Croydon Virtual School

Who we are

We are a staffed support service of 23 people who work in a hybrid way. 

In our role we:

• work on behalf of a cohort of 500+ children and young people aged 2 years old to 18 years old
• care for children and young people aged up to 25 years old with a special educational needs and disabilities plan (EHCP) 
• sometimes attend schools in person and online 
• work in other parts of the country with those young people placed elsewhere

Tuition and support of individual students can be accessed through the Virtual School. Although, we are not an online school or a digital way to access education, we may sometimes offer these services. 

What we do

We work with all the different educational environments our young people attend, nationally, monitoring, tracking and reporting on each child’s journey. Our main aim is to support, develop and ultimately enhance the education experience for each child. This is done by ensuring the settings they attend, can effectively work with the care-experienced. To make sure our children’s voices are heard.

Our team

We are structured like a school, with a headteacher, deputy Headteacher (strategic lead) and 3 senior leaders for each age group (primary-KS3, KS4 & KS5). 

Our advisory teachers have year group cohorts of young people who they support for as many years as it is possible to. They hold 3 yearly Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings with all the relevant people involved in a child’s education.
These sessions amplify the young person’s voice and needs. As well as making sure they’re being supported in the best ways. They also help school staff, and challenge when needed. To ensure care and awareness of the needs of children in care are considered at every turn. 

Who we work with

We also work very closely with foster carers, social workers, SEND teams and other relevant professional bodies. As, the stabilising force,  connecting a network around each child’s education, to ensure they achieve their fullest potential. We have access to a senior educational psychologist too.

Supporting Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and young people (UASC)

We also operate an onsite short-term school for UASC or those with ESOL (English as a Secondary Language) needs, who are without a school place. This is called Croydon Town School (CTS), it is an interim provision and operates daily at Oasis Arena Academy.