Growing numbers of pupils at risk exclusion and ‘falling off the radar’ as schools return to normal
Growing numbers of children are at risk of being excluded and “falling off the radar” as schools return to normal following the pandemic, experts fear.
Analysis of recent government data shows the problem was worsening before the pandemic but there was a lull while schools were closed because of the virus.
Department of Education figures show that in the autumn term before the first lockdown general exclusions were up 5% and primary school exclusions rose by 20%.
However, evidence suggests this could soon be replaced with a spike in exclusions as children return to school, with problems at home bottled up and likely to prompt bad behaviour.
It comes as the former children’s commissioner launches a new initiative to stop what she calls a “conveyor belt” of vulnerable children falling into the hands of gangs and criminals.
Anne Longfield told Sky News: “We know that COVID has dealt a real blow to those kids – the vulnerabilities that they’ve experienced at home; addiction, domestic violence, have increased and lot of them also aren’t connecting back into school so they are at risk of falling off the radar.”
Anne Longfield is launching a commission to help prevent children from becoming involved in county lines and gangs
Ms Longfield is today launching The Commission on Young Lives which aims to work with other youth groups to design a new national system to prevent children from becoming involved in county lines and gangs.
The commission warns that even before COVID hit in March 2020, almost 15,000 children had been referred to social services over gang fears in the previous 12 months – a rise of 4,000 on the previous year.
Those working with vulnerable children are seeing increasingly severe problems – more domestic abuse, greater food poverty, more children struggling with mental health problems, and a resurgence in knife crime that has led to more teenagers turning up at A&E with stab wounds.
Part of tackling the issue will be deciding how to stem the rise in school exclusions.
“Since lockdown ended there have been rises in exclusions in the local authorities we work with,” says Kiran Gill, founder of The Difference – a project that tries to prevent school exclusions through teacher training.
Ms Gill also cites increased instances of domestic violence and worsening mental health problems as aggravating factors.
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She adds: “We need to reverse this trend because only 4% of excluded young people are likely to get a pass in GCSE English and maths and even by the age of 20 young people are unlikely to have the literacy and numeracy needed to access the labour force.
“Therefore it’s no surprise they are much more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.”
The Difference runs what it calls a Leaders Programme which places teachers from mainstream schools into Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) for excluded children so they can learn how to better understand their problems and keep them in the system.
English teacher Daniel Cain-Reed who joined the programme is now teaching at a PRU run by Haringey’s Learning Partnership in North London.
English teacher Daniel Cain-Reed says the unit is much better placed to support students
He told Sky News: “I don’t think I ever felt my mainstream school [was] always best placed to offer those young people and their families the support that they needed, and that is something I have definitely learned.
“I feel a lot more knowledgeable, and when I go back I will help my mainstream colleagues to be more pre-emptive and spot the signs of perhaps trauma – to identify the risks that some people might experience and mitigate that so children can continue to be successful in mainstream schools.”
He added: “I think I have definitely noticed young people being excluded far more at a far younger age as well too, and when it happens at a younger age it’s a real challenge for staff to build that resilience back up.”
At the PRU in Harringay, we met year 10 student Miriam Khadir, 14, who was excluded from two secondary schools for “persistent disruptive behaviour”, although that phrase underplays the complexity of what happened.
In Miriam’s view, her teachers never explored the root causes of her problems.
14-year-old Miriam Khadir was excluded from two secondary schools
She said: “If you are you are happy to explain anything that’s wrong at home to your school it makes life easier.
“Let’s say something happens at home. You come into school, and you are upset, and if you can let all that anger and upset out (with a support worker/teacher before the lessons) then you are happy to go in to learn you’ve got a good mindset and you are ready to get some education.
“But if you come in, there’s no one to talk to you, there’s no support, you go into a lesson [and] you’re not ready to learn.
“You’re still upset from what’s going on at home. Therefore, the child’s not going to be ready to learn. Not every child needs a mentor but some do need help to express what’s going on at home.”
Computer science teacher Kalpana Jegendirabose is also on a two-year placement on The Difference programme with Haringey Learning Partnership.
Computer science teacher Kalpana Jegendirabose said PRU’s give teachers more time to speak to students
She says: “We have more opportunities [at the PRU] to have conversations with the children here and actually sit with them. Those things wouldn’t necessarily have happened in mainstream because the timetables are so strict – there isn’t any room for actually having those conversations.”
Miriam is now entering her first year preparing for GCSE’s and hopes to buck the trend of children failing after falling out of mainstream education. She’s now engaging more in lessons and has a love of history.
She responded to being excluded from school by raising £2,500 to open the first library in her pupil referral unit.
The opening this week was attended by local MP David Lammy and children’s author Michael Rosen.
It seems that Miriam’s exclusion was mainstream’s loss. How often is that the case?
Hundreds of people affected by the Manchester Arena bombing cannot continue legal action against MI5, judges have ruled.
More than 300 people, including survivors and those bereaved by the 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert, brought a case to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), claiming failures to take “appropriate measures” to prevent the incident infringed their human rights.
In a ruling on Friday, Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Farbey said the cases could not proceed as they were brought too late.
Lord Justice Singh said: “We are particularly conscious of the importance of the rights concerned… We are also conscious of the horrendous impact of the atrocity on the claimants and their families.
“Any reasonable person would have sympathy for them.
“The grief and trauma which they have suffered, particularly where young children were killed, is almost unimaginable.
“Nevertheless, we have reached the conclusion that, in all the circumstances, it would not be equitable to permit the claims to proceed.”
File pic: AP
Lord Justice Singh acknowledged that while the tribunal “readily understand” why the legal claims were not filed until after the final report from the inquiry into the attack, “real expedition” was needed at that point.
The judge added: “We bear in mind the other matters that had to be investigated and arrangements which had to be put in place but, in our view, the filing of the proceedings was not given the priority which, assessed objectively, it should have been.”
Had the claims gone ahead, the judge noted the security services would have needed to “divert time and resources to defending these proceedings rather than their core responsibilities” – which includes preventing future attacks.
Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured hundreds when he detonated a rucksack bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande show at Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017.
Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi
Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon and Broudie Jackson Canter, three of the law firms representing complainants affected, said the ruling was “extremely disappointing” for their clients.
In a statement, the firms said: “Ever since the attack in May 2017, our clients have had to endure continued delays but have done so with great patience and understanding in the hope that by allowing all legal processes to be fully explored, transparency and justice would be achieved.
“It took almost six years for the failings of MI5 to be revealed, confirmed when the inquiry chair published his volume three findings in March 2023, in which he said MI5 had missed a ‘significant opportunity’ to prevent the attack.
“This report concluded that within this six-year period, the security service corporate witnesses X and J gave evidence on oath that had presented an inaccurate picture, and the same inaccurate picture had been presented to Lord Anderson when he compiled his report in December 2017.”
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The law firms said following these findings, their clients believed the IPT would “provide the route to the formal vindication of their human rights”.
The firms added: “We are disappointed that time is one of the reasons now being used against them to prevent their claims progressing. Seven years have now passed since the atrocity in May 2017 – six years of that seven-year delay was caused by MI5.
“This judgment certainly doesn’t exonerate MI5. There were failings by MI5 and multiple other parties leading up to and on the actual evening of 22 May 2017 and collectively we continue to support our clients in their fight for full accountability and justice.”
Police with members of the public after the attack. Pic: PA
The inquiry into the bombing found it might have been prevented if MI5 had acted on key intelligence received in the months before the attack.
The agency’s director-general, Ken McCallum, expressed deep regret that such intelligence was not obtained.
Two pieces of information about Abedi were assessed at the time by the security service to not relate to terrorism.
But inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders said, having heard from MI5 witnesses at the hearings, he considered that did not present an “accurate picture”.
Lawyers for those affected previously said the inquiry found there was a “real possibility” that one of the pieces of intelligence could have obtained information which may have led to actions preventing the attack.
And at the hearing earlier this month, Pete Weatherby KC, for those affected, described the IPT claims as “the next step” in vindication for his clients after the inquiry’s findings.
Many areas of Britain faced frosty and icy conditions this morning ahead of the arrival of Storm Bert tomorrow.
The Met Office said it expects the storm to bring “heavy rain, strong winds and disruptive snow to parts of the UK through the weekend” and potentially cause travel disruption and flooding.
Much of the UK experienced temperatures close to freezing last night, the Met Office said, with -6C (21.2F) recorded at Tulloch Bridge in Scotland.
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Snowy conditions in the village of Goathland, North York Moors National Park. Pic: PA
Several yellow warnings for snow and ice were in place across the UK until 10am on Friday, while one covering parts of Scotland will remain in place until midday.
They came ahead of an amber warning for heavy snow and ice in place between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in central parts of Scotland.
The Met Office said 10-20cm of snow was likely on ground above 200m and there could be as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400m.
Several other yellow alerts for wind, rain and snow will also cover much of the UK.
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Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “Through into Friday… snow showers are set to continue mainly around coastal areas though once again still a few feeding inland at times.
“There will also still be plenty of autumnal sunshine. Still feeling cold though, particularly in those brisk winds – once again we’re only looking at highs of around 5C, slightly higher in the southwest around 7C.
“Across the north those temperatures struggling to move past 2-3C.
“As we head into Friday evening, a change is on its way as we introduce Storm Bert moving its way in from the Atlantic. So we’ll see clouds spilling in from the southwest with outbreaks of rain – heavy at times by the time we reach Saturday morning.”
A woman braves the snow in Aviemore, Scotland. Pic: Reuters
“Heavy” outbreaks of rain are likely throughout Saturday, “falling as snow” at times across parts of England and Scotland, Ms Criswick said.
More than 114 schools were shut in the Highland Council area on Thursday because of snow, almost 40 were shut in Aberdeenshire and 12 were closed in Moray.
In England, 89 schools were shut in Devon, 60 in Cornwall and 18 in Dorset, while in Wales 18 were closed in Denbighshire, 10 in Conwy and two in Wrexham.
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