Case Studies: Looked-after Children

Accipio Learning’s virtual school has enabled a young student in public care to continue her GCSE studies even though she has been placed several hundred miles from her home town.

Lucy*, aged 16, was taken into care when in year nine after developing a drug problem and at the same time was placed in a Pupil Referral Unit in her home town.  In year 10 she was transferred to a special unit in a different part of the country where she was successful in overcoming her addiction.

Lucy’s local authority found her a longer-term foster placement in the same area, but she was unable to secure a suitable school place.  However, through Accipio Learning, the local authority was able to provide her with an education that would enable her to work towards sitting GCSE examinations.

With the support of a learning mentor in her new home town, funded by the Local Authority responsible for her care, Lucy has been following courses in Maths, English, Science and ICT and has achieved a near perfect attendance record with Accipio throughout the academic year.  She is now working hard to prepare for her final GCSE exams in the summer and hopes to achieve the grades that will allow her to continue her studies at A-level.

The Head of Service in Lucy’s home authority is delighted with the progress she has made while attending Accipio’s virtual school: “It is fantastic to be able to provide an education for Lucy, even at such a distance.  Education is the single most important factor in re-building the lives of children who are in care; I am convinced that her progress has been due to the self-belief she has found through re-engaging with education combined with the stability of her foster placement.  Lucy has even chosen to remain in her foster placement beyond her sixteenth birthday to allow her to continue studying for GCSEs in her new stable environment.”

* Not the student’s real name