Education Committee publishes written evidence for Alternative Provision inquiry/AP Evidence session on 6 Feb

The Education Committee has today published the written evidence submissions for its inquiry into Alternative Provision. On Tuesday 6 February at 10am, the Education Committee will be holding the second oral evidence session of its alternative provision inquiry, with a focus on social justice and the needs of disadvantaged pupils and in school alternatives to Alternative Provision.

Witnesses on Tuesday include Drew Povey, Headteacher at Harrop Fold School (which featured in Channel 4’s Educating Manchester) and representatives of organisations working with groups of disadvantaged young people.

The Education Committee received 85 evidence submissions for its inquiry. These are published on the Education Committee website. This included submissions from a range of organisations such as Ofsted, the National Association of Virtual School Heads, and The Princes Trust, as well as groups such as the AP Network, Essex County and Leeds City councils, providers including Gloucestershire Hospital Education Service and the London South East Academies Trust and unions including the NAHT and NASUWT [full list attached].

Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee, said: “Some of the most disadvantaged young people in our society are educated through alternative provision and the unerring focus of the Education Committee is to establish whether they are receiving the best possible support. Written evidence to the Education Committee points to issues about the quality of teaching, poor provision of resources for students, and how outcomes for pupils are measured.

“On Tuesday, we will hear directly from witnesses who work with disadvantaged young people who are disproportionately excluded from school, or who have particular needs that need to be met by schools. We will want to find out the basis for these exclusions and how schools are meeting, or perhaps failing, to meet these young people’s needs. We will also want to hear about the ways in which pupils can be supported in school rather than being placed in alternative provision.  

“As a Committee dedicated to promoting social justice, it is vital that we improve educational outcomes and life chances including for those who study in alternative provision. Every student, whatever their background, should be given the chance to climb the educational ladder of opportunity.”

Alternative Provision is provided in settings such as Pupil Referral Units and educates pupils who are outside of the mainstream school system for a variety of reasons, such as school exclusion, school refusal or illness. 

Witnesses

You can watch this session live and on-demand on Parliament TV  

Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster

Panel one (10am)

• ·         Matthew Dodd, Co-coordinator and Policy Advisor, Special Educational Consortium
• ·         Cath Kitchen, Chair, National Association of Hospital and Home Teaching
• ·         Jane Pickthall, Chair, National Association of Virtual School Heads 

Panel two (10.45am)

• ·         Val Gillies, Professor of Social Policy and Criminology, University of Westminster
• ·         Kevin Kibble, CEO, The Nurture Group Network
• ·         Drew Povey, Headteacher, Harrop Fold School

Editor’s Notes

The first oral evidence session took place on 21 November 2017 and witnesses where members heard from Professor David Berridge, Professor of Child & Family Welfare, University of Bristol, Kiran Gill, Founder, The Difference, Philip Nye, Researcher, Education Datalab. The transcript is available here.