NEWS


Report warns SEN pupils are ‘falling through gaps’


by Daniel White


MPs have voiced their shock at the numbers of young people with SEN who are not in any form of education, employment or training (NEET). It comes as a report reveals that


almost a third of those who have a statement of SEN at age 16 are NEET by the time they are 18. It says these students are “falling through the gaps” when they leave compulsory education. The Public Accounts Select


Committee report – Oversight of Special Education for Young People aged 16-25 – also claims


that the government does not know how much it is spending on sup- porting SEN young people who are aged over 16. In 2009/10, the Department


for Education (DfE) spent around £640 million supporting 147,000 SEN students aged 16 to 25 but the report claimed that it does not know how much is spent in each local authority. The report said: “We are con-


cerned that this vital support for young people has not consistently been given the priority it deserves. It is shocking that 30 per cent of young people with a statement of SEN at age 16 are NEET by the time they are 18.


Call for focus on unbalanced school intakes


A report that paved the way for the scrapping of the Ofsted “satisfactory” grade should have looked more at the role that unbalanced intakes can play on inspection outcomes. The claim comes from union


leader Dr Mary Bousted, who said that the report, (Un)Satsfactory? Enhancing Life Chances by Improving Satisfactory Schools – produced by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and Ofsted in December – avoided the issue because it lacked “political trac- tion”. Speaking at an event host-


ed by think-tank Progress, Dr Bousted, pictured below, said that while the report acknowl- edges that schools in the “satis- factory” category have a higher number of disadvantaged and working class students, she is unhappy that it did not then go further and investigate these dis- proportionate intakes. She told the meeting: “Instead


of considering the implications of unbalanced school intakes on school performance, the report’s


authors race to the usual, tired conclusion of more weighing and measuring – more inspections, reclassification and, no doubt, more vilification of schools strug- gling to make the grade and stuck in the satisfactory – soon to be renamed ‘requires improvement’ – category.” The report was cited by Ofsted


earlier this year when it revealed that the satisfactory category is to be replaced by “requires improve- ment”. Schools in the new cat- egory will be subject to earlier re-inspections – within 12 to 18 months instead of up to three years. Schools failing to dem- onstrate improvements will then require special measures. Dr Bousted continued: “My


question is why did the research- ers take a pass on unbalanced intakes and their effects on indi- vidual and school performance? Here I hazard a guess. “They judged that there was


no point in evaluating the impact of school intake upon school per- formance because any findings they might come up with would have no political traction.” Dr Bousted, who is general


secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, hit out at politicians for not tackling the issue of unbalanced school intakes over the past 30 years, accusing them of being afraid of taking on the “powerful vested interests of middle class parents who vote”. Dr Bousted also said that clos-


ing the poverty gap and tack- ling social inequality are crucial to raising educational standards for disadvantaged students. She pointed to Sweden and Finland, two of the world’s best education systems according to international tables, where there is less wealth inequality and more balanced school intakes. She added: “We need to exam-


ine closely the effects of pov- erty on educational performance. These effects are real; they are present and they are dangerous.”


• See page 6: Editorial. Young artist on the road to success


An Essex 6th-form student wowed shoppers by completing a stunning piece of artwork on a £30,000 car using nothing but dry marker pens. Joe Parker, pictured, created his


eye-catching work on the body of a brand new BMW live during a


Saturday afternoon at a car dealer- ship in Chelmsford. Joe, a budding artist in year 13


at the nearby New Hall School, has themed his piece around the 2012 Olympic Games. It took him seven hours to com-


plete and the car is now on display at the dealership. Gareth Hughes, head of art at


New Hall, said: “We pride our- selves on giving our students artis- tic freedom and opportunities for creativity, Joe did an amazing job


– look out for his work in the future. This is definitely the most unique piece of art Joe has created to date. Sadly for Joe, he wasn’t able to keep the car and as the pens do wipe off this is one piece of art that won’t be around forever.”


Charities aim to support young witnesses


Giving evidence in court can be a nerve-wracking experience for adults, let alone children. So with this in mind, two


charities – the NSPCC and Victim Support – are developing a new support service for witnesses under 18 across England and Wales. The aim is to create “a consist- ent, accessible young witness serv-


4


ice” to help youngsters who have to give evidence in court. Young witness workers will help children to prepare for court and support them through the trauma of the court process. “The NSPCC has helped thou-


sands of children prepare for the daunting experience of giving evidence in court, often helping


to convict people who have com- mitted appalling crimes against them,” said NSPCC chief executive Andrew Flanagan. “We’ve seen first hand how this


kind of support can give a child the confidence they need to take the witness stand and talk about what’s happened to them. This support helps bring criminals to justice.


“By sharing our knowledge


and expertise with Victim Support, together we can give far more young witnesses the chance to face court confidently.” Work to develop the service


began in January and the two chari- ties hope the new young witness service will be up and running by the end of the year.


SecEd • March 1 2012 “Too many young people with


SEN are therefore falling through the gaps when they leave com- pulsory education, with a potential life-long legacy of lost opportuni- ties and costs to the public purse.” The report criticises the DfE for


allowing a “postcode lottery” when it comes to funding. It found that some local authorities are receiving as little as £1,900 while others get more than £20,000 a year. The government is planning to


reform the way in which SEN educa- tion is funded and the report calls for the publication of “robust” data on funding and expenditure in this area, on both a local and national level.


Elsewhere, the report said that


the system for delivering and fund- ing post-16 special education is too complex and confuses parents. It also said that young people are not provided with the information they need. It states: “Parents often do not know where to access information about potential support options. They also do not know how well different schools and colleges might serve their child’s needs.” Chair of the committee,


Margaret Hodge, said: “The system is extremely complex and difficult to navigate, with an array of dif- ferent providers including schools, further education colleges and spe-


cialist providers. Too many parents and young people are not given the information they need to make decisions about what is right for them, with many losing hope.” The government’s SEN Green


Paper is proposing to replace the cur- rent statement system with a single Education, Health and Care Plan for each pupil from 0 to 25. It also pro- poses giving parents more control of SEN funding. A statement from special needs


association nasen said: “At a time when the DfE is also reviewing and consulting on educational funding reform we have an ideal oppor- tunity to ensure that the funding


of our 16-plus provision is open and transparent and fair across the country.” Children’s minister Sarah Teather


said the Green Paper proposes the “biggest programme of reform in 30 years” including the new Education, Health and Care Plans. She added: “This will mean local services all working together to provide targeted support, with young people and their families getting much more infor- mation and advice on preparing for further education and work. We are determined to make the system sim- pler, fairer and more transparent. We will shortly be updating on progress on delivering these reforms.”


Teachers top unpaid overtime list


Teachers once again found themselves at the top of the list of professions working unpaid overtime as the UK marked Work Your Proper Hours Day. The day, which fell last Friday


(February 24), marks the point at which workers would start to get paid if they worked all their unpaid overtime from the start of the year. The campaign, run by the TUC,


says that Britons did two billion hours of unpaid overtime last year – worth £29.2 billion to the UK economy. According to this year’s figures, teaching and educational profes-


sionals are the group most likely to clock up unpaid overtime. The figures reveal that 55.6 per


cent of teaching professionals do unpaid overtime each week – equat- ing to around 724,000 people. On average, they put in an extra 9.6 hours a week. This puts them top of the pile, ahead of directors of financial institutions, 52 per cent of whom work unpaid overtime every week, and legal professionals (46 per cent). Overall, 21.1 per cent of people do unpaid overtime and, on average, they put in an extra 7.2 hours a week.


Christine Blower, general sec-


retary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Teachers are yet again the profession which is work- ing the most unpaid overtime. Many classroom teachers, heads and deputies work in excess of 50 hours a week. Excessively long hours continue to take their toll on teachers’ health and their lives outside work. “Much of this additional work-


ing time is spent on tasks generated by unnecessary bureaucratic proce- dures, not on the actual job of teach- ing. In too many schools planning


and assessment requirements have become formulaic burdens that are the bane of teachers’ lives.” Brendan Barber, general secre-


tary of the TUC, said: “While many of the extra unpaid hours worked could easily be reduced by improv- ing work practices, a small number of employers are exploiting staff by regularly forcing them to do exces- sive amounts of extra work for no extra pay.” For more information, visit


www.workyourproperhoursday.com • See page 6: Editorial


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