Personal Education Plans
A Personal Education Plan (PEP) is a statutory document that all looked-after children and young people aged 2 to 17 must have in place. The PEP describes how a looked-after child or young person will be supported to achieve their specific educational, employment or training (EET) targets. This ensures that the knowledge that a parent would hold about their child is shared with all relevant people and used to inform any future plans.
The PEP is reviewed three times a year in the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms.
When a young person first comes into care, a PEP meeting should be initiated by the Social Worker in partnership with the Designated Teacher within 20 days.
Social Workers and Designated Teachers have a joint responsibility to ensure PEP meetings take place and that completed plans are submitted to the Virtual School. In Manchester, PEPs are completed via the secure, web-based, Welfare Cloud electronic personal education plan (ePEP) system.
The voice of the child or young person.
The Manchester Virtual School encourages children and young people to take part in as much of the PEP process as possible. Each child and young person should be fully supported and encouraged to attend their PEP meetings. If they prefer not to attend their PEP meeting, someone that they trust should ensure that their views are shared at the PEP meeting and that the outcomes of the meeting are shared with them. Their views, wishes and feelings should be used to inform the development, implementation and review of their termly PEPs.
Participation will take different forms depending on the young person’s age, abilities, specific learning or language needs, and mental health at the time. If they are not able to attend the meeting, their views must be brought forward by the most appropriate person. After the meeting, key discussion points must be appropriately shared with the young person.
Professionals should take a personalised approach to gather pupil voice. This can vary from conversations during break times, discussing pieces of classwork, or observing body language. Please note that the young person will express their views daily and not just as part of the PEP process.