Mar 21, 2022, Teeside Gazette: Middlesbrough schools facing 'really difficult' time as permanent exclusions pass last academic year https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/middlesbrough-schools-facing-really-difficult-23456282
NE England
More children have already been kicked out of school since September than in the entire 2020/21 academic year
Schools across Middlesbrough are facing huge pressures as permanent exclusions are on the rise.
Since September 2021, 43 children have been permanently excluded, which is already more than the entire 2020/21 academic year. The Covid pandemic has also led to an increase in the number of children requiring extra support.
Middlesbrough Council’s head of inclusion, assessment and review, Emma Cowley, said: “Schools are telling us that it is really really difficult for them. They are seeing quite high levels of Covid infection rates which is putting pressure on staff, so they are seeing a high level of staff absences which is impacting on the training and development of staff in schools as well.
“But they are also seeing lots of children coming into school in early years, in Reception and Year One age, who are struggling. They have had some difficult experiences because of Covid over the last few years and they are now hitting education and there’s a real pressure in trying to meet the needs of those children.
Of the 43 pupils who have been excluded, 34% have SEND. During the children and young people's learning scrutiny panel on Monday, March 21, Cllr Mick Saunders asked what powers the council has to investigate the reasons behind exclusions….
Schools across Middlesbrough are facing huge pressures as permanent exclusions are on the rise.Since September 2021, 43 children have been permanently excluded, which is already more than the entire 2020/21 academic year. The Covid pandemic has also led to an increase in the number of children requiring extra support.Middlesbrough Council’s head of inclusion, assessment and review, Emma Cowley, said: “Schools are telling us that it is really really difficult for them. They are seeing quite high levels of Covid infection rates which is putting pressure on staff, so they are seeing a high level of staff absences which is impacting on the training and development of staff in schools as well.“But they are also seeing lots of children coming into school in early years, in Reception and Year One age, who are struggling. They have had some difficult experiences because of Covid over the last few years and they are now hitting education and there’s a real pressure in trying to meet the needs of those children.“But it’s not just those children, it’s across the board really and that is coming through to us as a local authority as more referrals for children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities), more pressure on our resources for children with SEND, and also higher risks of children being excluded from schools.”\Of the 43 pupils who have been excluded, 34% have SEND. During the children and young people's learning scrutiny panel on Monday, March 21, Cllr Mick Saunders asked what powers the council has to investigate the reasons behind exclusions.
She went on to add that this document provided extra protections for children with SEND and those that are looked after.
The council's head of children’s services Sue Butcher said: “We do have limited powers with academies. Exclusions have increased and fixed-term exclusions have increased as well.
“The rise in exclusions is not particular to Middlesbrough, many local authorities are seeing it, but with academies, we certainly have influence and nudge but we don’t have the power to say, no you can’t do that, which leads to consequences for children which we then seek to mitigate as much as we possibly can.”
Children and young people, up to the age of 25, who need extra assistance than is available through special educational needs support need an education, health and care plan (EHCP).
There is a 20-week process to secure one and there has been a 63% increase in referrals for an EHCP – in 2020 there were 184 referrals but in 2021 there were 300.
Ms Cowley said: “That’s a real increase and a real pressure on us as a team. What that is doing is placing pressure on every service that feeds into that assessment process.”
Every child with an EHCP has a planned review every twelve months, however, schools can ask for an interim or emergency review if it feels that a child’s needs are escalating or it is no longer a suitable placement. There has been a 55% rise in those requests marking a “significant increase” on previous years.
By Summer 2022 the number of children with an EHCP will have increased from 1,300 to 1,600. To deal with the increasing pressures, two temporary posts have been set up to manage assessment requests and an agency has also been employed to support the writing of EHCPs.
There have also been two new roles created to keep the admin side of the service running to prevent a backlog and approval has just been granted for agency support for casework. The council is liaising with schools to try and reduce the number of exclusions and it is also working with alternative provision providers to get them registered.
Cllr Dennis McCabe, who is chair of the scrutiny panel, asked about the value for money of agency support staff….
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