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Outcome of School Exclusions (Recommendation Update) (19.55)

To note and assess:

-  The update report on the Commission’s Scrutiny Review of ‘The Outcome of School Exclusions;

-  Progress in the development of a local School Inclusion Charter.

Minutes:

5.1 The Commission completed a review of The Outcome of School Exclusions' in December 2021.  The review made 18 recommendations to the Council.  Responses to the recommendations were approved by Cabinet in March 2022.  The Commission reviewed progress in the implementation of the recommendations in 2023, and agreed a further follow up within 12 months of that date. Members of the Commission scrutinised the further update report, including plans to develop an Inclusion Charter, and question officers present.

 

Introduction from HE officers

5.2 The Inclusion Charter is now called the Charter for Hackney Schools for Race and SEND (based on feedback from schools).  This is a practical response to local educational inequalities and disproportionalities in relation to race and SEND.  The Charter is not an isolated tool, but will work in conjunction with other priorities.  The Charter is for school leaders and school governors and was launched in late November.  A live document will go online which captures good practice.  The Charter is not a ‘bolt on’ but will align with existing curriculum and  teaching in schools. The Charter aims to enhance the voice of black and global majority children and those children with SEND.  The headline data shows that schools are successful, but not all children enjoy this success. Officers will continue to work closely with local heads and Professor Paul Miller in developing the Charter.

 

5.3 The re-engagement unit (REU) has been up-scaled to cover secondary schools.  This was a traded offer, but has now been funded as part of a universal offer to local primary and secondary schools. There were over 300 referrals to this service, 40% of which were for secondary school aged pupils, and this cohort continues to grow (as the service was originally for primary school aged children). Having been in operation for 10 years, the REU has long standing relationships within primary schools and employs a multidisciplinary team to engage with and support children with a wide range of needs (CAMHS youth work, education, social care).  The REU also provides training to help build capacity within school to manage children’s concerns.

 

Questions from the Commission

5.4 Whilst it is encouraging to note the work of officers to help address school exclusions, the most recent data continues to show that Hackney has among the highest rates of permanent and temporary exclusion in London. Are we seeing any benefits from the work to stem permanent school exclusions?

·  The DoE acknowledged that despite significant local investment, exclusion numbers were not where the authority wanted them to be.  It was emphasised that there was no reluctance to engage by local school leaders and all were committed to reducing school exclusions. The authority has sought to reset the approach locally and made a number of developments including the extension of the REU which has had a significant diversionary impact and helped to maintain children in school.  The authority is also continuing to look to other authorities to understand what can be learnt in tackling school exclusions which can be transplanted here in Hackney. A school exclusions summit was held in July which was attended by all sectors and which developed some key actions which will be reviewed in the summer term of 2024.

 

5.5 What tangible differences will the Inclusion Charter mean for children from black and global majority backgrounds or children with additional needs? Will there be additional safeguards to ensure that their needs are met equally? Will there be any additional protections for them such as increasing support for parents to challenge decisions?

·  The DoE noted that the Charter has brought stakeholders together and will help local schools develop a consistent and standardised approach to supporting children to stay in mainstream education.  It will make sure that schools are aware of and use the wide range of resources available for them to support their children at risk of exclusion.

·  Training is being developed to sit alongside the Charter. One school has a Black and Global majority parents group which has helped to reach out and connect parents with each other.  It was acknowledged that the experiences of black and global majority children and parents in schools as well as those with SEND, have not always been positive. The Charter will provide a voice to local children and parents.

 

5.6 Is the authority seeking ways to engage those schools which have changed their practices and had good results which the authority can help to showcase an influence practice at other schools?

·  The Do E noted that there are school inclusion champions and that some schools which have outstanding practice in terms of their anti-racist work.  Leaders from these settings regularly share their learning and best practice with other local schools through local forums and through the weekly bulletins. 

·  The Inclusion Charter is enclosed within a wider document which sets out what is going well in local schools and what needs to be improved.  Schools will be expected to update their own position in relation to the Charter so that this is a living document and that other heads can see what other schools are doing in this space.  This will be online and a public facing document, so everyone will be able to see what schools are doing as well as evaluating their own practice.

 

5.7 The Commission made specific recommendations about Positive Behaviour Management strategies.  Do officers know the extent to which such Positive Behaviour Management strategies are being used in local schools?  To what extent are cumulative points based behaviour policies still being used in local schools?

·  Whilst officers may be able to provide advice, creation of these policies are down to the schools and the school leadership teams to devise.  The authority has examples and can discuss good practice with the school, but the school is responsible for its own policies.  Hackney Education has developed a graduated response which it expects schools to follow in supporting pupils to maintain their place in school.

·  In the spring of 2024, Hackney Education will conduct a survey of local schools which will assess approaches to behaviour management.  There were no schools that the DoE was aware of that were using points based behaviour policies, but this does not mean that they do not exist.  If schools want to do this however, it is not illegal, it is for them to determine their own approach.

 

5.8 What is the authority doing to help shape and improve local behaviour policies in local schools? Is there any intention to draft a model behaviour policy which schools can model? 

·  The Commission will be aware that the authority cannot dictate the policies of local schools, these must be drawn up by them to reflect their individual circumstances with reference to statutory guidance. The authority can create spaces where local school leaders and practitioners can come together to discuss these issues and share good practice.  There is a Behaviour and Wellbeing Partnership which is attended by local school leaders and is a mechanism to share good practice. SIP have annual conversation with schools which covers school behaviour and the DoE has had more targeted conversations with heads and school governors where behaviour has been identified to be an issue and these have taken place in both primary and secondary settings.  Where there are outliers, these will be challenged.

 

(Follow up) Whilst accepting that there are many forums to share good practice, what is Hackney saying about what it expects to be good practice to be for local children? 

·  DoE noted that the excellence was in local schools, not within Hackney Council.  The authority role is to showcase and shine a light on this best practice.  The authority must also make sure that schools do not look through a singular lens (be it exclusions, SEND, race) and that their approach must be wider.  The wider the range of options for intervention, the more likely that schools will be able to engage on at least one of these platforms.  The authority has effective governance arrangements in place to ensure that all these programmes work effectively together.

 

5.9 Are schools undertaking an independent multidisciplinary safeguarding assessment prior to permanent exclusion? How many pupils were provided with a multidisciplinary safeguarding assessment in the last year of full data?  How is this data recorded?

·  (DoE) Whilst no schools want to exclude a child, when it is necessary school leaders will consider all the options available.  In some instances, the school will need to make a tough decision based on one-off but extreme incidents concerning the child, particularly weapons related incidents.  The authority was revising its guidance around this issue and has been working with police, schools and safeguarding partners to see if an alternative can be found for exclusion for one off incidents.  In some circumstances however, the school has to take difficult decisions, irrespective of the views of other professionals and parties. There are wraparound multi-agency approaches available to schools, such as the REU.

·  (Deputy Mayor Bramble) It was noted that there continues to be no exclusions in primary schools, which suggests that local schools in these settings are getting it right.  Persistent disruptive behaviour continues to be the most prevalent reason why children are excluded in secondary settings however, so it is right that we continue to look at behaviour policies to understand if these are having a disproportionate impact on certain groups of young children.  It was right that the local authority set out its aspirations for the local school system, and as secondary schools have come on board with this priority it was hoped that Hackney would not be an outlier for high rates of school exclusion for much longer.

 

5.10 What is the communication pathway between schools, parents and the authority when a child is being excluded from school?  What welfare or safeguarding checks take place once a child has been excluded from school?

·  Prior to a decision, schools will generally contact the exclusions team to see what else can be done to support the child, such as other forms of wraparound support. Where possible, it is important that children resettle in their original setting.  Once a child has been excluded and the authority receives the paperwork, officers will make contact with the school and the parents to explain what the next steps might be.  At this point a referral may be made for family support to help families through this process.  The child will start with the PRU on the 6th day of their exclusion and there will be a multi-agency planning meeting to assess their needs prior to entry.

·  It is hoped that there will be a repurposing of the PRU to help further inclusion in local schools.

 

5.11 The Chair thanked officers for attending the meeting and responding to questions from members of the Commission. It was agreed that this report should come back to the Commission in the next work programme (2024/25) so oversight of progress could be retained.

 

Agreed: That a further update on the recommendations from the Outcome of School Exclusions review be taken within the next work programme (2024/25).

Supporting documents: