Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children with (a) SEND and (b) mental health needs to return to school after a period of absence.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
School absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed.
The department recognises that some pupils, such as pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mental health problems, may face additional challenges to attendance. We expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for these pupils as they do for all pupils, and to put support in place where required to facilitate their attendance.
To support children and young people to attend school, the department has introduced statutory guidance which sets clear expectations for schools, trusts and local authorities. The guidance is clear that schools and local authorities should take a sensitive, ‘support-first’ approach to enabling attendance, working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance. For pupils with SEND or mental health needs this may include:
After a period of absence, schools may also consider phased returns if needed, as well as offering support to catch up on missed learning.
This government is also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. As of April 2024, NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams covered 44% of pupils and learners in schools and further education in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by April 2025.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what accountability mechanisms are in place for local authorities that miss statutory deadlines for Education, Health and Care plans processes after being required to produce a Written Statement of Action.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the current Area SEND Inspection Framework, local areas with a Written Statement of Action that were not revisited by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission under the previous framework will have a full inspection within the first three years of the new inspection cycle, meaning that they should receive a full inspection under the current framework by the end of 2025.
As part of Area SEND inspections, inspectors assess the extent to which the local area partners are complying with relevant legal duties relating to arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
For any local area that has an active Written Statement of Action, the department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a council does not meet its duties, including around timeliness of education, health and care plans, we offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmentally-managed programmes, such as our sector led improvement partners, which provides peer-to-peer tailored support. Councils identified as having issues with 20 week timeliness specifically are subject to additional monitoring by the department. Where we have concerns about their capacity to make the required improvements, we secure specialist SEND advisor support to help identify barriers and improve the service.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of using enrichment activities on rates of student absenteeism.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. The department is working to make sure that all children and young people have access to a variety of enrichment opportunities at school as an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Absence is a key barrier we seek to break.
High standards can only be built on a foundation of belonging at school. Thanks to the hard work of the sector there has been progress, but we remain a long way off pre-pandemic levels.
The department recognises that enrichment activities are a vital way for children and young people to gain skills and strengthen their sense of school belonging, supporting them to achieve and thrive. We know how important it is to ensure that opportunities are available for all children and young people. For example, the department is providing over £2.9 billion this financial year for the pupil premium grant to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England. Schools must use this funding in line with the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is based on the evidence of how best to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. This includes the flexibility to use pupil premium to tackle non-academic barriers to success, including providing enrichment opportunities to benefit those pupils who may not be able to have access otherwise.
Additionally, the National Wraparound Childcare Programme is improving the availability of childcare across the country and providing additional support for parents. The programme aims to ensure all parents are able to access full time wraparound childcare beyond the school day, enabling parents to work and supporting children with enriching opportunities.
The department will continue to monitor the evidence base for the impact of enrichment activities and a variety of factors that support attendance. In addition to ensuring children have access to enrichment activities, we are also tackling absence by expanding our attendance mentor programme, rolling out breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.