Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Peter McConnochie, Head of Access to Learning, and Michael Wilsher, Inclusion Officer, presented a report on the pupil exclusion rates for Nottingham schools, the measures in place to seek to reduce exclusions, and the recommendations of the Timpson Review of Exclusions. The following points were discussed:

(a)  the permanent exclusion rate in Nottingham is twice as high as both the regional and national average, while its fixed-term exclusion rates are one-third higher. This position has not changed significantly in recent years. The national data for exclusions is two years behind current and is taken from census returns, while the local ‘live data’ is not always reported consistently by schools. Steps are being taken to address this through updated data sharing agreements and ICT-based links with school systems;

(b)  fixed-term exclusions are used more regularly in Nottingham than in the rest of the local region and across England as a whole. In total, 40% of all pupils who receive a fixed-term exclusion have been excluded multiple times (and this figure does not reflect pupils put on part-time timetabling or who are sent home temporarily with no formal, legally required record of a fixed-term exclusion). The rate of exclusions from secondary schools (at 7.44 pupils in every hundred) is well above the national average (at 4.62 in every hundred). Exclusions from primary schools are marginally above average (at 0.88 per hundred pupils in Nottingham, relative to 0.62 nationally). However, fixed-term exclusions from special schools are below the national average (at a rate of 4.55 in Nottingham, compared to a rate of 5.09, nationally);

(c)  the local data for permanent exclusions is more current. Although the rate of exclusions has been rising nationally, Nottingham is still well above the average, having the 10th highest number of exclusions per 100 pupils of 152 Local Authorities in 2016/17 (with 101 secondary exclusions and 26 primary exclusions). A significant proportion of pupils excluded have either special educational needs and disability (SEND) or are in receipt of free school meals (FSM), or both. A number of exclusions sometimes occur when an academy school moves between trusts, or when a school is in special educational measures;

(d)  the Committee requested that the data was provided to show the breakdown of the gender and ethnicity of the children excluded, and that the number of SEND and FSM pupils excluded was differentiated. It recommended that the demographic data on the pupil population of each school was reviewed as part of the process of understanding the exclusion rates;

(e)  the ‘Inclusion Model’ has been introduced by the Council to encourage schools to not exclude pupils, where possible. Ten of seventeen secondary schools are part of the model and have seen reductions in their exclusion rates, but the highest three excluding schools have not signed up. Meetings are held with the head teachers of all of the schools that are part of the Model, and the other schools are invited to attend. Individual meetings are also held with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7