Society’s call to reward schools that look after problem pupils

THE EDUCATION watchdog, Ofsted, should do more to reward schools that do a good job of looking after problem pupils instead of excluding them, researchers have claimed.

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) said gaming of league tables by offrolling pupils is just the tip of the iceberg in the perverse incentives facing schools.

The RSA has called for Ofsted’s grading to reflect the guidance to inspectors to assess the extent to which a school creates an inclusive environment.

This would reward headteachers for pursuing measures to ensure every pupil feels supported at school and help prevent exclusions in the first place. The report also calls for wider change in the system to focus on inclusive relationships between staff and pupils, especially focused on ensuring good mental health for all.

School exclusions have risen rapidly since 2013, partly as a result of tightening behaviour standards and social factors, such as increasing poverty. Over the same period, the cash available to schools to tackle problem pupils also dropped.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that per pupil funding in England fell by around eight per cent in real terms from £6,539 in 2009/10 to £5,994 in 2018/19.

Meanwhile, financial incentives for schools to perform well in league tables mean schools are effectively rewarded for excluding more challenging pupils before their exams in Year 11.

Some schools are bucking the trend, the report found, like Carr Manor Community School in Leeds, which Ofsted said fostered “impressive” relationships between pupils and teachers by using small coaching groups of 10 students and a teacher.

One Carr Manor pupil said:

“You get to know one teacher really well. If there’s a problem you don’t want to speak to anyone at home about, you have that trust.”

The school is supported by Leeds Council which said it is committed to a “restorative and relational approach to working with families”.

Despite some schools working hard to retain pupils, the report

Laura Partridge, associate director of the RSA. said the true scale of off-rolling may be much larger than the figures suggested.

It said: “There is good reason to believe that a greater number of pupils than the figures suggest are leaving a school never to return - pupils who have not gone through an official exclusion process and are therefore not captured in the statistics, but have effectively been ‘removed’ from school.”

These pupils may have moved to another school, a special school or into home education.

According to the Education Policy Institute’s analysis of the 603,705 pupils sitting GCSEs in 2017, 24,000 had exited to an unknown location, not to return to a state-funded school.

Laura Partridge, the RSA’s associate director, said: “Many schools are already doing great work, but this is becoming harder and harder to maintain under the current system, which is why Ofsted needs to reward schools that value inclusivity.

“But importantly, this isn’t just about Ofsted. Further investment is needed so that collectives of schools and public services can work preventatively to meet the needs of all pupils, thus reducing the need for that ‘final resort’ of exclusion.”

Ofsted has been contacted for a response.

Ofsted needs to reward schools that value inclusivity.