(UK) Herts: Increasing number of special needs kids permanently excluded from schools
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Concerns have been raised about the increasing number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans who are being permanently excluded from Hertfordshire schools.
According to county council data, 115 children were permanently excluded during the autumn term last year. Forty-nine of those children were permanently excluded for persistent disruptive behaviour, 25 for physical assault against a pupil and 17 for a physical assault against an adult.
A further seven were permanently excluded owing to drugs or alcohol, with four excluded for the use or threat of an offensive weapon or other prohibited item, four for verbal abuse against an adult and four for inappropriate use of social media.
Other reasons for permanent exclusion included sexual misconduct, verbal abuse against a pupil and damage.
But of those 115 exclusions – of which 52 were later withdrawn – the data shows that children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were disproportionately
affected. EHCPs are statutory documents of need allocated to children with the greatest levels of special educational need or disability.
Out of the county’s 174,563-strong school population, there are 9,911 children and young people who have an EHCP – equivalent to 5.6% of the school population. But data for the first term of this academic year shows 35 children with ECHPs faced permanent exclusion – accounting for one in three of every permanent exclusions issued.
Meanwhile, comparative data from 2023/24 shows children in Hertfordshire with an EHCP are more than five times more likely to be permanently excluded than their classmates. The trend was highlighted to county councillors on Wednesday (March 11) at a meeting of the county council’s education, SEND and inclusion cabinet panel.
Concerns were raised by Cllr Paula Hiscocks (Rickmansworth West), who suggested that no child with an EHCP should be permanently excluded.
“My concerns here are that the exclusion rate for children with EHCPs is going up,” she said. “And one of the main things is persistent disruptive behaviour – and that is, let’s be honest, that’s because they are not coping in the classroom.
“The children are never at fault. It is the system that is not allowing them to participate in it.” . . .
“I am concerned about the number of children with EHCPs that sadly have been excluded,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. I understand that schools have only done this as an act of last resort, having tried many strategies before reaching this point.
“However, the authority has to work with schools and education support centres to provide better support for these children, because once they are excluded, their outcome is much more challenging than if they were still in school.” . . .
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