Friday Five: Attitudes towards exclusions, child poverty increase, SEND & youth violence, home-schooling changes and DfE SEND responses

1. Attitudes towards exclusions explored in new Public First report

Think tank Public First have published new research sharing the results of national polling and focus groups with teachers, young people, and school staff on exclusions. With exclusion rates in schools growing across the board – and particular focus on the worrying trend of rising early years exclusions – this report provides new evidence on the attitudes of a range of key education stakeholders.

There are four main findings:

1. Schools, teachers, and students want greater funding to support interventions that can reduce exclusions. In particular, all three groups expressed preferences for more funding for Social and Emotional Needs support and greater mentoring opportunities.
2. Reform of and investment in in-school SEND provision should be a priority. Focus groups and polling showed that too many students in mainstream schools are not getting the support they need.
3. ITT and teacher CPD should have a greater focus on exclusions. This research highlighted that teachers at all career stages would benefit from additional training on exclusions, interventions, and their school or Trust’s processes.
4. Alternative Provision (AP) needs more investment. As it stands, there are not enough available places in AP for students, nor is there enough funding for AP to operate best practice in all settings.

The full report is here.

2. Rise in UK children and families living in poverty, latest data shows

New data released this week by the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) has shown a continued rise in the number of UK children and young people living in poverty. The latest edition of the SMC’s annual report on the level and nature of UK poverty has found that:

• 16 million people in the UK are living in families living in poverty
• 5.2 million children are now living in poverty
• This accounts for more than a third (36%) of all children in the UK, a five percentage-point increase since 2019/20

This latest data is accompanied by a call for the Government to take a new approach to tackling poverty. Damningly, in-work poverty has risen: the majority of people in poverty in the UK live in a family where someone works at least part-time. Calls for new initiatives and a restructure of the welfare and benefits system have been made to tackle growing poverty rates across the country.

The full research is here.

3. SEND delays exposing children to greater risk of violence and exploitation

Children are waiting “too long” for SEND assessments and EHCPs, leaving them at greater risk of harm, according to a multi-agency report published this week. The delays make children more vulnerable to exploitation and serious youth violence, as “problems can escalate while they wait for an assessment or support”.

These delays mean that young people with undiagnosed SEND also risk being “adultified” in the criminal justice system and not recognised as victims of exploitation. The report argues that a national response to waiting times is needed, as well as a “holistic response” to children affected by youth violence that takes into account the full range of their needs. 

For the full report, click here

4. Council permission required to home-school children with protection enquiries

Parents with children subject to protection enquiries or plans will need local authority consent if they want their child to be home-schooled, according to new legislation announced by the government this week. This comes at a time when increasing numbers of parents are choosing to educate their children at home, with the rate of attrition from schools doubling last year. 

Investigations into the most serious instances of child abuse and neglect found that home-educated children were less visible to safeguarding agencies. Additional announcements include plans to involve schools and teachers in “multi-agency child safeguarding teams” headed by local councils, designed to “stop children falling through the cracks”.

For more details, read here

5. Top DfE officials questioned over SEND shortcomings – key responses

Senior DfE civil servants were questioned at the Public Accounts Committee this week over shortcomings in SEND provision – here are summaries of their key responses:

• The previous government’s high-profile improvement plan “didn’t go far enough”, although steps were taken in the right direction.
• Reducing the awarding of EHCPs “isn’t the goal”, it is for people to be able to access more support without needing an EHCP assessment.
• Parents’ view of Labour’s plan for more inclusive mainstream schools is “a risk”, as they interpret it to mean wanting to “support children in mainstream who really need specialist provision”. 
• The current tribunal system, where 98% of EHCP awarding appeals are successful, risks “favouring those who have got the capacity to navigate [the process]”. 

This follows the National Audit Office’s recent report into the SEND system, which they described as “neglected to the point of crisis”.

For further insights, read here