A lack of access to specialist help means more primary school
children with additional needs are being referred to alternative
provision (AP), and some vulnerable children are remaining in AP
for years while they wait for a special school placement.
Primary-age children are referred to alternative provision when
schools are unable to manage their physically or verbally violent
behaviour, with negative effects on other children and staff.
Around 7,000 primary-age children in England are currently known
to be in AP. While this is a small proportion of all primary
pupils, the number has risen by over a quarter in the last 5
years.
To understand this increase, Ofsted research explored the role
that AP plays in the education system and the reasons primary-age
children are referred there in the first place. It also looked at
the challenges schools and APs face in supporting young children
with additional needs, and how they work together to re-integrate
them into mainstream education where possible.
Ofsted’s study, published
today, found that most primary-age pupils only stayed in AP
for a few weeks or months, and usually attended part time.
However, some children with additional needs stay in AP for years
while they wait for a special school place, and AP staff may be
unable to meet their needs fully in the meantime. This absence of
appropriate teaching and specialist support could have long-term
consequences for these vulnerable children.
Primary school staff told Ofsted that the strain on specialist
services nationally - exacerbated by the pandemic - has made it
more difficult to support pupils with special educational needs.
Limited access to professional help, such as speech and language
therapists or educational psychology services, could be leading
to more AP referrals and potentially more permanent exclusions.
Study participants also told Ofsted:
- Children were referred to an AP when their schools’ support
strategies had not worked - either because of a lack of training,
funding or facilities. Support strategies also became ineffective
when relationships between parents and school staff broke down.
In these cases, an AP referral was sometimes used as a ‘circuit
breaker’ to repair relationships, with the AP acting as a
mediator between the school and parents, while supporting the
child.
- School staff believed pupils’ violent behaviour often stemmed
from difficult home lives or undiagnosed SEND. A large majority
of children in the study had social, emotional and /or health
needs. This aligns with national statistics on pupils referred to
AP.
- Staff had high expectations for pupils’ progress and
outcomes, and most were expected to return to school. For other
children, schools and APs worked together to identify the right
future setting, such as a special school.
- Schools saw outreach work by APs to be important for the
early identification of children’s needs, preventing an
escalation in behaviour and helping retain pupils in mainstream
education. However, AP staff said that funding arrangements
affect the amount of outreach work they can do.
- Some APs had specialist teams on site, so that pupils’ needs
could be understood and addressed quickly. APs may also extend
help to families, because some parents of children in AP have
their own emotional, cognitive or learning needs.
- All parents involved in the research said their child’s
behaviour and academic work had improved since joining an AP, but
some were unsure whether AP could substantially ‘change’ their
child’s behaviour or lead to them have a happy and full life
after leaving AP.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, said:
“It seems shocking that primary age children, as young as five,
could be taken out of school for violent behaviour. But, as our
study shows, AP can be a positive choice for these children and
play a transformative role in their young lives.
“But limited access to external services, and lengthy waiting
times for a special school place, mean some vulnerable children
languish for years in APs that cannot provide the specialist
support they need. And the consequences for these children may
last well into their adult lives.”
Notes to editors
- AP can include state-funded pupil referral units and AP free
schools or academies, or local authority commissioned AP provided
by independent schools, further education colleges or tuition
centres. It encompasses a variety of services, including off-site
full or part-time provision, specialist provision within
mainstream schools, and outreach work - where AP staff observe a
pupil in a mainstream school and help the school put new
strategies in place to support them.
- Ofsted inspections show that most registered APs keep pupils
safe and provide a good standard of education. However, not all
APs are required to register with the Department for Education,
meaning they are not subject to any direct oversight. And some
APs that should be registered are not. Inspectors have found low
standards of education in unregistered settings, along with a
range of safeguarding concerns, including failures to carry out
the required checks on staff.
