Keith Morrison, senior adviser and virtual head teacher, Medway Council

When Medway was looking for someone to fill this role, the council wanted somebody well connected and not afraid to speak their mind.

“So they thought of me,” says Morrison. “I’m fairly well known across the council and the directorate. And I have a reputation for being blunt. The whole point of the council appointing me is that they wanted someone to give them a hard time on behalf of Medway’s looked-after children. Where necessary, I stir things up a bit. In short, I will be a pain in the backside if I think we should be doing more.”

Indeed, one of the parts of the job Morrison most enjoys is the “robust” conversations he has with the council director. Clearly, this role benefits from an extrovert and a good communicator.

Theoretically, Morrison should only spend one day a month on the “virtual head teacher” part of his remit. Practically, this is unrealistic to do justice to the job and he ends up spending much more, integrating this “day” into his normal working month as a senior adviser.

One of the biggest challenges is getting the various different agencies involved with looked-after children to view their achievement at school as important as finding them a placement in school or with a foster family.

“Before this appointment,” he says. “There wasn’t the same drive to ensure we cared in the whole sense, rather just saying ‘we’ve got them a safe placement and so that’s the end of the story’.”

However, when the team does take this holistic view, it is extremely satisfying for Morrison to witness the positive outcomes achieved by looked-after children.