FFT-&-The-Fischer-Family-Trust

FFT & The Fischer Family Trust

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FFT is a non-profit company established in 2001 with links to the Fischer Family Trust. We are solely focussed on providing accurate and insightful information to schools which enables pupils achieve their full potential and schools to improve. We have been processing the National Pupil Database for the DFE since  2004 and providing analyses to all schools and LAs in England and Wales for over for 10 years.

Schools & Academies

You can access FFT Aspire data and support in one of the following ways:

  • Option 1: Via your Local Authority (including Academies) – please contact your LA for further details
  • Option 2: Via FFT direct through an individual School subscription
  • Option 3: Via FFT direct through a School Group subscription (discounted rate for groups of 10 or more schools)

Because we process national census and examination data on behalf of the Department for Education, your data is automatically updated online each term as new pupils enter and leave your school. So, you get the latest data for EVERY pupil in your school – plus much more!

Individual School Subscriptions Costs Direct From FFT: 

£250 plus vat for Infant Schools

£300 plus vat for Primary Schools

£1,250 plus vat for Secondary Schools

What your FFT direct school subscription includes
(options 2 & 3)

  • 1 year’s online access to FFT Aspire
  • Access to all FFT reports and data
  • Access to new Governor Dashboard and Self Evaluation reports
  • Automatic census and exam updates every term
  • Automatic access to all new FFT Aspire innovations – including new features, new reports and enhancements
  • The ability to create and manage your own FFT Aspire accounts for school staff
  • Access to FFT training and support materials
  • FFT email support
  • Free autumn update service – early estimates for new pupils entering your school in autumn

For more information on FFT direct subscriptions or to subscribe via FFT, please email subscriptions@fft.org.uk or call 01446 776262.

Local Authorities

To access the full range of FFT data for your LA and schools including FFT Aspire and your own FFT database, please email subscriptions@fft.org.uk or call 01446 776262.

Academy Chains & Sponsors

If you’d like to access FFT Aspire school and Sponsor level data, please email subscriptions@fft.org.uk or call 01446 776262.

All content provided is copyright of FFT. Please find links below to the source information and use the following useful links provided to find out more.

FFT Aspire Subscriptions >

Widgit Symbols

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One of the great features of ePEP are the sections for the young people to complete using interactive avatars. The young person has numerous options to choose from, children with reading difficulties or a visual impairment significantly benefit from the spoken questions by the avatar.

This technique guarantees for whatever reason the child cannot read or has difficulty communicating by the written word to have their say.

The company has worked closely with Gloucestershire Council in developing a questionnaire for youngsters who have difficulty communicating using symbols used by Widgit Symbols software. Many local authorities already have access to Widgit software so can freely use the questionnaire in the SEN module of ePEP. This technique using symbols might look simple compared to ePEP’s under-water environment, however this could over excited SEN children. The symbols have been an overwhelming success with young people enabling them to easily participating with the familiar language.

Many SEN special schools are also very familiar with these symbols.

More Information about Widgit Symbols

The ever expanding Widgit Symbols Set has been terms of the past 30 years and now contains more than 12,000 symbols, which cover an English vocabulary of over 40,000 words. Widgit’s simply-drawn, colourful symbols each illustrate a single concept, in a clear and concise way, and cover a range of topics (including many curricular areas) wide enough to make them suitable for symbol users of all ages and abilities.

Widgit Symbols are used all over the world, supporting 17 languages, increasing the accessibility of written text, giving readers of all literacy levels greater access to information. As the Widgit Symbols Set is designed specifically for written information, Widgit Symbols users can develop a real independence in the reading and writing.

The new Widgit Symbols Set was launched in October 2002. This is a result of a two year development project involving many practitioners.

More information on the design rules and schema

More information about the development project

widgit-symbols

widgit-symbols

Information about Widgit Symbols from www.widgit.com

Pupil-Premium-Plus

Pupil Premium Plus

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Additional funds for children in care become available from April 2014 through the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+). Besides increasing the amount to £1900 per child, the funds will be available from the first day a child comes in to care.

The Virtual School head in each local authority will be responsible for administrating the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+). Any spend will have to be accounted through the child’s personal education plan and will have to be targeted on the educational needs of the young person. If the local authority fails to distribute the allocated funds they will be clawed back by the government.

It is statutory that every child in care, in education, should have an up to date Personal Education Plan. The government is making it a requirement that details of the Pupil Premium will need to be recorded in the PEP and how it addresses their educational needs This will make the local authority and schools more accountable.

Schools can expect Ofsted to look in detail how the Pupil Premium is spent for individual children in care.

Department of Education Pupil Premium website

Ofsted School Inspection Handbook

Statutory-Guidance

Statutory Guidance ePEP

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Statutory Guidance and Personal Education Plans

There are four pieces of statutory guidance that determine what a PEP contains, how it should be used, who does what and when it needs to be completed and reviewed.

For social workers,  The Children Act 1989 Guidance and RegulationsVolume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review,covers the PEP and how it should be completed from a social care view point.

Being part of the care plan Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) need to review PEPs. TheIRO Handbook says IRO’s need access to a completed PEP at least three days before the care planning meeting. Something ePEP easily accomplishes as IRO’s can have access to a young person’s EPEP at anytime.

Local authorities have a statutory duty in Promoting the Educational Achievement of Looked After Children. This guidance cover their role in supporting the PEP process.

The post of Designated Teacher, like the Special Needs Co-ordinator, is statutory in schools. The school governing body has to make sure their school is meeting all its lawful obligations regarding children in care.

These are defined in, The Role and Responsibilities of the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children: Statutory Guidance for school governing bodies. Chapter 4 of the guidance is about Designated Teacher and their role in its completion. It gives a good overview of the whole process.

There is no single clear cut guide, just for PEP’s. It is a matter of reading the four bits of guidance together about PEPs that gives an overall view of what is expected.

From time to time the DfE re writes or updates parts of guidance, such as the guidance on the Pupil Premium ,which did not exist when the above guidance was published.

The PEP is part of the care plan and school record.

Where they are used effectively, PEPs improve the educational experience of the child by helping everyone gain that clear and shared understanding about the teaching and learning provision necessary to meet the child’s education needs and how that will be provided.

For this reason the school and local authority (through strong links between the designated teacher and, for example, the local authority virtual school head) have a shared responsibility for making the PEP a living and useful document.

The role and responsibilities of the designated teacher for looked after children:  Statutory Guidance for school governing bodies, section 4.1.4.

The PEPs have come about because children in care, overall, fail in education. The PEP is a tool to help focus on a child’s progress through education.

The ePEP platform has been developed with local authorities, schools and young people to meet the government’s PEP requirements but brings greater transparency on everyone’s roll in making a child’s education a success.  EPEP is a very flexible platform, catering for children in early years, statutory school age and post -16.

Local authorities can individually program facets of the ePEP environment to respond to localised need. Thus being able to tailor how professionals and young people access and complete the PEP.

Provided an ePEP user logs on to the internet, an ePEP can be opened at any time, this allows easy on the move, office, school or home access.

The-Who-Cares-Trust

Who Cares Trust

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The Who Cares Trust is a voice and a champion for children and young people in the UK living in care. The Who Cares Trust believe that every child in care should receive the support, encouragement and opportunities they need to enjoy their life and to achieve.

What does The Who Cares Trust Do?

So how exactly does The Who Cares Trust make a difference to the lives and outcomes of children in care?

Here’s how:

The Who Cares Trust support and empower children in care and young care leavers through their engagement programme, including running lifeskills workshops for young care leavers, organising work experience and providing one-to-one support and guidance to young people in the programme.

They influence legislation, policy and practice by ensuring the views and experiences of young people are heard where they need to be. This work includes running the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers, research reports, consultation responses and their young trainers scheme, where they support young people in and from care to devise and deliver training for professionals working with children in care

The Who Cares Trust publish magazines and publications for children in care that inspire, empower and inform them. They also publish books for foster carers and other professionals responsible for children in care that help them improve their practice and keep up to date with policies and legislation.

They develop collaborative projects which aim to improve life in and after care.

All content provided is copyright of The Who Cares Trust. Please find links below to the source information and use the following useful links provided to find out more.

The Who Cares Trust >