Our mission statement

Our mission statement encompasses our responsibilities as Birmingham’s Corporate Parent as defined in the Department for Education’s ‘Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children

These statements are at the core of our ethos and actions, and drive our ambition to create an ever-improving educational journey for the children that have been in the care system.

Birmingham’s Virtual School is committed to:

• Raising educational attainment across a broad curriculum offer; and in doing so reduce any existing progress gaps between our looked after and previously looked after children and their peers. Promoting and enforcing a culture of high aspirations is our top priority.
• Ensuring that children in care have access to a high-quality (rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding);full time;education setting, that is welcoming and is committed to working in partnership with other professionals, to provide the highest levels of support and ambition for them. We champion educational stability and have strategies in place to support transition.
• Ensuring that our children and young people’s health, emotional, mental and social wellbeing is held in mind and that their voice is heard in decisions made around education, care and future goals and ambitions
• Ensuring that our children and young people have an up-to-date, ambitious and personalised education plan (PEP) in place as part of the young person’s care plan.
• Delivering training across education settings, professionals and parents and carers, which promotes positive relationships, increases knowledge and understanding about the impact of attachment, trauma, loss and separation; and develops skills to raise a young person's attainment, progress, engagement and participation.
• Provide clear advice and challenge so that services and resources are used effectively to raise attainment and improve pupil wellbeing so that they can engage participate and attend provision; and ensure that impact is measured.
• Delegate the Pupil Premium Plus in line with conditions of grant and safeguard Pupil Premium funding allocation so it is not used to plug gaps where there are other funding shortfalls or where other funding streams exist.
• Communicating and working with others to ensure that the educational achievement of children in care, or those previously looked after by the authority is seen as a shared priority by everyone.