1. South East CME Task and Finish Group Mike Stoneman Deputy Director of Children, Families and Education Education Service 7th June 2019

2. Background
Children Missing Education - definition used in its broadest sense including school absence, exclusions, reduced timetables, elective home education and CME
Group has met twice with contributions from: Portsmouth; West Berkshire; Oxfordshire; Surrey; and Hampshire – explored a range of issues and shared different approaches
Approaches vary according to size of LA and school landscape
LA’s capacity and resources to monitor, challenge and support schools are becoming ever increasingly stretched (and undermined by academisation?)
Impact of reducing school budgets, the ‘ask’ of schools to be more inclusive without appropriate funding and resources and the drive to deliver good results is having a negative impact
In some areas there is a lack of guidance from the DfE and / or lack of clarity

3. Elective Home Education: context
Rise in the numbers of children being educated at home nationally and regionally
Research points to a small proportion of schools who are responsible for large proportion of children who become EHE – backed by evidence in the SE
Children’s Commissioner report Skipping School: Invisible Education Feb 2019
Government Call for Evidence in 2018
DfE Guidance April 2019 (for local authorities and parents)
Ofsted Inspection Framework 2019

4. Elective Home Education
The ACDS EHE Survey 2018 found that across 106 responding LAs, the number of EHE pupils has increased in each of the past five years, by an average of approximately 20% each year:
Source: ACDS Elective Home Education Survey 2018

5. Elective Home Education: issues
Defining ‘suitable education’
Identifying children who are EHE
Off-rolling
Unregistered settings
Safeguarding risks

6. Elective Home Education: LA approaches
Variable support from LAs for home educators – from being fairly supportive to fairly hostile
14-16 college placements for children who are EHE
3 way meetings where parent is intent on home schooling i.e. school, parent/carer, local authority
Open and transparent sharing of data about numbers of pupils leaving each school when de-registrations took place, alongside exclusions and attendance data
In-year applications
Flexi schooling
EHE protocols agreed with schools
LA advice and guidance to schools and parents

7. Reduced Timetables or Reintegration Timetables: issues
A backdoor to exclusions
For whose benefit? The school or the pupil?
No national data available but some LAs in the SE are reporting a rise in their use
No statutory basis upon which to establish a RTT
Parental rights?
Safeguarding risks

8. Reduced Timetables: LA approaches
Reasons should be exceptional and limited to: re-integration; medical reasons; part of an in-school package of support
Should be short term
Requires parental consent (and for LAC/SEN: consent of the LA)
Early Help Assessments should be considered
LAs should be notified, RTTs logged and monitored, plans saved
Accurate recording on the attendance register
Any RTT exceeding 6 weeks with no clear plan should be challenged by the LA

9. School absence, persistent absence, chronic absence: issues
Overall absence and persistent absence is rising both nationally and regionally
Capacity of schools attendance teams (Education Welfare Officers) and what they offer varies. Many teams have been depleted due to loss of funding and move to traded services

10. Overall Absence

11. Persistent Absence

12. School absence, persistent absence, chronic absence: LA approaches
Truancy sweeps and targeted home visits
Use of penalty notices and follow up court proceedings
School Attendance Campaigns e.g. East Sussex and Portsmouth
School led groups with oversight across LA area e.g. in Portsmouth - Behaviour and Attendance Group (part of the PEP)
Persistent absence: tracking and regularly reflecting back to schools all pupils below 90% through PA Reviews
Chronic absence (below 50%) - sharing information with Missing Exploited and Trafficked (MET) groups and Early Help; encouraging schools to complete an Early Help Assessment, have a LP in place and work with Early Help and / or contact MASH where school interventions and previous legal sanctions have failed
Making school attendance everyone’s business – health visitors, children’s social workers, school nurses, early help family workers, etc – supported by training, one minute guides

14. Exclusions: context
National and regional rise in fixed period exclusions after a previous decline
Permanent exclusions remain low but are increasing – fuelled by stretched school budgets and lack of AP / PRU places
Timpson Review of School Exclusions May Recommendations included:
Schools accountable for the results of pupils they exclude and will have greater control of funding and commissioning of AP
Promoting role of AP, expansion of provision, PRUs to be renamed
Beefed-up oversight for LAs?
Revision of the 45 day suspension limit
Updated DfE statutory guidance including new guidance on off-rolling
Ofsted to consistently recognise inclusive schools

15. Fixed Term Exclusions

16. Exclusions: issues
Significant variations in exclusion practice across schools
Outcomes for excluded children are poor
Safeguarding risks
Pupils with SEN, boys, disadvantaged, social care involvement – more likely to be excluded
Informal exclusions
Effective use of AP (internal and external) is patchy
Ofsted inspections have in some cases ignored exclusion issues

17. Exclusions: LA approaches
Reflecting exclusion data back to schools
Schools challenged by LA where there are spikes in exclusion
Use of alternative exclusions
Permanent exclusions - costs to schools that exclude and the processes for 6th day provision and return to mainstream
Application of Fair Access Protocols and managed moves where pupils are deemed hard to place

18. Next steps / recommendations
Establish a regional network to continue this work and share good practice
Provide a regional voice to lobby and influence e.g. implementation of Timpson’s recommendations; further calls to strengthen LA’s oversight of EHE, etc
Create shared directory – LA guidance documents, protocols, etc