Issue - items at meetings - Exclusions from Schools

Report of the Director of Children’s Services.

60.1         This item was taken after Agenda Item 58.

60.2         Janet Swingle, Behaviour and Strategy Manager presented the report.

60.3         In response to a question on Special Education Needs (SEN) children having high exclusion rates, members were informed that when these figures were broken down further it showed that exclusions of statement pupils had reduced and that this was a priority for the service. There is still work to be done on whether SEN pupils’ needs are being met.

60.4         It was noted that that better mainstream school representation was required with the Strategic Partnership Board.

60.5         In response to a question on what is being done about the high number of exclusions at Carlton Hill Primary School which has a high level of attainment improvement, members were informed that the school has very good clear systems and structures in place to tackle the high level of exclusions.

60.6         In answer to a question as the rate of exclusions goes down, how do you make sure classes are not disrupted by badly behaved pupils, members were advised that school were not tolerating bad behaviour but provided better support to deal with this.

60.7         In answer to a question on how does the CYPT protect children when they are excluded from school it was noted that is why exclusions were minimised as much as possible and there was an expectation that these children were in care.

60.8         In relation to the mental health support for children that had been excluded, members were informed that there was a pathfinder scheme that prioritised mental health programmes for Year 6 and 7 pupils and strategies were still being developed from this.

60.9         In answer to a question on whether funding was transferred from Primary Schools in East Brighton to the High School in the same admissions area, members were advised that there were initiatives in place for Longhill High School staff to engage with Whitehawk Primary School staff , to assess pupils additional needs and plan additional staffing accordingly.

60.10    RESOLVED-

(1)       It was agreed to have further information on what were the underlying issues in relation to exclusions, SEN exclusions, repeated exclusions, and mental health; when this information became available for a report to come back to CYPOSC.