Supporting the education of children in kinship care arrangements

As part of the Kinship Care Strategy 2024 (page 31/32), the role of virtual school and the virtual school head has expanded.

Virtual schools (VS) support the education of children in care and now also those in kinship arrangements, including special guardianship and child arrangements orders. Derby VS provide:

guidance for carers and schools on SEND, funding (for example, pupil premium) and policies
trauma-informed training and support toaccess mental health services
access to financial help, SEND services and kinship networks
joined-up work with social care, health and education teams
raising awareness of kinship family challenges to improve services

For more information regarding Derby’s virtual school support and their team, please visit our Derby Virtual School pages. Email virtualschool@derby.gov.uk.

Derby SEND Local Offer and support information can be found on:

We will work closely with education providers and virtual school both during assessments and post order. If a team around the family (TAF) meetings are required we will organise these. Also put a plan in place of any action’s professionals need to take to help children thrive and for you all to navigate the educational system.

We are taking steps to make sure all educational settings understand kinship care and the roles of everyone involved.