Care Experience

The Virtual School works with care experienced families and young people to address issues which may be preventing them from regularly attending school.  We help to identify the underlying causes of attendance issues (e.g. health and wellbeing, finances, illness, etc.) and then support the young person and family to manage and cope with these issues.  The Virtual School also supports young people in engaging with their education, including helping to establish routines in school, supporting young people to achieve core qualifications, and providing support for difficult periods of transition such as Primary to Secondary education.   We also support young people to thrive in the wider world, supporting them in their communities to make positive peer relations, have the same opportunities and experiences as their peers, and championing their rights, so that they have the ability to reach their potential as they grow and develop.

For more information, please contact Kimberly Keenan on [email protected]

X (Twitter) handle:   @KimberleyKeena3  -  @virtual_south

The Virtual School offers an additional layer of support for the education of care experienced learners. The term 'Virtual School' refers to:

• The way South Ayrshire organises and directs the support they provide for care experienced children and young people.
• The group of care experienced children and young people who for whom South Ayrshire is responsible.
• The VSHT and the Virtual team who offer support to care experienced children, young people, their families, carers and schools.
• Aims to bring about positive and sustainable systemic changes to policy and practice.
• Works across all levels of the education and care 'systems', from practice through to operational and strategic activities.
• Emphasises the building of collaborative relationships between different agencies.
• Focuses on addressing wider factors, such as wellbeing, that can impact on children and young people's educational and life experiences.
• Upholds the rights and ensures the wellbeing of care experienced children and young people.

SASkA creates a nurturing, respectful, and trusting learning environment where young people feel valued and supported. The programme aims to help learners achieve success, develop confidence, and build the skills required for positive destinations, with a strong emphasis on personal development, employability, and lifelong learning.

Staff work with multi-agencies to ensure the most supportive plan is in place to gain qualifications and pathways to positive destinations for young people.

Rise is part of the Virtual School Team and is building upon the wider work of supporting Care Experienced learners and embedding the Promise across South Ayrshire.

Rise supports pupils who have been assessed as requiring Education from highly specialist placements. The pupils have been previously supported through a range of universal and targeted interventions and high levels of support from multi-disciplinary teams. However, some young people, due to the high level of support required to meet their social, emotional and mental health needs, after robust assessments by the team around the family including the link Educational Psychologists require consideration for specialist placements for continuing Education.

If you are a young person with experience of care and attend one of our schools across the authority, you can join in some of the following activities that take place:

• Wellbeing Morning
• After School Club
• Virtual School Pupil Council
• School break activities
• Brighter Futures (for young people looking to gain independence and skills for leaving School)
• SQA Pick Up Group. For young people concerned about not achieving their potential qualifications due to barriers accessing their school (referred through school)