£100,000 boost to help looked after kids go to the top of the class
Children who are looked after by Renfrewshire Council are being giving a £100,000 boost to help them achieve better results at school.
The cash will be used to recruit three new staff to help looked after children to overcome the barriers that stop them achieving their full educational potential.
Creating these additional posts is part of Renfrewshire Council’s early intervention strategy, which aims to make sure that children get the help they need before their problems get too serious.
Councillor Iain McMillan, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Social Work, Health and Wellbeing Policy Board, said, “Renfrewshire Council looks after over 700 children. Like any parent we want to give the children we care for the best possible start in life. That means helping them do well at school.
“This extra investment will allow us to significantly increase the number of staff we have working with looked after children in our schools and to make a real difference to their lives.
“Many children and young people who are looked after by local authorities, do worse at school and are more likely to be excluded or play truant than their classmates. Providing the right support for looked after children is crucial to closing the gap in attainment between them and children who aren’t looked after.
“These new posts will focus on intervening earlier, possibly even before a child becomes looked after, so that we can reduce the long term impact that poor parenting and doing badly at school can have.”
The £100,000 will allow additional staff to be recruited to help the children develop the social skills and resilience they need to cope with the complex and stressful situations which looked after children often have to face. www.renfrewshire.gov.uk