8:00am Saturday 28th January 2012
Headteachers in Wiltshire believe that shifting responsibility for educating permanently excluded pupils to schools will lead to better outcomes for young people.
Wiltshire is one of seven areas taking part in a pilot scheme for the Department for Education where the responsibility for excluded pupils aged 11 to 16 will move from Wiltshire Council to schools in September.
The move is also happening as the council’s Young People’s Support Service (YPSS) was judged as failing by Ofsted and put into special measures last summer.
YPSS will cease on August 31 and four centres, in Devizes, Chippenham, Trow-bridge and Salisbury, will close.
About 80 people, teachers, teaching assistants and administration staff, work for YPSS and they are all at risk of redundancy.
Wiltshire Council will distribute the £2.6 million funding it had for YPSS to schools.
Schools in deprived areas, where the rate of exclusion is higher, will receive more money.
Martin Watson, head teacher at Lavington School, who sits on the county’s Schools Forum which discussed the funding, said some schools would employ their own staff to help pupils either at school or out of school, but in some cases the work would be contracted out to companies which have experience of working with troubled youngsters.
Mr Watson said: “The money will be used to fund preventative work where schools are not yet at the point of permanently excluding a pupil.
“For some pupils, who cannot remain on the school site, the school may use their own staff or the work might be done by other providers, which could lead to pupils doing different courses and make them more employable and better citizens.
“By trying some different things I do believe it will reduce the number of permanently excluded pupils.”
Councillor Lionel Grundy, Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We need to radically improve the prospects for these young pupils and we believe being part of this innovative Department for Education scheme will help us to achieve this.”
Gordon Trafford, head teacher at John Bentley School in Calne, said: “Over many years, we have developed a whole range of programmes to engage all students at the school.
“This development, where schools take responsibility for a small minority of challenging pupils, is for us a continuation of our moral responsibility to ensure that all students achieve as well as possible.”
Gerard McMahon, head teacher at Sheldon School in Chippenham, said: “We haven’t permanently excluded any student for six years.
“One of the ways we have achieved that is by doing a lot of work in and out of school, often at considerable expense. Therefore we are very in favour of the changes.
“The council will be giving schools the money to do as we have done, to work to avoid permanent exclusions.
“It will lead to much more inclusive schools.”
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