Bradford’s children in care have produced their best-ever results at school.

Children who are looked after by Bradford Council in children’s homes or foster families do better in school than many of their counterparts across the country, new figures reveal.

And praise has been heaped on the Council’s outgoing ‘virtual school head’ Ewen Godfrey who retires next week.

Mr Godfrey acts as a headteacher dedicated solely to about 900 children in care, regardless of what school they are in. His role involves working with schools, carers and social workers to make sure each child gets the tailored support they need to perform at their best.

Councillor Carol Thirkill, who chairs the authority’s corporate parenting panel, said: “He is very committed to the role, and he does some great work in conjunction with the schools where our looked-after children are.”

Mr Godfrey has been in the post for three years, but has been working with children in care for 16 years.

He said: “Many of these children have suffered abuse and disadvantage, often for many years.

“The local authority does support families and would rather not take children into care, but sometimes there is no choice and the local authority has to act.

“We are often working with children who have had a very chaotic lifestyle and may have significant special educational needs.”

Mr Godfrey said every effort was made to keep a child in the same school when they were taken into care and they were given personal education plans to try to help them in their studies.

He said the children themselves were often very motivated and that the teachers, social workers and carers he worked alongside were “passionate” about helping them.

Mr Godfrey said the latest results were the best yet, and that currently 31 former cared-for children were at university, whereas at one stage there had not been any.

“We are really punching above our weight,” he said.

The latest figures reveal that Bradford was ranked 11th out of England’s 152 local authorities, in terms of the year six Sats results of its children in care.

At GCSE, their performance was ranked 20th nationally.

Truancy, expulsion and suspension rates are also lower than the national average.

The report will be discussed at the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel on Wednesday, Mr Godfrey’s last day before he retires.

His successor has yet to be appointed.