Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing its guidance on excluding children with special educational needs with experts in the SEND sector.
Answered by Robin Walker
In June 2021, the department launched a call for evidence on managing behaviour, including understanding how the best schools meet their duties in supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to be fully part of the school community and engaged with their education. This evidence will be considered and further assessed alongside the results of a forthcoming public consultation on the revised ‘suspension and exclusion guidance and behaviour in schools guidance’. Both sets of guidance will provide practical advice to the education sector to create calm, orderly, safe, and supportive school environments that support their pupils to succeed.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department (a) has issued and (b) plans to issue on helping to ensure that the interests of SEND children are central to decisions on (i) managed moves and (ii) alternative education offsite provision for SEND children.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is clear that close working between local partners, including schools, alternative provision (AP) and the local authority, is vital to improving support and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The majority of students in AP have SEND, particularly social, emotional and mental health needs which is why the SEND Review is considering how AP can provide leadership and expertise.
For pupils with SEND, the suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance already makes clear that a managed move must occur with the consent of the parties involved. The department is committed to revising the statutory suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance to make it clearer and more consistent, so that headteachers have the information they need to use disciplinary sanctions properly and proportionately.
In June 2021, the department launched a call for evidence on managing behaviour and the use of isolation rooms in schools, including asking how vulnerable pupils are supported. This evidence will be considered and further assessed alongside the results of a public consultation later this year on the behaviour and discipline in schools guidance. The guidance will provide practical advice to schools about how to encourage good behaviour and respond effectively to incidents of misbehaviour in and out of the classroom.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a programme for SEND children to embed effective partnership working between local authorities, schools, alternative provision and other partners.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is clear that close working between local partners, including schools, alternative provision (AP) and the local authority, is vital to improving support and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The majority of students in AP have SEND, particularly social, emotional and mental health needs which is why the SEND Review is considering how AP can provide leadership and expertise.
For pupils with SEND, the suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance already makes clear that a managed move must occur with the consent of the parties involved. The department is committed to revising the statutory suspensions and permanent exclusions guidance to make it clearer and more consistent, so that headteachers have the information they need to use disciplinary sanctions properly and proportionately.
In June 2021, the department launched a call for evidence on managing behaviour and the use of isolation rooms in schools, including asking how vulnerable pupils are supported. This evidence will be considered and further assessed alongside the results of a public consultation later this year on the behaviour and discipline in schools guidance. The guidance will provide practical advice to schools about how to encourage good behaviour and respond effectively to incidents of misbehaviour in and out of the classroom.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking with Ofsted to (a) define and (b) tackle the practice of off-rolling in relation to the exclusion of SEND children.
Answered by Will Quince
While there is no legal definition of off-rolling, the definition within Ofsted is very simple. Off-rolling is the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without using a permanent exclusion, when the removal is primarily in the best interests of the school, rather than the best interests of the pupil.
The government is clear that off-rolling is unlawful and unacceptable in any form and will continue to work with Ofsted to tackle it. Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and their characteristics, and strengthened the focus on this in the revised framework in September 2019. Where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report and, where appropriate, could lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibilities his Department is placing on (a) directors of children's services, (b) school governing bodies, (c) academy trusts and (d) local forums of schools to (i) review information on SEND children who leave schools by exclusion or otherwise and (ii) establish a shared understanding of how the data on the characteristics of those children informs local trends.
Answered by Will Quince
The department’s ‘understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ document makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and deploy maximum challenge to the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions. This is to ensure it is only used as a last resort. The full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-your-data-a-guide-for-school-governors-and-academy-trustees/understanding-your-data-a-guide-for-school-governors-and-academy-trustees#pupil-numbersattendance-and-exclusions.
This also includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off-site in alternative provision (AP) and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves. For example, if high numbers of children with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND) are moving, the school, academy or trust may wish to consider reviewing its SEN support.
The department is also clear locally that schools, local authorities, and local forums should track and review the information they have on children who leave schools, by exclusion or otherwise. This helps to establish a shared understanding of how the data on the characteristics of such children feeds local trends. Where patterns indicate possible concerns or gaps in provision, we expect headteachers and other local leaders to use this information to ensure they are effectively planning to meet the needs of all children.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on students of removing funding for certain BTEC qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that we close the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels and are strengthening the routes to progress into skilled employment or further study with high quality qualifications that are fit for the future. T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers. They include a meaningful nine-week industry placement and will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to access skilled employment or further training.
We set out the qualifications we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 in July 2021. We are clear that any qualifications that are funded to be taken alongside or instead of A levels or T Levels must be high quality and lead to good outcomes. We will fund level 3 BTECs and/or other Applied General or similar qualifications where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. These must meet new quality criteria to be approved for funding.
We have been clear that we expect the changes to be generally positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education,what steps he is taking to ensure that students can continue to study BTEC qualifications in the future.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that we close the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels and are strengthening the routes to progress into skilled employment or further study with high quality qualifications that are fit for the future. T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers. They include a meaningful nine-week industry placement and will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to access skilled employment or further training.
We set out the qualifications we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 in July 2021. We are clear that any qualifications that are funded to be taken alongside or instead of A levels or T Levels must be high quality and lead to good outcomes. We will fund level 3 BTECs and/or other Applied General or similar qualifications where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. These must meet new quality criteria to be approved for funding.
We have been clear that we expect the changes to be generally positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.