Welcome

For children in residential care, education and care are closely linked. Sleep, transport, emotional containment, relationships with staff, planning meetings, contact arrangements, health needs and how adults respond to difficult mornings all affect whether a child reaches school and stays engaged. Residential homes that attend to these day-to-day elements help children maintain an education identity when school is challenging.

This course is aimed at residential child care workers, senior residential workers, support workers, waking night staff, team leaders, deputy managers, registered managers and other frontline staff in children's homes and residential child care settings. It focuses on supporting school attendance, learning and educational stability. It does not replace school attendance law, local authority education duties, SEND processes, virtual school leadership or legal advice on exclusions.

This is a UK-wide course. It uses shared education-support and residential care principles and cites England and NICE sources where relevant, including Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children, Working together to improve school attendance, School suspensions and permanent exclusions, NICE NG205 on looked-after children and young people, the Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, and the current social care common inspection framework for children's homes. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for education and looked-after children; staff must follow local policy and procedures in their nation.

Why This Course Matters

• Attendance is relational: children attend more consistently when adults understand them, prepare them and back them up.
• Barriers are rarely simple: trauma, shame, bullying, unmet SEND, contact stress and placement changes can all affect attendance.
• Homes shape the daily pattern: bedtime, mornings, transport and repair after a bad start are within the remit of residential staff.
• Exclusion can trigger drift: children need continued support, structure and advocacy when a school placement is unstable.
• Joined-up working matters: homes, schools, virtual school services and social care must share a clear picture of need and support.

A Simple Education Practice Spine

• Know the barrier: identify what makes learning feel unsafe, shaming or difficult.
• Build the routine: calm evenings and predictable mornings support attendance.
• Use the plan: PEPs, school contacts and agreed support should guide daily practice.
• Record and escalate: repeated absences and inadequate support require visibility and action.
• Protect belonging: keep education visible after exclusions or college breakdown so connections are not lost.