As for other Children in Care and Care Leavers, Sutton Virtual School works to promote the progress and educational attainment of UASC. Their first experience of education in the UK may be an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Programme. It is vital that there is a focus on gaining English Language competency and there is a lot that foster carers and placement staff can do to support this.
In the home:
Ensure that you speak clearly and slowly in English and encourage your young person to respond, even in single words. Support them to acquire new words every week.
Laptop:
Your UASC young person will be eligible to receive a laptop from London Borough of Sutton as part of their education support package.
To ensure that the young person knows how to use the laptop to support their education and access Flash Academy correctly, we provide a UASC Laptop Induction Session in Wallington. This will be arranged by Sutton Virtual School in conjunction with social care and the training provider. An interpreter will also be present. It is vital that you support your young person to attend this session on time.
Flash Academy:
Flash Academy is our online resource for ESOL students. It supports English language acquisition through short, fun and interactive lessons delivered in their home language. It works on a Smartphone App or online. Following the Laptop Induction Session, you should encourage your young person to regularly access Flash Academy. You will be sent Flash Academy login details in the session invitation, should your young person get logged out at any time.
Flash Academy can be accessed online www.flashacademy.com/windows or by downloading the app on a Smartphone.
ESOL Education Journey:
ESOL Skills for Life qualifications cover English and Maths. Young people come to the UK with different levels of English language competency. This will be assessed once they start education in the UK. In general, they will start somewhere along this scale.
Many of our motivated young people swiftly make their way through these levels to gain GCSE equivalent qualifications (level 1 &2). Some gain places at University following their Level 3 studies.