PLAC Education Support Plans (ESPs)

From Autumn 2024, the existing Education Plan for Adopted Children (EPAC) is being replaced with a new Education Support Plan (ESP) for use in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton schools.

 The new ESP form provides carers, education settings and associated professionals with a clear process to identify and address the needs of children who have experienced care adversity within education settings. This includes adopted children, those with a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), Child Arrangement Order (CAO), children in kinship care and those supported by a social worker (CWSW). 

 Developed by all four virtual schools and Adopt South in collaboration, this single document aims to improve educational attendance, engagement, and outcomes. The ESP is not a statutory document; however, Virtual Schools would suggest that this tool should be used as best practice within educational provisions. The ESP is intended to highlight the specific needs of children impacted by trauma and loss (where these needs are not already identified in any other existing plan). It is expected that the ESP will be initiated at the start of the academic year, or whenever the child changes an education setting, and then monitored and reviewed every term so that any new targets can be agreed and implemented. The ESP is designed to be dynamic and responsive, with shared, collaborative meetings to best support the education and provision for the child.