SEN pupils are six times more likely to be excluded from school

Children who have a statement of special educational needs are significantly more likely to be excluded from school than those without, latest government figures have revealed.

The statistics from the Department for Education show that 8.2 per cent of pupils in England with a SEN statement were excluded during the 2011/12 school year, compared with 1.4 per cent of their peers.

Exclusions were also much more common among children in receipt of lower-tier SEN support, with 9.5 per cent of those with School Action Plus status and 4.6 per cent of those with School Action status excluded over the course of the year.

The most common factors for excluding a pupil with SEN were physical assaults on adults and persistent disruptive behaviour.

However, SEN pupils were far less likely than their peers to be excluded for bullying, theft, drug and alcohol-related reasons, sexual misconduct or physical assaults on pupils.

The figures also reveal stark disparities across the country, with Wokingham and Telford & Wrekin councils having the worst records for excluding pupils with a statement of special educational needs.

Out of Wokingham’s 680 pupils with a SEN statement, 13.1 per cent had received at least one fixed-term exclusion in 2011/2012. In Telford & Wrekin, 13 per cent of its 960 pupils with a SEN statement were excluded.

Other council areas among the most likely to exclude pupils that have a SEN statement are Sandwell, where 12.8 per cent received an exclusion at least once, and Derbyshire, where 12.7 per cent were excluded.

At the other end of the scale was Havering, where just 3.3 per cent its 545 pupils with a SEN statement received a fixed-term exclusion.

These figures have been released as part of a wider DfE report, Children with Special Educational Needs: An Analysis 2013.

Among SEN pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, a quarter (24.6 per cent) were excluded at least once during the school year. Just 0.4 per cent of those with profound or multiple learning difficulties were dealt with in this way.

Kate Fallon, general secretary of the Association of Educational Psychologists, said: “These figures indicate that some teachers and staff are not used to dealing with pupils with behavioural or emotional difficulties. In that case, a whole-school approach to training may be needed.”

She pointed out that the figures also indicate schools are far more willing to exclude a pupil for assaulting an adult rather than another pupil.

“When a teacher is assaulted, it places a fear on them and an anxiety about their own skills. Exclusion is some schools’ way of managing that,” she says.

SEN pupils were also more likely to be excluded permanently than their peers, the figures show. While 0.5 per cent of pupils with School Action Plus status were permanently excluded, this happened to only 0.1 per cent of those with no special educational needs.

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman said: “We have recently carried out a comprehensive review of our Behaviour Strategy and we are confident that this will lead to fewer pupils from all categories being excluded from schools in the borough.”

Source: CYPNow

Primary school aged children are indulging in risky behaviour online, a survey has found. The BBC reports that a survey by the ISC2 IT security education group found that many nine- to 11-year-olds share personal information and play games  rated for much older children. Meanwhile, 18 per cent of the 1,162 children questioned said they had arranged offline meetings with friends made via the internet.

Source: CYPNow

Around 46 per cent of children aged between 10- and 14-years-old have seen their parents drunk, according to research published by Drinkaware today. The survey, carried out by ICM, also revealed that 29 per cent of children have seen their parents drunk on more than one occasion. Drinkaware is launching a campaign to raise awareness of potential issues around children and alcohol. The charity also wants parents to consider their role as positive role models to their children.

An amendment to the Children and Families Bill will see a requirement placed on schools to make arrangements to support children who have medical conditions. The aim of the amendment, proposed by Education Secretary Michael Gove, is to help improve educational outcomes for children with long-term health problems. The Department for Education will work with schools, health organisations and parents to draft statutory guidance, which will be subject to a consultation early next year.

Source: CYPnow

NCAS Conference: Timpson unveils children’s services innovation programme

The government has launched a sector-wide initiative to harvest and test “adventurous” ideas that professionals have to improve services for vulnerable children.

Launching the children’s services innovation programme at the National Children and Adults Services Conference in Harrogate, children’s minister Edward Timpson threw down the gauntlet to all sectors and organisations involved in providing children’s services to come up with ideas that have “limitless ambition”.

Timpson said innovative ideas and work were sometimes unable to flourish because of regulatory and organisational barriers.

“I need you to confront head-on the structures that are getting in the way of innovation and better outcomes,” he told children’s services leaders at the conference.

“It is a call to frontline staff and experts in the field to develop better ways of constructing and managing services.”

“I want to support and liberate you to improve faster, get better value for money, do the job you came into the profession to do,” he said. “But to do this, I need you to demonstrate to me what you have to offer.”

Timpson added that those ideas “with the most potential” will be tested next year.

“I want to know what helps and hinders enterprise. Ask yourself what is stopping me from innovating and doing things better?” he said.

“If you need help to get your idea off the ground and you’re facing regulatory or other barriers then I want to hear from you. Come forward with your most adventurous ideas.

“If there are barriers in the way then let me know about them and I will knock them down.”

The initiative will be led by Clive Cowdery, chairman and former chief executive of think-tank the Resolution Foundation.

Andrew Webb, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, welcomed Timpson’s announcement.

“There are many areas where we can see opportunities for innovation and we are keen to ensure appropriate evaluation is built in.”

Source: CYPNow

What is appropriate supervision?

Legislation which came into force during 2012 and 2013 brought a reduction in the numbers of people applying for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. There is no requirement for volunteers or governors to be subject to a DBS check as long as they are ‘appropriately supervised’.

In September 2012, the Department for Education (DfE) published statutory guidance on the supervision of volunteers, and other workers, who are working with children, where there is no requirement to obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate for those people. This guidance covers ‘regulated activity’, which is essentially working involving instructing, or caring for children and young people.

The legal obligations for organisations are:

• there must be supervision by a person who is in regulated activity;
• the supervision must be regular and day to day; and
• the supervision must be ‘reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure the protection of children’.

The supervisor must therefore be someone who has been subject to a DBS check and oversees the work of the volunteer when they are in the school or organisation. This supervision must be at the same level each time the volunteer is in school and should not reduce in quantity or quality.

As ever, the use of the word ‘reasonable’ creates a level of variation in this protocol, which means schools should ensure they have a clear policy of how ‘appropriate supervision’ is implemented in the school. A paragraph to this effect should be included in the organisation’s Safeguarding Policy’.

What is Self-Harm?

Self-harm can also be known as self- injury and covers a whole variety of different acts that people intentionally carry out on themselves. These acts are not carried out to cause death but they are carried out to cause harm. The most common methods of self-harm are scratching, cutting, burning and biting. Self-harm is used as a way of dealing with issues and is an act of coping but it can lead to the act becoming a problem. It can become a problem because it is usually hidden by the individual and carried out in private. Self-harm can give someone the sense of control that they want and crave and can reduce tension and it can also be a way of punishing themselves for an inner guilt that they may have. Some people who self-harm may only do it occasionally but others carry out this behaviour on a regular basis.

How Prevalent is Self-harm?

Self-harm is more common that people think and the figures are not only alarming but they are also rising. It is claimed that 1 in 10 children have mental health issues and the way that they deal with these issues is by self-harming. It has now been classed as a serious problem and 142,000 people were admitted to hospital with injuries caused by self-harming. The truth is, the figures are very likely to be incorrect as a lot of people do not seek help for self-harming and therefore go unnoticed.

Why do Young People Self-harm?

Different issues and different problems affect people in many ways and therefore not every single person is the same. However, the majority of people who self-harm are known to be struggling with some form of distress and mental health issues. Those who do self-harm would not have carried out the act immediately after recognising that they have an issue, they will often give it a period of time before they understand that self-harm is a form of escape for them. Common reasons for self-harming include sexual abuse, depression, lack of confidence, relationship issues as well as work troubles. Self-harming is sometimes used to get back at others but that is not common, most people harm in silence and in private.

How can schools help young people who self-harm?

An important factor for helping a young person who is self-harming is to help them understand that they have support around them. The school should encourage the children to engage with their peers and should help them focus on their self-esteem. The staff should be given the correct training so that they can identify any issues that may arise and have the correct knowledge to deal with them. The children should feel that if any issues are brought up with the school that they cannot offer complete confidentiality, this is down to risk and whether the child is likely to self-harm again. The children have to understand limits, but the school must acknowledge all attempts of self-harm and take them seriously. The school have to take a non-judgemental view towards the pupils and work to re-assure them that what they are doing is understandable but someone has to be informed so that the situation can be resolved. The school must also be prepared to offer information on any support agencies that are available for the pupil.

Links and Resources

Royal College of Psychiatrists: Self Harm

Young Minds: Self Harm

Healthy Schools Wiltshire: Model guidance for schools responding to incidents of self-harm

Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning: Young People Schools and Self Harm

The Site – Self Harm

Outcomes focus for new Ofsted early years framework

Safeguarding, safety and teaching are set to be the focus of Ofsted’s new inspection framework for nurseries, the inspectorate’s early years lead has said.

The areas to be prioritised by the new framework were outlined by Sue Gregory, director of early years at Ofsted, at the 4Children national conference yesterday.

The framework, which takes effect on 4 November, will take a tougher approach to the regulation of childminders, nurseries and other childcare settings.

Gregory told the gathering of early years leaders that the aim of the framework is to improve the quality of outcomes for children, particularly those from poorer backgrounds.

Under the new framework, Ofsted will scrap the “satisfactory” rating and replace it with a “requires improvement” judgement.

Ofsted will also take a greater role in monitoring providers. As an example, Gregory explained that settings rated as inadequate will be re-inspected within 12 months, before a further inspection six months later. If the settings have not improved by the time of the final inspection, Ofsted will consider further action.

The inspectorate is also planning to publish guidance around the framework in response to calls from childcare providers for information on how inspectors form their judgement of a setting.

Gregory said: “The framework will have a really strong emphasis on teaching and I’m not making any apologies for that.

“All children should have the best quality provision that they are entitled to and all settings must be aiming to reach a benchmark of ‘good’ or better.”

The new approach follows evidence of what Gregory described as a “big national problem”.

She said: “Too many children from low income families under achieve. They just don’t get the high-quality provision they need to help them make a strong start.

“We see that problem across the whole of the reception year, because at the end of the reception classes, we look at the profile and we know that the poorest children do not meet the expectations we have of them.

“Last year, more than a third of children failed to meet expectations in communication, language and literacy, and in poorer children that was a quarter of them. That’s a frightening statistic.”

Source: CYPNow

A group of campaigners from the Justice for Daniel Pelka Facebook group gathered outside Coventry City Council while a meeting was held to discuss the serious case review (SCR) into the four-year-old’s death. The Coventry Telegraph reports that around 30 protestors joined in the demonstration, which called for more action to be taken against the agencies involved in Daniel’s case. The group is petitioning for mandatory reporting of child abuse in schools.

Source: CYPNow

Haringey “missed opportunities” to prevent abuse of toddler

Police, social workers and medical staff could have prevented the abuse of a toddler at the hands of his family in Haringey, a report has found.

A serious case review published today by Haringey’s local safeguarding children board (LSCB) found that the child, referred to as Child T, was taken to hospital with suspicious injuries in June 2010 and February 2011. He was eventually taken into care in June 2011, aged four.

The report concluded that communication between agencies, and management arrangements within them, were insufficient. “Because of failings in the system, this child suffered physical abuse that could have been prevented,” Haringey LSCB chair Graham Badman said in the report.

Haringey’s child protection standards have previously come under the microscope following the deaths of Baby Peter Connelly in August 2007 and Victoria Climbie in February 2000. But despite those high-profile tragedies, the report found evidence “highly suggestive of child abuse” did not prompt a thorough child protection investigation.

“The report illustrates all too vividly the need for vigilance in all services,” said Badman. “It would be an over simplification to describe this case as a series of missed opportunities, but there is, more seriously, compelling evidence of individual and systemic failure.” Badman said there was a “lack of alertness” to the possibility of child abuse as a cause of the boy’s injuries and a reluctance to “think the unthinkable” and recognise all the adults in the family as the perpetrators of abuse.

Source: CYPNow