Harrow Virtual School

Harrow Virtual School (HVS) has a statutory responsibility for children looked after (CLA), previously looked after (PCLA) and care leavers (CL) to ensure they fulfil their education potential.  Students are already enrolled at their respective schools or education settings.

Many children looked after and care leavers enjoy learning and are meeting or exceeding their educational expectations. Despite this, the received wisdom nationally, is that children in care and care-leavers have poor experiences in education. Subsequently they may have very low educational attainment compared to their non-looked after peers.

HVS brings together all the education information about children looked after and care leavers belonging to Harrow as though they attended a single institution.  Their progress can be closely tracked and supported. Interventions can also be targeted in a more strategic way. The school has a Headteacher, which is a statutory post within every local authority in England. The headteacher can support and challenge local authority departments, education provisions and other agencies to help students have the best educational outcomes.

Since September 2021, the Virtual School remit has been extended to a strategic overview of children with a social worker (CWSW) and this will include children in kinship arrangements from September 2024.