Parents and guardians of children previously in care

Working together, succeeding together

Education can change the lives of children, raise their aspirations and be the key to stability and success in later life. Our children can achieve and succeed with the support and positive relationships of all those working with them.

What is the Virtual School?

Nottinghamshire Virtual School is a local authority service whose role is to improve the education of children in and previously in care, by supporting schools, carers, parents and social workers to help children and young people to have positive educational experiences. Previously looked after children (PLAC) are those who are no longer looked after by their local authority (in England and Wales) because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order.

The aim of the Virtual School

The aim of the Virtual School is to promote educational achievement and positive outcomes for children in care and previously in care. By working in partnership with schools, parents, carers and social workers, we can help our children succeed together.

Nottinghamshire Virtual School has extended its role to include supporting children previously in care, by offering advice and information for parents and professionals. We have done this in two ways:

  • having an Achievement Officer to respond to emails and messages each day.
  • developing resources. We are currently researching links and resources to develop the website and enable us to best support parents and professionals.

Workshops for parents and guardians

The Virtual School will be delivering the following face to face workshops for parents and carers of previously looked after children.

Working Together For Our Children - a conference for families of kinship and adopted children

Download a conference leaflet (PDF)

We are excited to bring this FREE conference to our parents and carers of previously Looked After Children which includes adopters and kinship carers.

This conference offers attendees the chance to hear and learn from inspirational keynote speaker:

Ashley John-Baptiste

Ashley was born in 1990 in Southwark, South London from the age of two until he was 18, he grew up in four foster families and spent two years in a residential care home. 

On the day there will be a series of workshops to choose from which will be led by Nottinghamshire Virtual School and Education Psychology service. Themes that will be covered will range from SEND processes, self-care and thinking about trauma Informed and relational approaches.

This is an opportunity for you to connect and gain support from a variety of professionals and peers with an education focus.

To book your place please visit the link below:
Booking form

Who's who in SEND

We will introduce the graduated response to SEND. This is the process schools go through when children are presenting with difficulties in school. We will talk to you about who the key people in school are, who can help when things are tricky and discuss how to navigate SEND processes as a parent.

  • When: Tuesday 19 March 2024
  • Time: 9:30 - 15:00
  • Venue: Edwinstowe House, Mansfield, Notts NG21 9PR

Booking link for workshop

If you have any queries or questions, then please email virtual.school@nottscc.gov.uk

Upcoming Events

No upcoming events

Kinship Support Service

In Nottinghamshire, we recognise that kinship carers play a vital role in supporting children, often making remarkable sacrifices to keep their families together. As part of the Nottinghamshire Plan, we’ve set up a Kinship Support Service which is on hand to support all families in a Kinship arrangement, whether you have a Special Guardianship Order, Child Arrangement Order or a private or informal arrangement.

Take a look at our leaflet to find out more.

Kinship information hub

Mental health

For information, advice and where to access support for mental health, visit Local mental health advice and help for young people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire at NottAlone.

Contact us

Contact the Virtual School if you need any more information:

We are always look to update and make our website more user friendly, If you have any suggestions or ideas please get in touch.


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