Improving options for pupils out of school system

A LOCAL education authority is set to transform how lessons are given to children who are unable to attend school due to physical or mental health issues after it emerged it was providing those pupils with an average of just five hours of tuition a week.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s executive heard that the authority is aiming to increase the amount of education a pupil is given whilst absent from school by providing a wider range of options.

Members were told closer links would be forged with health workers to ensure the provision did not inhibit pupils’ reintegration into school.

Coun Patrick Mulligan, the cabinet member for education, said by having more options, including digital solutions, personal home tuition and group education, which is currently only available to secondary school pupils, each child would be provided with bespoke packages.

He admitted that the current service offers about five hours of tuition a week, which is lower than other local authorities.

But he added: “There will be an improved range of education provision and greater flexibility. We are aiming for an increase in education outcomes.”

Councils have a statutory duty to arrange suitable full-time education for children who are unable to attend a mainstream or special school because of their physical or mental health needs.

Local authorities should provide this education when it is clear a child will be away from school for 15 days or more, whether consecutively or cumulatively.

They are charged with ensuring the education which children receive allows them to take appropriate qualifications, preventing them from slipping behind their peers and permitting them to successfully reintegrate into class as soon as possible.