Dear Parent/Carer,

Has your child been adopted from Care?

Is your child currently living with you under a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement Order, but has been looked after in the past under the Care of a Local Authority?

You may be aware that schools receive additional funding for children in receipt of Free School Meals, however you may not know that this additional funding is also available to schools for some pupils who:

  • left care under a Residential Order
  • left care under a Special Guardianship Order
  • were adopted from care

For confidentiality reasons, the local authority does not identify these pupils and it is for you as the parent/guardian to decide whether to disclose this information about your child to the school. If you are willing to share this information with the school, the school will be able to claim funding each year.

Whilst the Pupil Premium funding is not ring-fenced for individual previously looked after children, often all children in a class will reap some benefit from how the school spends its pupil premium, such as a teaching assistant in the class or specific interventions available. National statistics show that children who have been in care face unique challenges at school and often struggle to keep up with their peers.  It is vital that they are given the targeted support they need and the education they deserve to help them get on in life.

The process for the school to claim the Pupil Premium Plus is through self-declaration in early October. If you would like us to claim, you must declare your child/children’s status to the school before then. The Department for Education requires you to provide evidence of your child’s status by sharing your Adoption/Special Guardianship/Child Arrangement Order or showing a letter from the local authority confirming that they placed your child with you. Please be reassured that this information will be treated in the strictest confidence and that names and details are not part of the census. Please contact us should you wish to declare your child’s previously looked after status, please email admin@ems.bhcet.org.uk by latest 30th September 2026.  Please be aware that you must declare your child’s status each time they move to a new school. If you have previously declared their status to us, you do not need to do so again.

There is no obligation for you to share this information with us, but doing so will help both your child and the school to benefit from this funding. Any information received will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Yours sincerely,
Headteacher