Agenda item

Context:

We received the report on Young People Excluded from Schools, the purpose was to share information so that members are aware of the progress in reducing exclusions from schools and the current levels of exclusion in Monmouthshire Schools and enable comparison with statistical neighbours

Key Issues:

If children and young people are excluded from schools, research suggests that there is a higher probability of them being involved in anti-social behaviour and becoming disaffected with education.

If children and young people of school age are permanently excluded from schools then the Local Authority would need to ensure that educational provision is provided at the next nearest school or via the Pupil Referral Service until appropriate educational provision is secured. If pupils are permanently excluded then this could result in the Local Authority having to provide transport to enable the pupil to be able to attend educational provision. This could have a significant impact upon transport budgets.

Welsh Assembly Guidance – Exclusions from Schools and Pupil Referral Units (81/2012) describes informal or unofficial exclusions, as unlawful regardless of whether they are done with the agreement of parents or carers. Unlawful, unofficial or informal exclusion refers to schools:-

• sending learners home for disciplinary reasons, but not following the procedures required for formal exclusion

• learners being sent home for either short periods of time, or for longer indefinite periods which can sometimes result in the learner not returning to school at all.

Unlawful exclusions deprives parents and young people of their rights to appeal against a head teacher’s decision to exclude them. If this is suspected within Monmouthshire, schools would be challenged by Local Authority Officers.

If Children and Young People are subject to unlawful exclusions then there are potential safeguarding issues as children and young people would be out of educational provision.

Pupils from vulnerable groups such as Black Minority Ethnic Groups (BME), Looked After Children (LAC), Gypsy Traveller Pupils can experience higher rates of exclusion than pupils not in these vulnerable groups. Exclusions amongst these cohorts are monitored rigorously.

Levels of primary fixed term exclusion in Monmouthshire were too high and the Local Authority were allocated an additional resource July 2012 to provide intervention to reduce levels of primary fixed term exclusions

Member Scrutiny:

• The Chair queried what had been involved during 2 secondary schools restructure.  The committee were informed that in 2013/14 there was an ALN unit in place, place in one of the schools, which had been restructured and resources redistributed throughout the school the following year 2014/15 and the decision was reversed for this academic year 2015/16.
• Reassurance was requested that the section worked with youth service in order to reduce NEETS.  It was clarified that meetings were held with the youth service and coordination of PRS and Youth Service intervention was discussed to avoid duplication of intervention
• A member highlighted that it would be beneficial for scrutiny to be aware of reasons for exclusion.  In response, the process was clarified that the school would signify to the local authority the reason, most prevalent would be disruptive behaviour.  Officers confirmed that overall percentages would be included within future reports (without individuals being identified).  In the event of disruption due to permanent or lengthy exclusions, routine conversations were held between the head teacher and Principal Officer Inclusion  

·         Members recognised the importance of continued support for a child that had been excluded and requested clarification that this was in place.  Officers confirmed that the circumstances of individual cases would be considered.  Individual pupil tracking assisted in terms of identifying children who may present with problems.  All vulnerable pupils and attendance were tracked and reports produced on a monthly basis. 

·         A member referred to preventative work and whether the authority was well equipped in terms of teacher training.  The committee were reassured that a range of varied training being introduced, to ensure that programme in place to address issues.

Recommendation:

For members to accept the content of the report and for this agenda item to be reported annually.