The project "Circles of support for orphans and vulnerable children: a community and schools-based multi-sectoral approach to meeting their needs" was aimed at testing a model to improve the identification of OVC and comprehensively support them, using the school system as an entry point. The overall objective of the project was to define and test nationally appropriate models of supporting OVC by providing for their basic needs and psycho-social support to enable them to remain in, or re-enter, school and fulfill their development potential. The project had four specific objectives, namely to: Produce a nationally appropriate model for a community and a school-based response to OVC through the Circles of Support (COS) model; Develop facilitation, training and awareness tools to support the implementation of the proposed model; Pilot the model at fifteen schools in each of the participating countries; Prepare tools, materials and findings from the evaluation of the project for dissemination to a network of OVC initiatives in the SADC region.