Educational needs of primary school children with Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs)
This blog is written by Lorna Stabler and Daisy Chaudhuri. Lorna is a research fellow at CASCADE (Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre) and is leading a new study focusing on Special Guardianship. Daisy is a consultant on this new study. She brings her experience as a former teacher and as an adoptee who grew up in a fostering family and went on to become a foster carer and Special Guardian to three children.
When a child cannot live with their birth parent, they may live with someone else in their family network, a foster carer, or an adopted parent. If the plan is for a child to live with their foster carer or a member of their extended family network until adulthood, they might have a Special Guardianship Order. This is a legal order that gives parental responsibility to the person who the child is living with.
When a child has a Special Guardianship Order, they are not a ‘child looked after’. Children subject to Special Guardianship Orders, although not looked after children, share many of the same characteristics as the looked after population. Some will be former looked after children, others will have been on the edge of care or come from families in crisis, and many will have experienced adverse childhood experiences, often related to abuse or neglect [1].
The code of practice for Special Guardianship Orders in Wales (issued under section 145 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014) highlights the importance of understanding and supporting children’s education throughout their time at school. This recognises that children might have disruptions or barriers to their education due to their early experiences.
Currently, very little is known about the development and educational skills and needs of children with special guardianship orders. At Cardiff University, we are working with primary schools to learn more about how best to support children with Special Guardianship Orders. We are inviting children aged 4 – 7 and their special guardians to come into the university to take part in research. Any child with a Special Guardianship Order in this age range can take part – not only those where there are concerns.
Teachers who refer children into the study will receive a specific report written by an Educational Psychologist which will detail individual interventions to best support that child.
We would love to you take part. If you are a teacher of 4 – 7 year old children and you have a child in your class who has a Special Guardianship Order, you can make a referral. All you need to do is speak with the guardian and get in touch with SGO@cardiff.ac.uk to receive a referral pack. You can also access the referral forms and see what a visit to the university looks like here.
This is a unique opportunity that could help children who may fall between the gaps. It will also help to develop more guidance for schools across Wales when thinking about how best to help these children to thrive.
Lorna Stabler, CASCADE (Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre), Cardiff University stablerl@cardiff.ac.uk
[1] Welsh Government. (2018). Special Guardianship: Code of Practice on the exercise of social services functions in relation to special guardianship orders. Available at: code-of-practice-on-the-exercise-of-social-services-functions-in-relation-to-special-guardianship-orders.pdf (gov.wales)
