My life

You will meet with a doctor/nurse or sometimes a school nurse for your health assessment to discuss your health. The assessment should be about how you are feeling, the things you can do to be healthy and any problems you have or things you are worried about.

It should include whether you have been to a dentist and whether you need your height and weight, eyes or hearing checked. It might include things about smoking, alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, caring for your skin, hair and help or treatment with any health problems.

You have the right to good health care to help you to stay healthy and feel good. To help us do this when you first become looked after you should have a health assessment with a community paediatrician.

Then once a year you should have a further health check with your school nurse/health visitor or a doctor (twice a year for children under five years old).

Your health assessments may take place at the child development centre, your local clinic, at home or at school. You can be seen with your carer or other trusted adult or you can speak to the doctor/nurse on your own. You may also be asked to sign to give your consent to the health assessment.

The health assessment should take about one hour depending on your individual health needs.

A health plan will be written with you to ensure all your health needs are identified, how they will be met and by whom. The health plan will be discussed at your review and shared with your social worker, carers, GP and maybe your birth parents. This will be discussed with you first.

Your health plan will be reviewed at your review health assessment by a school nurse, health visitor or doctor, after 12 months (6 months for children under 5 years old) or at any time, if your health needs change in any way whilst you are looked after.

If it is possible (and if it’s the right thing for you), then you’ll stay at the same school while you’re living in foster care or residential care. If it is not possible the virtual school, your social worker and carer will work together to support you to move to a new school.

Your school will have a designated teacher who is responsible for making sure you are given all the information, advice and support you need to do well in school. Your teacher will monitor how well you are doing in school and will arrange extra help and support if you need it.

Your teacher may do some of the following:

• They will make sure that you have a Personal Education Plan (PEP), reviewed termly
• They will have regular contact with your social worker and your carer to make sure they are offering as much support for your education as possible
• They will keep up to date information about how well you are doing in school and in your education and get you help if you need it
• They will arrange and offer support if you have any issues which are affecting your education

Within 20 days of you entering care you will have a Personal Education Plan. Your social worker will work with the designated teacher at your school to arrange a meeting to discuss your plan.

1. The teacher at your school or college will meet with you to discuss why you are having the meeting and make sure you feel able to have your say
2. Before the meeting your teacher will collect information about you such as your attendance record, exam results and may ask other teachers about how you are doing
3. Everyone who attends your meeting will discuss your plan and make sure it meets all your needs
4. Together you will make sure your plan is complete and everyone understands what the plan says
5. You will also set the time and date for your next plan Personal Education Plan meeting

The responsibility for your education and your educational success, lies with the school you attend and your teachers and Head Teacher. However there is also a virtual school that is able to keep an overview of all our Looked After Children’s education. The Virtual School makes sure that your education is high up on the priority list for schools and the council.

Virtual schools will build the links between social workers and your teachers to make sure you are getting the education that suits your needs and help you achieve your dreams for the future.

Southampton’s Virtual School Head Teacher is Maria Anderson. You can contact your virtual school through your carer, social worker and IRO or by emailing thevirtualschool@southampton.gov.uk.