Children’s minister David Johnston has said the government is investigating why some schools are not being inclusive after being informed of “outstanding” schools that don’t have any pupils with an education, health and care plan.
He told the Confederation of School Trusts’ SEND and Inclusion Summit in Birmingham today that the Department for Education is looking at cases where a school’s intake does not match the number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in a local area.
Speaking after his session at the summit, he said he had discussed this concern with Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver and the DfE is now assessing how widespread the problem is.
SEND: Some schools ‘not inclusive’
The move comes after the Ofsted chief said he was troubled by reports coming through in its Big Listen consultation that schools are putting off families from applying because they say they can’t meet pupils’ particular needs.
Mr Johnston said the DfE is looking at cases where it has been reported that schools in areas with high levels of SEND “don’t have a single child with an education, health and care plan” but they’ve “just been given an ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted”.
He said these issues were being raised to him by MPs with concerns that “a particular school might not be as inclusive as it suggests” .
Mr Johnston added: “We are creating so many more special schools for the children that need special schools but in the end the vast majority of children with special educational needs are in mainstream schools, and it is important that those mainstream schools are meeting their needs.
“We don’t think it’s a huge widespread problem but we have had it raised with us and we are looking at the extent to which it is happening, why its happening and whether there are any changes that need to be made as a result.”
Mr Johnston also told the CST conference that he has had “discomforting conversations” in which it has been reported to him that children as young as “5, 6 or 7” are being permanently excluded.
“Now people have all sorts of different views about exclusion; my personal view is that it is pretty extraordinary to exclude a child at that age,” he added.
Ofsted could judge schools on inclusion
The minister said he accepted that there were children at a young age with very challenging behaviour. He added that “the whole thrust” of the government’s education reforms has been to trust headteachers but said it is important to ensure that schools are being inclusive.
Speaking at the NAHT school leaders’ union conference on Saturday, Sir Martyn said he wanted to ensure that Ofsted supported school leaders to make the right decisions for their community.
Earlier this year the inspectorate revealed that it will consider whether it can assess how inclusive a school is as part of its inspections.
Lee Owston, the watchdog’s national director of education, told the Schools North East Academies Conference that “some schools were more inclusive than others” and questioned whether this was right.
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