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?
Flight delays are expected as the UK sees more heavy fog.
It comes after 20,000 people were affected by airport disruption on Thursday, according to travel journalist Simon Calder.
“Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility. Some flights may be delayed throughout the day,” a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport said.
“London Gatwick apologises for any inconvenience. Passengers should contact their airline for further information,” they added.
At Gatwick 35 departures scheduled up to 11am are delayed and 26 flight arrivals are delayed up to the same time. Two flights are cancelled. At Heathrow 20 flight departures scheduled to leave before 11am are delayed. At Manchester airport 16 arrivals are delayed up to 11am.
Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast about the disruption yesterday Mr Calder said: “We had at London City Airport, at London Heathrow, the busiest in Britain, at London Gatwick, the second busiest, more than 40 cancellations in and out from each of those airports.”
The thick fog will continue on Saturday according to the Met Office, with some areas seeing visibility reduced to just 100 metres.
Get the weather forecast where you are
The worst of the fog is forecast to hit the South East and central England, while East Anglia and parts of South Wales will also be affected.
Cars navigate foggy conditions on the M3 near Basingstoke on Friday.
Pic: PA
Forecasters have not issued any fog weather warnings yet but the Met Office said it will monitor the situation across the weekend.
Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “It’s that time of year when people are travelling around the country a lot and there are a lot of people on the roads.
“There is a lot of fog covering much of England, mainly the South East and central England, but the rest of the country is seeing quite a bit of thick fog too.
“It will be pretty murky on Saturday morning and there will still be fog patches that will take a little longer to clear.”
Meanwhile, there is a yellow warning in place for heavy rain in parts of Scotland for Monday and New Year’s Eve on Tuesday, leaving the start of 2025 “distinctly unsettled”.
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations could face “significant disruption” from rain, with organisers warning audiences to “prepare for all weather, wrap up warm and double-check with your travel operator for the latest updates.”
Fog at Half Moon Bay in Morecombe on Friday
The yellow warning could see as much as 140mm (5.5in) of rain in places, as other parts of the UK will likely see rain, wind and possibly even snow later on next week.
The Met Office added that “more warnings are likely to be issued”.
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At Heathrow, British Airways was forced to cancel a handful of flights due to fog on Friday, while others were delayed.
Flights at both Gatwick and Manchester Airport were disrupted, with delays of up to three hours at Gatwick, and some passengers were diverted to other airports.
“The diversions were absolutely extreme,” said Mr Calder. At Teesside Airport, flights were diverted to Newcastle, Aberdeen and even Dublin.
This could continue into the weekend if the misty weather persists.
A spokesperson for the UK’s main air traffic control provider Nats said it had implemented “temporary air traffic restrictions” at several airports on Friday due to the fog.
Can I get compensation if my flight is delayed?
If your flight is affected by the disruption, you won’t be able to get any cash back, according to Mr Calder, as “bad weather is beyond the airline’s control”.
“However, every airline that cancels a flight is obliged to find for its passengers an alternative flight as soon as possible,” he said.
While the fog likely won’t remain past the weekend, people should not hold out hope for sustained sunshine with wet and windy conditions expected for much of the country, the Met Office said.
Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty. And besides, the pig likes it.
Looking at the festive ding-dong that’s broken out between Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, you do wonder if the Tory leader should take on board this famous quote – because there was only ever going to be one winner from this spat.
The Reform UK leader has spent the thick end of three decades dragging his political opponents into fights that ultimately benefit his cause. This is no different.
What would have been a relatively low-key Christmas stunt has been elevated into literal front page news.
Reform UK insiders say that, in turn, is driving more people to the party and pushing up their member count further.
Nigel Farage has spent his career dragging opponents into fights. Pic: Reuters
Part of this is down to news editors grabbing on to any bit of politics that’s around during the quiet period between Christmas and New Year.
Why Badenoch and her team didn’t clock this and hold back will likely bewilder some in her party.
An argument the Tories should have swerved
What’s more, the Tory leader is also currently on the back foot regarding her central accusation that the Reform membership number is fake.
Reform agreed to show Sky News details of their account on NationBuilder – a platform that manages memberships and donations for many political parties.
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The number of active memberships in the account portal matched the figure on the ticker – with their website count growing in size shortly after the NationBuilder tally increased.
Sky News also conducted its own analysis on the ticker and found nothing suspicious as it stands (read the full analysis here).
Kemi Badenoch has said Reform changed the coding when people began to point out the alleged discrepancy, but has yet to provide any evidence to back this up.
Either way, this is still an argument the Tories should probably have swerved.
All politicians need to pick their battles
Yes, signed-up members mean more income for a party, but they don’t necessarily translate into wider electoral success. After all, Labour’s membership surged under Jeremy Corbyn, but he still lost two elections.
But that’s not to say both main parties shouldn’t be looking very closely in their rearview mirror at Reform.
The party’s reaction to this row shows a far more professional behind-the-scenes operation than the previous, more ramshackle incarnations of the Farage-led political machine.
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Talk to long time allies of the Reform leader, and even they sound somewhat surprised by how slick their project has got.
They also point to electoral milestones on the horizon where the party’s results at the ballot box can be objectively tracked – beginning with May’s local elections next year and running through the Welsh Assembly vote in 2026.
There’ll be many more attempts by Nigel Farage to wrestle with his political opponents before then.
The task for the Tory and indeed Labour leaders is to pick their fights and judge how dirty they are prepared to get.
UK
Nigel Farage threatens legal action if Kemi Badenoch doesn’t apologise for saying membership ticker was ‘fake’
Nigel Farage has threatened to take legal action against Tory leader Kemi Badenoch if she does not apologise for accusing him of publishing a “fake” ticker showing Reform UK’s membership increasing to overtake the Conservatives.
The Reform UK leader has reacted furiously to Ms Badenoch’s assertion that he was “manipulating [his] own supporters” with a ticker that is “coded to tick up automatically” after it showed the insurgent right-wing party had gone past 131,680 members – the number of eligible Conservative Party members in its leadership election in the autumn.
He is demanding an apology from Ms Badenoch for the “accusations of fraud and dishonesty” that he labelled “disgraceful”, and said he is “not going to take it lying down”.
Asked by Sky News in a call with journalists if he is going to sue the Tory leader for libel, Mr Farage said: “I’m going to take some action in the next couple of days. I’ve got to decide exactly what it is, but I’m certainly not going to take it lying down.”
“I think it’s an absolutely outrageous thing for her to have said,” he continued. “I know she’s got a very bad temper. I know she’s well known for lashing out at people, but I am not at all happy, and I’m going to take some action.”
He added that he will confirm within two days exactly what this action will be if she does not apologise for the “intemperate outburst”.
Analysis: Badenoch needs to pick her battles
Reform showed Sky News the coding used to link the ticker to the member count within their account on the platform NationBuilder. The demonstration provided strong evidence that the ticker was not automated. Scroll down for the full analysis.
A Tory source told Sky News: “Fake Farage is clearly rattled that his Boxing Day Publicity Stunt is facing serious questions over a fake clock and hundreds of ‘members’ seemingly joining in the middle of the night.
“Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.”
‘It’s a fake’
The row started after Reform UK said on Boxing Day that it officially had more members than the Conservative Party, which Mr Farage, party leader and MP for Clacton-on-Sea, hailed as a “historic moment”, describing his party as “the real opposition”.
Reform UK also shared a video of the membership tracker being projected on to the Conservative Party headquarters in London.
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the party of issuing misleading figures: “Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?. It’s not real. It’s a fake… [the website has been] coded to tick up automatically.”
Posting on X, she added that the Tories had “gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”.
Reform UK hit back at Ms Badenoch, publishing a screenshot of an online register claiming to show “active memberships”.
Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf also waded into the row, claiming that people whose memberships of the Tory party had lapsed voted in the autumn leadership election that saw Ms Badenoch elected to the role.
In a call with journalists earlier, he repeated the assertion, and after putting out a call on social media for people to contact him if they had voted in the leadership election but are no longer party members, he said he has received “just so many” that he has not yet been able to verify their claims.
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Ms Badenoch and the Conservative Party have been contacted for comment.
Reform UK has said it will submit to an audit of its membership numbers by one of the “big four” accountancy firms if the Tories do the same.
Farage gets personal
Speaking to journalists earlier, Mr Farage was very critical of Ms Badenoch personally, saying her claim that their membership number ticker had been faked “reflects her personality”.
He labelled her “aggressive” and “liable to lashing out”, and said he thinks she wrote her tweet out of a “slight sense of anger”.
“She’s got to fully disprove this, and she’s going to find life a lot more difficult and bitterly regret putting this out on Boxing Day afternoon,” he added.
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