Reviewing and Updating the Personal Education Plan (PEP)

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter applies to all Children Looked After. It should be read in conjunction with the government guidance documents and related chapters.

Note that different provisions apply to Children Looked After who acquire the status as a result of a remand to local authority accommodation or Youth Detention Accommodation. In relation to those children, please see Remands to Local Authority Accommodation or to Youth Detention Accommodation Procedure, Care Planning for Young People on Remand.

RELEVANT GUIDANCE

DfE, Promoting the Education of Looked After and Previously Looked After Children

DfE and DHSC, Special educational needs and disability code of practice 0 to 25 years- Statutory guidance for organisations who work with and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (2015)

Guidance on Looked After Children with Special Educational Needs placed out of authority

Keeping children safe in education (July 2019)

Exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England – A guide for those with legal responsibilities in relation to exclusion (2017)

AMENDMENT

This chapter was reviewed and updated where required in December 2022.

 

Cycle of PEP Reviews

The child's social worker must ensure PEP reviews take place on time. The second and subsequent PEPs should be reviewed during the first half term of each term.

School Aged Children and Post 16

Caption: cycle table
     
Autumn Term PEP Review Spring Term PEP Summer Term PEP Review
The PEP should be completed between September and October half term. The PEP should be completed between January and February half term. The PEP should be completed between April and May half term.

For children aged between three and five years the Early Years PEP should be completed. As each child will grow and develop at their own rate and meet developmental milestones at different times within this age range, it is important that a full PEP meeting is held each term to monitor progress and plan for any identified needs. Successful planning at this age ensures any barriers to learning are addressed and appropriate school provision can be arranged.

The School Age PEP should be completed for children from Year 1 to Year 11. The Post 16 PEP should be completed for all children from the September after their sixteenth birthday until the end of the academic year the child turns 18.

Where there are any significant changes between PEP reviews the social worker should make arrangements for the PEP to be reviewed to ensure it takes into account the impact of the change.

The purpose of PEP Review is to:

  • Ensure that the Personal Education Plan is accurate and up-to-date;
  • Check that any previous decisions and recommendations have been implemented;
  • Acknowledge and celebrate the successes achieved by the child;
  • Record and address current concerns;
  • Agree new decisions and recommendations accordingly.

The completed PEP should be distributed to those invited to the meeting and a copy held on the child's file (ICS).

The child's social worker should work with the child's school between Children Looked After Reviews (involving the Virtual School if necessary) to ensure that up-to-date PEP information is fed into the reviews, and ensure that all relevant information about the child's educational progress and support needs is up-to-date and evidenced before the Children Looked After Review.

IROs should ensure that the PEP's effectiveness is scrutinised in sufficient detail as part of the Children Looked After Review and at other times if necessary. Where a child has special educational needs, the IRO should ensure that the PEP review is linked with any review of those needs.

The IRO should raise any unresolved concerns about a child's PEP or education provision with social workers and the Virtual School.