Mar. 21 2024
Source Page: Use of reasonable force in AP and special schoolsFound: Use of reasonable force in AP and special schools
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) promote inclusivity in schools, (b) assist (i) schools and (ii) teachers to provide support for children with special educational needs and disabilities and (c) reduce exclusions of such children.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan set out a vision for an inclusive system categorised by high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. Alongside this, the department will improve access to timely, high-quality specialist provision, where this is appropriate for the child or young person.
High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve in their education. To support all teachers, the department is implementing teacher training reforms which begins with initial teacher training and continues into early career teaching, through to middle and senior leadership. These reforms are designed to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND.
Reaching over 70% of schools and further education colleges, the Universal Services programme will help the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, earlier and more effectively.
The department knows that if needs and behaviours that present a barrier to learning were addressed earlier, more children could be supported to thrive in their mainstream school. That is why the department’s reforms will see AP settings working closely in partnership with mainstream schools to provide high-quality targeted support and one-to-one interventions. This will build capacity in mainstream schools to identify and support needs early, reducing the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long-term placements, as well as lead to improvements in children’s wellbeing and outcomes.
Good behaviour in schools is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. The government supports head teachers in using suspension and permanent exclusion as a sanction where warranted as part of creating calm, safe and supportive environments where both pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.
The government agrees with the Timpson Review of school exclusion conclusion that there is no ‘right’ number of exclusions, but the department is clear that permanent exclusion should only be used as and when absolutely necessary, as a last resort and this should not mean exclusion from education.
All decisions to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable, and fair. The Behaviour in Schools guidance and the updated statutory Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance (2023) sets out that, when considering excluding a pupil, schools should consider any contributing factors that are identified after an incident of misbehaviour has occurred, which could include where the pupil has Special Educational Needs. Initial intervention measures should include an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any SEND that a pupil may have.
Mentions:
1: Carlaw, Jackson (Con - Eastwood) local authorities; and to reform the exclusions procedure to include consideration of whether exclusions - Speech Link
2: Carlaw, Jackson (Con - Eastwood) or has an alternative in place within 24 hours of being reported. - Speech Link
3: Torrance, David (SNP - Kirkcaldy) must agree appropriate alternative provision with the roads authority before works take place, as set - Speech Link
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: School census 2024 to 2025: technical informationFound: School census 2024 to 2025: technical information
Mentions:
1: Lord Storey (LD - Life peer) kindly replied to my Written Question tabled on 11 January, she said that there were“335 state-funded alternative - Speech Link
2: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) not only to them but to their teachers, their parents and their peers at school. - Speech Link
3: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab - Life peer) There are still too many school exclusions, and the Government have not come down hard enough on places - Speech Link
Mar. 08 2012
Source Page: Improving alternative provision by Charles Taylor, the Government's expert adviser on behaviour. 27 p.Found: Improving alternative provision by Charles Taylor, the Government's expert adviser on behaviour. 27 p
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: School census 2024 to 2025: technical informationFound: School census 2024 to 2025: technical information
Mentions:
1: David Johnston (Con - Wantage) alternative provision. - Speech Link
2: David Johnston (Con - Wantage) alternative provision. - Speech Link
3: James Sunderland (Con - Bracknell) alternative provision. - Speech Link
4: Catherine McKinnell (Lab - Newcastle upon Tyne North) alternative provision. - Speech Link
5: Robin Walker (Con - Worcester) alternative provision. - Speech Link
6: Robin Walker (Con - Worcester) alternative provision. - Speech Link
7: Munira Wilson (LD - Twickenham) Gentleman makes a powerful point about school exclusions. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Stevenson, Collette (SNP - East Kilbride) St Bride’s high school. - Speech Link
2: Hyslop, Fiona (SNP - Linlithgow) ScotRail about future provision. - Speech Link
3: Hepburn, Jamie (SNP - Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) Scotland” series of prospectus papers, we continue to set out the positive case for independence as an alternative - Speech Link
4: Whitfield, Martin (Lab - South Scotland) been expressed about restraint, informal school exclusions and data. - Speech Link
5: Don, Natalie (SNP - Renfrewshire North and West) of virtual headteachers across Scotland, which is a model that is showing real progress in reducing exclusions - Speech Link
Correspondence Oct. 17 2023
Committee: Education Committee (Department: Department for Education)Found: There are valid reasons for these: for instance, the context of the school, newly sponsored, new free