Following a recent Education Committee evidence hearing on the
link between knife crime and school exclusions, Chair of
the Committee Robert Halfon, has written to Education Secretary
setting out concerns about the
approach of schools to exclusions and the poor quality of
alternative provision for excluded pupils.
The letter (attached) follows up on the recommendations of the
Committee’s Forgotten children:
alternative provision and the scandal of ever-increasing
exclusionsreport, published in July. The
correspondence highlights a number of areas of concern including
early intervention and inclusion, inconsistency of schools’
approaches to knife crime and improving the quality of
alternative provision.
It acknowledges that robust behaviour policies are important but
that far more needs to be done, with teachers given the right
training to identify and address the complex personal challenges
that are associated with exclusions and knife crime.
The letter also highlights the role of police in engaging with
pupils and the need to give local authorities more power to
monitor the approach of schools to exclusions.
Rt Hon , Chair of the Education
Committee, said: “Our evidence session once
again highlighted the risks faced by youngsters not in mainstream
education of being caught up in violence and drawn into crime. We
must do much more to intervene early to stem the flow of school
exclusions and address the human tragedy that underpins the cases
of so many children. As Carlie Thomas from the St Giles Trust put
it, “there are a lot of tell-tale signs before they have got to
the point of carrying a knife or being excluded from
school”.
Exclusion should always only ever be a last resort and the
Department needs to give local authorities more power to
scrutinise the approach of schools. Where children are excluded
from school, we are concerned that the Department is not moving
quickly enough to ensure that they continue to receive a
high-quality education. The Government needs to properly fund
good alternative provision. No pupil deserves to be forgotten and
alternative settings should not be a graveyard for human
potential.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
On Wednesday 27th March, the Committee
heard from Mark Simmons, Assistant Commissioner, London
Metropolitan Police; Sir Michael Wilshaw, Professor of Education
and Director of Multi-Academy Trusts, St Mary’s University; Will
Linden, Deputy Director, Scottish Violence Reduction Unit; and
Carlie Thomas, Senior Caseworker Rescue & Response, St Giles
Trust. A full transcript is available on the
Committee’s website
here.
A letter from the Secretary of State to the Committee
ahead of the session is also attached.
