Schools have a responsibility towards children and young people in kinship care. Find out how the school should be supporting your child.
Finding a school for your kinship child
How to find and apply for a new school for your kinship child
This advice applies to: England
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Do I have permission to find a school for my kinship child?
Choosing a new school for your kinship child depends on whether you have parental responsibility for them.
If you are:
you don’t have parental responsibility for your kinship child. Informal kinship carers and private foster carers need to work with their child’s birth parents to come to any decisions about choosing a school. Kinship foster carers need to work with their child’s social worker.
If you have a special guardianship order (SGO), you have overriding parental responsibility and can make decisions about school. It’s still best to involve your child’s birth parents in any conversations about choosing a school where it’s safe to do so.
If you have a child arrangements order (CAO), you share parental responsibility with your child’s birth parents so must make decisions about school together.
When do children start school?
In England, all children should attend school from the September after they turn 4.
4-year-old children may start in an infant school, before moving to primary school, then secondary school. Some schools combine infant and primary into one.
Children will be in:
- primary school until age 11
- secondary school from 11 until they’re 16
In England, young people need to continue in education, employment or training until they’re 18. They can leave school at 16 but must continue some form of education or training, even if working or volunteering. Some 16-year-olds will stay in education and choose a post-16 qualification, like:
- A-levels
- BTECs
- T-levels
Students take these in college or a school’s sixth form.
Choosing a school
Finding the right school for your kinship child depends on:
- their needs
- where you live
Your local authority can provide a list of schools in your area. Look on their website, usually under a “schools” or “education” heading, or use this government website tool. To help you decide on the right school for your kinship child, you can:
- attend a school open day, or arrange your own visit
- visit the school’s website
- read the school’s Ofsted report
- meet the school’s designated teacher
- talk to your area’s virtual school – you can find your area’s virtual school with our Kinship Compass tool
- ask for opinions, for example in local Facebook groups
- talk to friends/other kinship carers about the schools their children attend – you can find a local kinship peer support group on our Kinship Compass tool
Questions to ask a new school
- What resources, help and support do you have in school to support my child, family and myself?
- How can we work together to support my child in the best possible way?
- Are kinship children treated differently? If so, how?
- Are there any other kinship children in the school?
- What is your safeguarding policy?
- How do you work with your virtual school? What are the virtual school contact details?
- How do you support children with transitions, such as moving up to secondary school?
- Do you have wraparound childcare?
- How is pupil premium and pupil premium plus spent in the school and how will my child benefit from this?
- How do you involve carers in deciding how to spend this money?
- Is there any funding for clubs or after school activities we can access?
- Is there any funding for trips, school uniforms or other needs that we can access?
- What SEND support is available?
- Who is your SENCo?
- What percentage of children at the school have SEND?
- What’s your experience of education, health and care plans (called an EHC plan or EHCP)?
- Who is the designated teacher or member of staff responsible for looking after kinship children?
- How will you keep me updated on how my child is doing?
- Do you have a single point of contact for parents and carers?
- Can we identify a trusted adult within the school for my child to speak to if they have any concerns in the school day?
- My child refers to me as [insert name], how will you respect this across communications?
- This is how we describe our family set up, how will you communicate this with all relevant staff and how you respect it in the classroom?
- How will you consider my child’s feelings when talking about mum and dad in the classroom?
Depending on your relationship and situation with the birth parents, you may also want to discuss:
- special arrangements for collecting your child from school (especially for primary school)
- who is and is not allowed to collect your child
- restrictions on birth parents collecting your child (consider using a password that any adult that can collect your child will give to the school staff)
- a plan on what to do if the birth parents come to the school trying to collect your children or ask for information about them over the phone
- at secondary school, where there are fewer controls over collecting children, any issues you think may come up around contact between the parents and the school
- What extra support is my child entitled to? How will you assess what extra support they might need?
- What mental health, emotional wellbeing and therapies might be available through the school? For example, is there a counsellor available in school?
- What accommodations are you able to make for my child, such as more time in exams, extra learning support or one to one time with teachers?
- Are staff trained in trauma-informed practices? Are staff aware of the effects of early childhood trauma and able to support my child? Do you have experience of working with children with attachment issues or who have experienced trauma?
- What reasonable adjustments can you make for young people who have experienced trauma?
- Do you have a behaviour policy and if so, does this take a trauma-informed approach?
Home schooling or private schooling
If you’re interested in home schooling, there’s GOV.UK guidance on this.
You can approach private schools directly. The Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation can provide private school advice, support and funding information.
Applying for a school
You can find information about a school’s admissions policy on their website. There will be information about their priority admissions. Apply for schools through your local authority using an application form. You can find the application process for your local authority using this government tool. You can apply to multiple schools.
Primary school
Normally, you apply for primary school in the autumn of the year before your child starts school. You can find the deadline for applications on your local authority’s website. You find out where they’re placed in the April before they start.
Secondary school
Applications usually open on 1 September the year before your child moves school. You can find the deadline for applications on your local authority’s website. You find out where they’re placed in the March before they start.
Two important factors for deciding a secondary school place are:
- if the child has a sibling who attends already
- the distance you live from the school
Priority school admissions
Schools should prioritise your child in admissions if they:
- are under children’s services care
- were adopted from care
- left care under a special guardianship or child arrangements order
You must state in the school application if this applies to your child, although it doesn’t guarantee a place at any school.
As much as possible, the local authority must make sure the child gets into a school that:
- allows them to live near home
- does not disrupt their education (particularly if studying for GCSEs)
If your child does not get into their chosen school, you can appeal the decision. Details for appeals will be on your local authority’s website.
Support from Kinship
Here at Kinship, we offer a range of free support for all kinship carers, including:
- free online and in-person workshops
- online advice and information
- online and in-person peer support groups
To find services, information and support in your local area – including information about your local children’s services – use our Kinship Compass tool.
You can also contact the Kinship advice team for free, non-judgmental advice and information if you live in England or Wales.
Related advice on this topic
Caring for a SEND child is rewarding but can be challenging. It’s important to understand what your family is entitled to so you can make the right choices when choosing a school for your child.
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