Last updated: May 2026

Review date: May 2027

Paint Pots are committed to providing quality provision based on equality of opportunity for all children and their families. All staff are committed to doing all they can to enable ‘looked after or adopted’ children in their care to achieve and reach their full potential and have the same opportunities as their peers.

Children become ‘looked after’ if they have either been taken into care by the local authority or have been accommodated by the local authority (a voluntary care arrangement). Most looked after children will be living in foster homes, but a smaller number may be in a children’s home, living with a relative or even placed back home with their natural parent(s).

Staff recognise that children who are being ‘looked after’ have often experienced traumatic situations; physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect. However, staff also recognise that not all looked after children have experienced abuse and that there are a range of reasons for children to be taken into the care of the local authority.

Whatever the reason, a child’s separation from their home and family signifies a disruption in their lives that has an impact on their emotional well-being.

All staff place emphasis on promoting children’s right to be strong, resilient, and listened to. The policy and practice guidelines for ‘looked after’ and adopted children are based on two important concepts: attachment and resilience. The basis of this is to promote secure attachments in children’s lives, as the foundation for resilience. These aspects of well-being underpin the child’s responsiveness to learning and enable the development of positive dispositions for learning.

For young children to get the most out of educational opportunities they need to be settled enough with their carer to be able to cope with further separation, a new environment and new expectations made upon them.

Our Key Aims:

• To provide a safe, secure environment where all children are valued.
• To provide every child with the opportunity to enjoy learning and fulfil their potential.

The following principals apply:

Paint Pots will take the definition of ‘Looked After Children’ (LAC) as being children who have been taken into care by the Local Authority under the Children's Act 1989 or where a voluntary agreement has been reached with the birth family. The term ‘Looked After’ Child denotes a child’s current legal status; this term is never used to categorise a child as standing out from others. Staff will never refer to such a child but will use the acronym LAC.

• Paint Pots will develop strong professional relationships with the child’s main carers and other outside agencies involved.
• Paint Pots will maintain clear, open, and honest communication with all those involved in the care of the child.
• All staff will be kept up to date and informed about any ‘Looked After Child’ including adopted children as appropriate.

We will provide this through:

• Having a named person in the setting, who will be responsible for coordinating support for LAC and acting as their advocate (Ideally, the named person will be the Manager of the setting and the Designated Safeguarding Lead).
• Maintaining an up-to-date record of all ‘Looked After’ children attending the setting which will include type of placement (foster care, family etc.), contact numbers, Social Workers details and those of any other professionals involved.
• At the start of a placement there is a professional’s meeting to determine the objectives of the placement and draw up a care plan that incorporates the child’s learning needs.