Do adopted children have extra rights in schooling etc once adoption is finalised?

[QOD]

Friends dd is having issues at school that the school are not handling well at all. She doesn't think there is any support or extra rights or anything anymore as adoption was finalised about 5 yrs ago. She's probably right! I just knew mumsnet would know

[fossil971]

Try your question on the adoption board? It is certainly worth her contacting her local authority as there is a bit of a postcode lottery of post adoption support, some are better than others. Some agencies commit to long term support. Good luck.

Adoption UK have some good resources aimed at schools I believe.

[QOD]

They told me to come here!

Someone will spot it somewhere and answer!

Thanks

[Loshad]

was the child ever a looked after child prior to adoption, if so then yes, if not then no to extra support.

[wineoclocktimeyet]

What Loshad said, if the child was ever 'looked after' then they are always entitled to extra support

[QOD]

Really? Excellent,she was adopted from a foster home at 4 months so yes, was in care. Thanks.

[mummytime]

The rules on this changed recently so that may be why your friend doesn't realise. Basically it should push her DD to the top of the waiting list for any school.

[DeWe]

I think the rules changed this year to include all adopted children in the "looked after" category. I don't know whether this is all counties or just ours though.

[titchy]

For admissions there has been a change so that all previously (as well as currently) LAC are priority in terms of admission criteria. Once they're at school though I don't think there is anything other than the usual post adoption support available in your area.

[tethersend]

Titchy is correct- the specific educational support afforded to children in care stops once the child is adopted or an SGO is granted.

This is not to say that a school won't support an adopted child, but that there is no legal requirement for them to provide any support over and above that which they would provide for any other child.

Children previously in the care of a local authority have priority in school admissions; they are now in the same criteria as looked after children, but this is for admissions only.

I hope to see this situation change very soon.

[TeenAndTween]

You get priority for admissions but that is about it.

A good school however should be viewing that 'every child matters' and should be understanding that an adopted child may have additional needs due to traumatic background, attachment issues, disrupted early schooling etc. Your friend needs to be pushy to advocate for her ADD's needs.

You could point her towards Adoption UK website. They have a (free) electronic message board with lots of support, and there is a whole section regarding education.

If she were to join Adoption UK she could get a monthly magazine which has interesting stuff in it. In Adoption Today, June 2013, there is a very interesting article about a trial in Somerset County Council about 'Education Plan for Adopted Children', which is saying would be good practice for others to implement. (This leads on from PEPs which all LA children have)

hth

[tethersend]

That's a great step in the right direction- I'd like to see the EPAC rolled out nationally; but I think legislation which requires schools to go above and beyond for Looked After Children should be extended to cover adopted children.

Whilst there are many good schools, there are many poor ones who are completely ignorant of their responsibilities to Looked After Children; signposting relevant legislation is often necessary to get them to do what they should be doing. Without this, my concern is that adopted children will be left to flounder in poorer schools and will remain at heightened risk of permanent exclusion, whether there is a PEP (or similar) in place or not.

[helensparkles]

The law has just altered to give all children "looked after" status whether they were in foster or adoptive placements. The home local authority will write a letter of support if you are out of county, or even if you aren't. It is a statutory obligation, so there isn't any wriggle room, you just need to be mindful that any school which presents any opposition probably isn't a school you want your adopted child in anyway.

[olivevoir58]

My dd is adopted (when she was 8). The SENCO and I managed to secure her a statement on EBD grounds alone (she is of average ability and attainment). I firmly believe this was because of her previous LAC status as this type of statement are practically unheard of apparently.

[morethanpotatoprints]

I'm not sure about rights as being adopted per se, but all children irrespective of background are entitled to help from education welfare, and to be assessed by other agencies such as CAMHS, SALT, etc.
The SENCO coordinator at her dcs school should be the first person to approach.
I hope your friend finds support soon.

[QOD]

Thanks guys, I should have updated, she got a place at a new school and starts there in Sept.

You know, some schools suck, the family complained to the school governors etc lots of issues blah blah and as part of that, made sure the school were aware that they had an estranged family member working in the school. Guess who they made her TA? Yup. Hence she's happy to be gone. Poor little poppet.

[anitasmall]

Hi, My daughter attends a catholic primary school. When we applied for different catholic schools (2-3 years ago) they all listed on their sites the admission criteria. I still remember that looked after children had priority. I checked for you one website (they have over 20 criteria!!!), it starts like this:

1: "Baptised Catholic children who are in the care of the Local Authority (looked after children). 2: Baptised Catholic children living in the designated parishes of St. X and St. Y as identified on the map." So they have priority over other children living closer.