READMISSION PROTOCOL FOR PUPILS WHO HAVE MET THE CRITERIA FOR PERMANENT EXCLUSION FROM SECONDARY SCHOOLS

SUMMARY

Secondary Head teachers and officers have been discussing the issue of exclusions and how to improve the reintegration of pupils suitable for a second chance of mainstream education. A pilot Managed Move scheme has been operating successfully in Central Area since September 2002, and more recently in part of the Northern Area.

The aim of the scheme is to establish fair and open procedures for the reintegration of pupils who have met the criteria for permanent exclusion from their mainstream secondary school. It seeks to reduce the incidence of readmission to schools with difficulties and provide a fairer basis for sharing the numbers.

The scheme will now be extended to the whole of the County.

Outline of Key Responsibilities and Protocols for Managed Moves in Secondary Schools

Key Responsibilities

1. The LEA is required to:

- produce a Behaviour Support Plan ( DfEE paper, The Role of the Local Education Authority ). This is in place and currently being reviewed.

- ensure that suitable education is provided for excluded pupils, in school, at Pupil Referral Units or elsewhere. ( To achieve this the LEA provides Pupil Referral Units for excluded pupils in Years 1- 9/10, and LINKs4 projects for pupils in Key Stage 4 who are unable to return to school ).

- ensure suitable provision for pupils with behavioural difficulties, including providing advice and resources to schools (LEA specialist support services: Psychological, Attendance, and Youth and Community Services).

2. In all cases of permanent exclusion/managed moves the NPS Area Head teacher/Area Manager has a lead role in :

- advising and supporting the Head teacher

- attending the Disciplinary Committee meeting to advise and guide the Governors regarding exclusions procedures and practice, including the managed moves option.

- in the case that a permanent exclusion is confirmed, providing information to any Appeals Committee

- facilitating arrangements for the managed move, and/or making arrangements for the pupil’s future education other than at school.

3. Schools are required to:

- work to improve standards of behaviour and attendance

- use permanent exclusion only as a last resort, having regard to DfES statutory guidance

Actions and Specific Responsibilities

4. The LEA supports schools and pupils at three stages: pupils experiencing behaviour problems, support around the time of a possible exclusion, and support following exclusion.

School Support

5. To support schools and pupils, the Psychological Service provides regular visits to all schools (Level 1 of service delivery). Heads and School Support Teams should ensure that pupils whose behaviour causes concern, particularly those at risk of exclusion, constitute a high priority for this work at both the level of consultation (advising and supporting the school’s measures) and referral of individual pupils.

6. At Level 2 of service delivery, NPS Area Management Teams allocate staff resources to allow intensive work with individual pupils and groups of children. Fixed-term exclusions are an important criterion for establishing such priority. This response will be agreed with schools and may occur at the level of project work (e.g. working with school staff to develop and implement measures to assist groups of pupils) and intensive work with individual pupils (including the possibility of sessional attendance at a PRU). At this stage, pupils would normally be expected to be subject to a Pastoral Support Programme (PSP) and, as part of this, may have help from other agencies.

7. Members of the Youth and Community Service contribute to support of older pupils and the Norfolk Pupil Attendance Service supports measures to improve pupil attendance. The Visiting Teacher Service, Family Support Teams, Bethel Child and Family Centre, and Social Services are also available in support of vulnerable pupils.

Support at the Point of Exclusion

8. If, despite these measures, or because, exceptionally, of an abrupt deterioration in a pupil’s behaviour, there is a risk of permanent exclusion, the Head should discuss the case with a member of the NPS Area Management Team to determine that all possible support routes have been considered

Exclusion / Managed Moves

9. If it is felt that that there is no option but for the pupil to leave their current school i.e. the criteria for permanent exclusion are met, the procedure for permanent exclusion should be followed (revised Circular 10/99 - 2/03), and the Area Inclusion Coordinator notified, with an indication of whether a move to another school is a viable option.

10. The Inclusion Coordinator will then discuss with parents, pupil, School Support Team, and LINKs4 Coordinator as appropriate, and will inform the Head teacher of the outcome.

11. If a managed move to another school (or to LINKs4) is agreed by all parties, (i.e. parents/carers, school, and support agencies) a recommendation will be made at the meeting of the governors’ disciplinary panel that, should the governors support the Head teacher’s decision that the criteria for permanent exclusion are met, the exclusion may be commuted to a fixed term exclusion to allow the arrangements for a managed move to proceed.

12. The receiving school will be alerted, and a reintegration plan will be prepared with input from the pupil’s current school, the Inclusion Coordinator, and others as appropriate e.g. SST members, PRU, receiving school.

13. The pupil will be dual registered with the LEA and the receiving school until the transfer is complete, and full time attendance in school has been achieved.

14. If the nature of the behaviour does not give optimism for a managed move, or if parents wish to appeal against a decision to exclude, or, exceptionally, if the Head decides that exclusion is necessary, then the exclusions procedures outlined in the revised Circular 10/99 apply.

15. The means of identifying the next school to receive a pupil will be by the application of a points weighting system derived from a common formula:

100 - ( SEBD indicators x 100 )

( NOR )

16. Additionally, further adjustments to the formula are under consideration for schools in special circumstances.

17. The league table will be developed on a county, rather than an area basis, with some crossing of area boundaries. Within the guidelines of the scheme (see Notes - p 4) the distance a pupil must travel will always be taken into consideration.

Draft - Components of Formula (SEBD indicators) for Managed Moves League Table

• Numbers on roll LEA data

• Pupils who are the subject of Pastoral Support Programmes (PSPs) *

• Pupils who hold statements where behaviour is the primary difficulty *

• Pupils received at the request of the LEA since 9/02 *

(excluding Managed Move pupils)

• Children Looked After LEA data

• Children on the Child Protection Register LEA data

• Pupils entitled to free school meals LEA data

• Children new to English LEA data

• Children of traveller families LEA data

* school provided data

Additionally, possible adjustments to the rank order for schools in special circumstances:

• with LSUs

• under special measures, or recently out of them (within 2 years)

• identified by OFSTED as having serious weaknesses

• where fewer than 25% of pupils are achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* - C

Managed Move Scheme - Notes :

(i) The receiving school will have three managed move points deducted, and the transferring school will gain three points

(ii) The AWPA (pro rata, depending on the time of year) will be transferred to the receiving school once the governors’ disciplinary panel has supported the managed move proposal

(iii) No school will receive more than three pupils, or 0.4% of the school population (Y7-11) whichever is the smaller, in any one school year. There will be an additional maximum of one pupil per year group per school year.

(iv) Managed Moves can occur even when the year group is otherwise full.

(Code of Practice on Admissions)

(v) Some flexibility may be used in respect of the three geographically accessible schools at the top of the list, depending on e.g. other pupils at the school known to the transferring pupil etc.

(vi) A key worker, nominated by the receiving school will contribute to interim planning, and represent the school at PRU reviews, as appropriate.

(vii) In cases where travel over three miles is necessitated, transport will be provided as appropriate by the Passenger Transport Unit.

(viii) Pupils with statements indicating the need for special school placement will not be included in the scheme.

(ix) The aim will be to provide any PRU placement and/or supported attendance at the receiving school within 16 working days. PRU placement will normally be for a maximum of one term.

(x) Managed Move pupils will be dual registered between the receiving school and the LEA until full time attendance at the school is achieved - normally a maximum of one term.

(xi) The scheme will be overseen by the Psychological Service in partnership with the Admissions Forum, and will be open to inspection at any time.

(xii) Details of moves will be provided to Area Head teacher Meetings on a regular basis.