcomes for Looked After Children
A recent paper written by Bath Spa University highlighted the variations in how different virtual schools allocate and manage Pupil Premium allocations, and the need to be able to measure and isolate the impact of PP+. As identified in this… Read more
NAVSH Conference 2022: How to widen the brief without losing the plot
We are really looking forward to seeing you all in person at the NAVSH conference on 16th – 17th March 2022 at Earl’s Court, London. This year’s theme is “How to widen the brief without losing the plot” so we’ll… Read more
Does your Authority issue fines to parents of absent children? New consultation launched by DfE to end postcode lottery in how schools manage avoidable absence.
Does your Authority issue fines to parents of absent children? The issue of pupil attendance data has been talked about a lot over the past couple of weeks as the government has proposed that they are looking to set a… Read more
New Government Initiative: Support for vulnerable young people in serious violence hotspots
We’re interested to learn of a new government initiative to support young people across England who are most at risk of serious violence or gang exploitation Support for vulnerable young people in serious violence hotspots – GOV.UK The targeted… Read more
Cyber Essentials : 2021 Confirmed Compliant
“Despite the challenges and substantial changes in working practices over the last 12 months, as we all get used to a new ‘normal’ we are delighted to say that our security processes have met the everything 2020 could throw at… Read more
New funding stream available from the DfE
We’re pleased to hear there that there is a new funding stream/grant available for schools and Virtual Schools which people may not be aware of. As part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) education recovery plan, the Secretary of… Read more
How can we help Virtual School heads get children in care the education they need?
An article caught my eye earlier this month on the challenges of getting children in care the education they need. It goes on to say that Virtual School heads lack the powers they need in the face of “pushback” from… Read more
Covid-19: business continuity updates
During this outbreak we are communicating directly with our customers daily and issuing regular business continuity updates by email. You can see the status of our services in the table below: Service Status Extranet Running as usual ePEP Running as… Read more
Remembering Francis Holt
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Francis Holt. Francis passed away on the evening of the 23rd January 2020 after suffering from a long-term illness. After exhausting all treatment options he had spent… Read more
Welcome to our community! Poole, Wokingham and Aberdeen City join Welfare Call
It’s a new term and we’re happy to welcome some new Local Authorities to our community . . . as well as welcoming back some longer standing customers! We are pleased to welcome back Birmingham and Islington to our… Read more
Putting to bed the argument: automatic software vs telephone calling to collect the attendance of children in care
Over the past 13 years, Welfare Call has successfully monitored the attendance of looked after children on behalf of authorities in England & Wales, developing the process and increasing our knowledge along the way! However, whilst our process in collecting… Read more
Welcome aboard Birmingham!
Welfare Call is over the moon to announce that Birmingham’s Virtual School have chosen Welfare Call to support them in the collection of school attendance for their looked after children. Birmingham has the biggest cohort of children in care in… Read more