Statistics mask the reality of school exclusion rates
Who Cares? Scotland has this week raised the alarm about the widespread 'informal exclusion' of care-experienced children, suggesting the practice is masking schools' failure to uphold policies that were put in place in 2020.
The pledge that 'Scotland must not exclude care-experienced children from education or reduce their timetable to such an extent that they are denied their rights to education' formed part of The Promise, which was drawn up following an extensive Independent Care Review that asked care-experienced people and their families about the care system they had been forced to negotiate and learn what they wished had been different.
READ MORE: Green leadership have dispensed with the radicalism that got them elected
School was identified as of particular importance to children whose home lives were unsettled, with school exclusion being a key area of concern.
When the Scottish Government published its report on Education Outcomes for Looked After Children last August, the picture was gloomy. The rate of exclusions for 'looked-after' pupils had risen from 78 cases per 1000 pupils in 2021-22 to 97 in 2022-23.
This exclusion rate was almost six times that for the general pupil population, and while the gap between these rates was smaller than a decade earlier, it had widened over the previous 12 months.
These figures were already cause for concern, but Who Cares? Scotland believes the true picture is worse. Attendance rates for looked-after children had dropped from 88% to 84%, and its report says its advocacy workers are reporting 'a sharp increase in informal exclusions and a change in language around exclusions to circumvent new exclusions policies stemming from The Promise'.
Examples of this included 'exclusions often recorded as authorised absences, or drastic part-time timetables offering as little as 30 minutes of education a week'. One worker stated that this amounted to 'exclusion labelled as support'.
(Image: PA Media)
Another described this practice as 'improving the school's statistics at the detriment of the needs of the child'. The child referred to here is, of course, the one on the drastically reduced timetable, but this comment obscures the reality that no headteacher wants to be excluding pupils – officially or otherwise – and such decisions must take into account the needs of the entire school community.
Who Cares? Scotland quite rightly advocates for the best interests of care-experienced pupils, who so often have decisions made for them by others – whether relatives, teachers, social workers or children's panel members – and can feel like they have almost no control over their own lives.
This disempowerment comes through in many of the testimonies included in the report, such as when a child says: 'I'm struggling quite badly in some subjects but nothing is being done about it.
'I've spoken to my guidance teacher about it but they're busy and I don't know what they could do about it.'
Focus groups run by the charity found that many young people felt they had been branded a 'problem child' or a 'bad pupil' and as a consequence would be unfairly blamed for things they did not do, or subjected to what they perceived as a harsher interpretation of school rules.
There's little in the report about specific reasons for exclusions, although one quote from an advocacy worker provides hints, referring to 'behaviour and incidents' and the school saying 'the aim is for [the pupil] to be back at school when they feel everyone will be safe'.
Schools must acknowledge that care-experienced pupils are at a disadvantage, and they have an obligation to provide the necessary support to allow them to be educated and achieve their full potential.
By law, looked-after children must be considered to have additional support needs unless the local authority is able to demonstrate otherwise. Who Cares? Scotland wants to see all local authorities adopt a 'whole-school approach' that involves staff training, drop-ins for care-experienced pupils and lesson inputs that challenge the stigma looked-after children can face.
It also wants to see greater use of virtual headteachers and online schools to keep these pupils engaged with learning.
These are not unreasonable asks, especially when the costs of young people disengaging from education are so high, and potentially devastating. However, it must also be acknowledged that schools and their staff cannot solve all of society's problems.
Yes, more can always be done – whether to provide support in school or virtually, or to tackle prejudice in the classroom and the wider community – but can exclusions ever be avoided altogether?
And is The Promise likely to be met if schools are finding ways to obscure the reality of the decisions they are taking to keep everyone safe?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Train ticket website sues Transport Secretary after making claims about 'secret' £32million agreement involving state-owned firm
Trainline has sued Labour's Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander over allegations she snubbed them by offering a £32million contract elsewhere. State-owned London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which has been run by the Department for Transport (DfT) since 2018, was said to have recently extended a ticketing sales platform contract. But the company did not offer rivals like Trainline the chance to bid for the 10-year-deal, it is claimed. Trainline has alleged the failure to seek alternative bids means due process was ignored - as were the best interests of passengers and the taxpayer. LNER reportedly awarded the contract for the central booking engine that supports its digital ticket sales to Australia's Vix Technology. Trainline also alleges the publication of the award on the Government's website on December 23 was too opaque as it buried the news during Christmas week, limiting the ability of other parties to respond. It comes as Trainline, who would have expected to compete for the work, has its own rival division which provides a similar 'white label' service to train operators. The company is understood to be claiming that a direct award of the contract was not permissible under procurement law because the terms were varied in scope, duration and beneficiaries. Given the terms of the award, the ticketing platform used by LNER, which operates between London Kings Cross and Scotland via Leeds and Newcastle, could be extended across the rail network. However, both LNER and the DfT have denied a new contract exists saying the allegations are 'categorically untrue'. Rail Unions have previously raised concerns about third party ticket operators like Trainline, accusing the company of being engaged in 'relentless profiteering'. Despite the government's plans for simplification through the nationalisation of its railway, it has maintained there would still be a need for 'an innovative and competitive third-party retail market'. Labour also ruled out establishing a national website and app to promote to promote cheaper fares in competition with the firm. But in guidance from January it said a plan to bring together ticket websites of individual operators was now in the pipeline. An LNER spokesman said of Trainline's allegations: 'This is unequivocally untrue. No such contract exists. Trainline is aware this is the case as we explicitly advised them as much earlier this month.' A DfT spokesman added: 'This is completely and categorically untrue – not least because no such contract exists, which Trainline is well aware after being explicitly told as much by LNER earlier this month. 'The Department has been clear we are working industry to simplify ticketing for customers, as part of the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.' Trainline has suggested it is challenging the lack of opportunity for alternative providers to bid, regardless of whether a contract has been entered into at this point in time. The company has filed a claim at the Technology and Construction Court.
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Alison Johnstone to stand down as Holyrood presiding officer
Alison Johnstone will quit politics next year when she stands down as Scotland's sixth presiding officer at the Holyrood elections. The departure of the 59-year-old, who sparked controversy in recent weeks after a series of rows with Douglas Ross, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, will raise hopes among her critics that her successor will drive more radical reforms of Holyrood. While Johnstone's tenure has been seen as steady, many at Holyrood believe the parliament would benefit from Westminster-style reforms which would weaken the control of party leaders and whips over committee memberships and encourage independence among backbenchers. The King listens as Johnstone speaks during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Scottish parliament in 2024 EFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES Meanwhile, there has been concern about the quality of debates, with some MSPs in the habit of reading out pre-written speeches rather than engaging in genuine dialogue with opponents. Speaking to The Times, Johnstone said: ' I was elected in 2011 and it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood. 'I came from a wholly non-political background and got involved in a campaign to save a school playing field.' She said, 'I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish parliament.' Johnstone is the second female and the first Green party member to hold the presiding officer position, which comes with a £126,452 salary. Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, left; Johnstone and Lord Offord of Garvel during a Remembrance Sunday service and parade in Edinburgh in 2022 JANE BARLOW/PA She took over the reins of Holyrood at a challenging time during the Covid pandemic, a period without precedent, and even her opponents said she did a good job steering its proceedings through uncharted waters. More recently she was involved in a series of rows with Ross who accused her of failing to 'act in a neutral manner ' after she suspended him from the Holyrood chamber. Johnstone was elected as a Green MSP in 2011, and before that was as an Edinburgh Green councillor for Morningside in 2007. She is a qualified athletics coach and former board member of Scottish Athletics, previously holding the East of Scotland records in the 800 metre and 1,500-metre events. A quarter of the present crop of 129 MSPs have announced their departures including a handful of MSPs who have been in Holyrood since its creation in 1999. This week Sarah Boyack, the veteran MSP, announced she was leaving next year, leaving Jackie Baillie as the only Labour MSP with ministerial experience on Holyrood's benches. Baillie is also the only Labour MSP who was elected in 1999 who has been in the Scottish parliament continuously since the outset and will stand again next year.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fergus Ewing's furious broadside as he says he'll now run AGAINST the SNP
One of the SNP 's longest-serving politicians has launched a vitriolic attack on the party for having 'lost its way' as he announced plans to stand as an independent. Fergus Ewing, a former Cabinet minister who has been an MSP since the Scottish Parliament was opened and an SNP member for around 50 years, said he cannot stand for the party again and 'defend the indefensible '. He said that the party has 'deserted' those it used to champion over the past decade and focused on issues 'largely irrelevant to most people's lives'. The politician also said that devolution is presently 'letting Scotland's people down' and the country is in a state of 'managed decline' under the SNP. Following the explosive statement, it was confirmed that the SNP had rescinded his membership - and he was also told he would be evicted from his office in the SNP corridors in parliament and the party whip removed. Mr Ewing, who had intended to remain an SNP MSP until the election before standing as an independent candidate for Inverness and Nairn, condemned the way the issue had been dealt with, saying: 'Fifty years' service, two line missive.' Emma Roddick, a former minister under Humza Yousaf who is on the Left of the party, will now stand directly against him as the SNP candidate next year. In his personal statement issued yesterday, Mr Ewing, whose mother Winnie is one of the biggest figures in the SNP's history following her landmark by-election victory in Hamilton in 1967, said the Scottish Parliament has been 'at its worst' in recent years. He said: 'The SNP has been part of the fabric of my life for more than half a century. Indeed, I believe there has been a distinctive thread of Ewing running through its plaid for even longer. I hope that is never removed. 'But fabrics can become worn. I hope the SNP can repair itself and return to the honour and traditions of those who first wove it in a manner that meets Scotland's real modern needs. 'The failures of the SNP to deliver on its long-standing pledges to dual the A9 and A96 are a major part of that. I cannot stand again for the SNP and defend the indefensible. 'I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself - presently - is letting Scotland's people down. It doesn't need to be this way.' He heavily criticised recent SNP leaders for choosing candidates who will 'slavishly support them' and for 'choosing the pliant over the talented'. In the decade since Alex Salmond stood down and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon, he said the SNP 'seems to have deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion' on issues including oil and gas, farming, fishing, rural affairs, tourism and small business - and accused the party of 'betraying generations who fought for women's rights'. He said he has tried to act as a 'critical friend' to the party and said he warned Nicola Sturgeon about the 'strategic blunder' of entering a power-sharing alliance with the Greens, and also highlighted that current First Minister John Swinney negotiated the deal. Mr Ewing said: 'These failures - plus a strange preoccupation with issues regarded as largely irrelevant to most people' lives - have all cost the SNP much loss of electoral support but also something else which is priceless. Public trust. 'Scotland is indeed in a state of 'managed decline' as Sir Tom Hunter recently said.' Urging different parties to work together, he said that Holyrood needs to 'grow up'. It was confirmed by the SNP that its constitution sets out that party membership ceases when any individual declares their intention to stand against the party. Mr Ewing confirmed that he was informed yesterday (FRI) that his 'membership was over', that he would be evicted from his office at Holyrood and the SNP whip would be removed. The Inverness and Nairn seat is now expected to be hotly contested next year. In 2021, Mr Ewing secured 48 per cent of the vote for the party, with the Conservatives in second place on 28 per cent, Labour in third on 12 per cent, and the Lib Dems in fourth on six per cent. Edward Mountain, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: 'It speaks volumes about John Swinney and the SNP's appalling failures in government that even nationalist royalty is prepared to twist the knife in this way. 'By standing as an independent Fergus Ewing has made it clear he simply cannot defend his party's record to voters while out on the campaign trail. 'The SNP have shamefully abandoned the Highlands over their 18 years in power.' Neil Alexander, Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Inverness and Nairn, said: 'Fergus Ewing has sat around the cabinet table or on the backbenches for the entirety of the SNP's 18 years in government. He can't just walk away from the big part he has played in their record of failing the Highlands. 'While the two nationalists try to turn our constituency into a battleground for their party feud, I'm focused on what really matters to people here.' Mr Swinney said: 'It was with real sadness and deep regret that I heard of Fergus Ewing's decision to leave the Scottish National Party. 'We have both served the SNP and the cause of independence for many years, and I commend him for all that he achieved while serving in the SNP Government until 2021. 'Fergus had the option of standing at the forthcoming election for the SNP, given his status as an approved candidate. He chose not to accept that opportunity and I regret that he has ultimately decided instead to leave the party. 'The SNP approaches the 2026 election ahead in the polls, with growing support for independence, and I am looking forward to taking our positive, ambitious vision for Scotland's future to the people.'
