Commenting on the Review on
exclusions, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union, said:
“We know that the vast majority of schools want only the best for
all their pupils, and the minority who engage in poor practice in
relation to exclusions and ‘off rolling’ are not typical of the
majority of schools. However, for those children and families
affected, these practices can have a devastating life-long effect
on their education and future life chances.
“The rising rate of permanent exclusions and the growing
incidence of off rolling have been a concern for the education
profession for some time. The NEU commissioned the recently
published report into off rolling by the Education Policy
Institute precisely because of our worries about this practice
and its impact on pupils in some schools. (1) It is extraordinary
that it has taken the Government so long to catch up.
“Today’s report makes some sensible recommendations.
However, it fails to acknowledge the core political policy
drivers for exclusion and off rolling. These are the high stakes
accountability system and the fragmentation of our school system
into competing units chasing league table positions and high
Ofsted scores, while accountability mechanisms such as local
authorities have been undermined and stripped of their powers
over thousands of academy schools. These are problems of the
Government’s own making. It has created incentives for bad
practice which, sadly, some schools have chosen to respond to.
“Timpson hasn’t thought hard enough about the system-wide drivers
which are making inclusion harder and harder, including the
serious SEND funding cuts. To support schools to ensure all
exclusions are appropriate, we need to be honest about how
funding cuts make it much harder to meet young people’s
individual needs. Preventing exclusions requires intense
individual support for young people, and schools collaborating
together within a geographical unit long term. The Government’s
decisions on funding and academisation have directly reduced
both.
“Ultimately we need to tackle the high stakes accountability
system and allow all schools to teach in ways which best suit
their pupils. At the same time all schools should be brought
within local accountability mechanisms under the local authority,
and schools need to be properly funded and supported to ensure
all children get the education they deserve.”
(1) https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/EPI_Unexplained-pupil-exits_2019.pdf
