News

Schools and local education authorities have lost track of around 10,000 pupils who have been suspended, excluded or failed to show up at all, the schools inspectorate Ofsted reports, writes Craig Kenny.

“Too many children are still in danger of being lost to the system, becoming disaffected and underachieving,” says its new report.

“Disturbingly, the lack of robust systems and support are doubly disadvantaging the very children and young people who are most in need.”

While inspectors found good practice in many of the 10 local education authorities it examined, they also found significant weaknesses in the way some LEAs and schools keep track of pupils when they are excluded or referred to alternative provision.

Failing to analyse available data

A majority of these LEAs were not analysing data on exclusions and bad behaviour to see if particular groups of children needed targeting, says Ofsted.

One in 10 children caught in truancy sweeps claimed to have been excluded, but many schools neglected to check whether this was true or follow-up the child to see if their attendance improved later on.

“Weak” explanations were often given when a child was taken off the school roll, simply noting that they “never arrived”, had “moved” or were “in care”.

“This lack of information is a cause for concern, indicating a high potential for children to be lost to the system,” warns the report.

Some schools also kept no data on the number of looked-after and refugee children on their rolls. And three LEAs did not check compliance with child protection regulations.

Some pupils fall down the cracks

Social services directors are aware that some pupils do fall down the cracks in the education service.

“Anecdotally we recognise that social services staff sometimes deal with children who have been permanently excluded and are awaiting placement or where their status appears to have become blurred,” says John Coughlan, co-chair of the ADSS children and families committee. He insists that these cases are rare.

“If we are serious about the agenda in Every Child Matters it’s not good enough for social services to simply wash their hands of the issue where they are working with children outside of school,” says Coughlan.

“We need to make sure that care staff with looked after children are lobbying to get those children back into school.”

Schools minister Stephen Twigg says that a multi-agency shared register of all children in each area is part of the solution to prevent pupils being lost.

New Foundation partnerships, in which schools pool resources and expertise in addressing bad behaviour and provision for excluded pupils, are his answer to Ofsted’s criticisms of varying quality.

£7 million over three years

Last week’s headlines, however, focused on Twigg’s approach to tackling bad behaviour and truancy – another £7 million over three years for Skill Force, ex-military instructors who take on truanting, violent or disruptive 14 to 16-year-olds. 

The target group is the “hardcore” two per cent of pupils who account for almost half of unauthorised absences.

Ministers say that the scheme reduces exclusions – by 70 per cent, according to an independent study – as well as truancy.  But some professional groups, like the National Union of Teachers, question whether army discipline is the right way to deal with vulnerable teenagers.

However, both main political parties want to appear tough on truants and tearaways.

Since coming to power Labour has doubled the capacity of pupil referral units, and recently the Tories unveiled plans to double it again. Ofsted reports satisfaction among pupils referred to these units.

But Labour also aims to reduce exclusions – it has cut the numbers by 25 per cent since coming to power. The real debate is about to what extent disruptive pupils should be kept in mainstream schools.

"Quick to lay blame"

A lot of schools feel under siege. “Ofsted are very quick to lay the blame at the door of schools or LEAs which are coping with large numbers of children from dysfunctional families,” says Jan Myles, assistant secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

“Most of the problems that we are talking about is down to the fact that there are not enough resources to support children with behavioural problems. A lot of LEAs closed pupil referral units and did away with special schools.

“Inclusion should be inclusion in education, not in mainstream schools. A lot of children can’t cope in classes over 30 if they are emotionally distressed. They are exhibiting symptoms of emotional turmoil and instability.”

“We recognise that in some schools coping with challenging children puts a strain on the school,” says Coughlan. “They need adequate support for some children with more extreme needs.

“We would be very concerned if there was a shift away from an inclusion policy. We don’t want to see sin bins for children for whom hope is then lost.”