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The Attendance & Behaviour Service employs this
officer to support pregnant pupils and school age mothers so that
they can continue to access their education. The officer will
arrange a home visit (or school if you prefer) to discuss plans to
continue education both during and after the pregnancy. Even if the
daughter is not currently attending school the Specialist Education
Welfare Officer (EWO) may be able to help her get back into
education now or later.
The Specialist EWO will contact the school to check if the pupil
has any particular test schedule e.g. SAT's, science modular tests,
orals for foreign language. If the pupil is a Year 9 pupil, the
officer will check mock and final exam dates. The officer will also
ask the school to plan an 9 week package prior to the birth and 9
weeks after, and contact the cluster for tuition to be
organised.
The officer will attend an Introductory Meeting at the
Children's Centre, where available, with the mother, prospective
father (if appropriate), parent / carer, Health Visitor and
Tutor.
The officer's aim is to design a package which includes
education, health and parenting skills (including the father if
appropriate). The pupil will start the provision the Monday after
finishing mainstream the previous Friday. After the baby is born
the Health Visitor will advise the Specialist Education Welfare
Officer when the pupil is medically fit to resume tuition. The
Specialist Education Welfare Officer will contact the Tutor to
arrange a start date. The baby will be attending the Children's
Centre Nursery or other provision in the care of Sure Start or
other staff while the pupil receives her tuition. This will
continue for 9 weeks, after which the pupil will return to
mainstream school while the baby will continue to attend creche at
the Children's Centre.
The Specialist EWO will negotiate with the school a Pastoral
Support Plan (PSP) for the mother and father (if appropriate) which
will include medical checks and clinic visits. The officer will
also arrange monitoring visits to the mother and schedule regular
meetings with the Health Visitor, and monitor the attainment of the
mother up to statutory school leaving age or 19 where pupil is in
further education. The officer will, in addition, collect
information on the educational destination of the
mother. |