A charity has blamed a ‘lack of willingness’ by local authorities for the early closure of a scheme that aimed to prevent vulnerable children going into care through the use of boarding schools.
Buttle UK had been funding boarding school places for children on a Child In Need or Child Protection Plan, and making the transition to secondary school.
However, it said it repeatedly struggled to get referrals from local authorities so has been forced to end the project.
The charity said 64% of the children it supported achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* - C. This compares to only 19% for those assessed as Children in Need.
Chief executive of Buttle UK, Gerri McAndrew, said: ‘There’s a concern about what happens to children in the holidays when they’re not at school, there are concerns that the schools won’t cope with children with some of the difficult behaviours, all of that is based on an assumption.
‘Not many social workers have actually visited a boarding school, so there’s a real lack of knowledge about boarding schools.’
The charity is calling on local authorities to see boarding schools as an alternative method of preventing care.
