National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) speech
On Friday 3 May, the Secretary of State for Education spoke at NAHT’s annual conference. The Secretary of State's speech reiterated the importance of mainstream schools meeting pupils’ special educational needs, but acknowledged the resource pressures:
- • “There is one area of funding that I want to directly address now – the support that we give for children with special educational needs and disabilities… This isn’t some distraction from teaching. This is teaching. Helping vulnerable children learn is at the centre of the moral purpose that brought you into the profession… Supporting these children in mainstream schools where possible and where it is right for that child, is the right thing to do, as is increasing the amount of personalised support available in all settings to help them achieve great outcomes. But it is creating budgetary pressures….
- • That means that this year we have invested over £6 billion in education for children with complex SEND. But I’m under no illusion - this may not be enough. This is a growing, complex issue, and I want to work with you to solve it. Part of that is of course about funding. And it’s also about changing needs. When I’ve spoken to teachers recently, they’ve told me that it’s not just the volume of support that has gone up. It’s also that the needs that vulnerable young people have – and the support that they require – is changing. This too is increasing pressures. So I need your front-line expertise – to properly understand what is driving these pressures, where the funding system is working, and where it is not.
- • That’s why today I’m announcing a call for evidence, to gather your views and make sure everyone can input. I know schools and teachers can’t do this alone, which is why I’m encouraging others who have a crucial role supporting these vulnerable children, including local authorities and health services, to join the conversation too. This evidence is important. We need a system that works for these young people. And we should be unequivocal – that our ambition for them is exactly the same as our ambition for every other child. That they achieve their full potential.”
SEND funding call for evidence
As you will be aware, in December 2018 the Secretary of State announced our intention to hold a call for evidence on the current funding arrangements for those with special educational needs, those with disabilities, and those who require alternative provision.
This call for evidence is intended to help us understand how the current available funding is distributed, and what improvements to the financial arrangements could be made in future. We are also aware of the wider concerns about the overall amount of funding and the pressures on their budgets that many are reporting: we are separately looking carefully at this ahead of the next government Spending Review.
The call for evidence can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-and-ap-provision-call-for-evidence and will be open from now until 31 July 2019.
Timpson review of exclusions
The Timpson review, published on 7 May, highlights that there is variation in exclusion practice across different schools, local authorities and certain groups of children, and too many missed opportunities for children to remain in the education that best suits their needs. The report concludes that while there is no optimal number of exclusions, there needs to be action to ensure permanent exclusions are only used as a last resort, where nothing else will do.
Edward Timpson’s review found that in addition to variations in the way schools use exclusion, there was a small minority of schools ‘off-rolling’. It also found evidence that good behaviour cultures are vital in maintaining orderly environments that support all children, but teachers need consistent guidance and tools to deal effectively with poor and disruptive behaviour.
Edward Timpson CBE said: “Although I did see examples of schools using exclusions appropriately and effectively, there is clear room for improvement and everyone – from teachers and parents, the Department for Education and Ofsted, to local authorities and children’s services - has their part to play.”
The review makes 30 recommendations to Government, to ensure exclusions are used appropriately and support children at risk of exclusion, and that there are safeguards in place and a well-functioning system that makes sure no child slips through the net.
To inform the review and its recommendations, Edward Timpson collated a large volume of detailed evidence from schools, local authorities, parents, carers, children and other interested organisations. This also includes a literature review on school exclusion to support understanding of the disproportionate exclusion of certain groups of children, and new analysis of exclusion data, both of which have been published alongside the review.
Edward Timpson would like to thank all those who have contributed to the review.
Government response
As set out by the Education Secretary in his letter to Edward Timpson, the Government has welcomed the thorough and extensive review of school exclusion and its recommendations.
The Government is clear that every child deserves an excellent education. This is true regardless of their background, their ethnicity, the area they live in, any special educational needs they may have, and whether they are in mainstream school, special school or alternative provision (AP). In order to deliver this, teachers need to be able to teach – and pupils to learn – in a safe and orderly environment. This means supporting head teachers to use their powers to issue fixed period exclusions in response to poor behaviour, and to permanently exclude as a last resort.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “This pivotal review demonstrates widespread good practice in support for students and in the use of exclusions, and I will continue to back head teachers in creating safe and orderly environments that enable teachers to teach and provide the right learning conditions for pupils – and sometimes exclusion will be the final option.”
The Government has announced their plans to take forward an ambitious, wide-ranging response to the findings and recommendations made in the Timpson review, by:
- · Making schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded children. We will work with education leaders over the summer to design a consultation, to be launched in autumn, on how to deliver these reforms.
- · Establishing a practice programme to embed effective partnership working between LAs, schools, APs and other partners, to better equip schools to intervene early for pupils at risk of exclusion, and to ensure that the most effective provision is put in place for those who are excluded.
- · Working with sector experts, led by DfE’s lead advisor on behaviour, Tom Bennett, to rewrite guidance to address the uncertainty amongst some school leaders about what good practice looks like, and give head teachers the confidence to act decisively when that is needed.
- · Calling on local authorities, governing bodies, academy trusts and local forums of schools to review information on children who leave schools, by exclusion or otherwise, to ask how the data on the characteristics of such children feeds local trends, and to use this information to inform improvements in practice and reduce disparities.
- · Working with Ofsted to define and tackle the practice of ‘off-rolling’.
- · Extending support for alternative provision (AP). In the autumn, we will set out plans to go further to improve outcomes for children in AP, including through a new workforce programme.
The Timpson review of school exclusion and Government’s response can be found here.