Concern at number of children with additional needs excluded from Hertfordshire schools

Children with the greatest levels of special educational needs and disabilities are up to eight times more likely to be permanently excluded from Hertfordshire schools than their classmates, data suggests.

According to national data, the overall permanent exclusion rate in Hertfordshire schools in the 2022/23 academic year was 0.08 per cent – which is lower than the 0.11 per cent national average.

But the rate among those children in the county with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) – who require the greatest level of SEND support – was 0.41 per cent.

That’s eight times higher than the county’s permanent exclusion rate for Hertfordshire pupils with no special educational needs (0.05 per cent).

And it’s more than double the national permanent exclusion rate recorded for children with EHCPs, which was 0.20 per cent.

Also included in the same national data is the rate of permanent exclusions amongst pupils who had ‘SEND support’ in 2022/23.

In Hertfordshire the rate of permanent exclusions amongst this group was 0.24 per cent – compared to a higher national rate of 0.37 per cent.

The data for 2022/23 academic year was presented to the latest meeting of the county council’s education, libraries and lifelong learning cabinet panel (September 11).

At that meeting Conservative Cllr Peter Hebden said the rate of exclusions amongst those pupils with EHCPs was “of concern”.

And he asked whether the authority intervened early enough to try and prevent exclusions.

He said permanent exclusions were “not in the interests of the child” – pointing to impact on future job prospects and vulnerability to criminality.

And he suggested that sometimes exclusions have been used as “a last resort” by schools, who have not had the support they needed for that child.

He pointed to children who could then be out of school for ‘a year or two years’ – possibly then ending up in an independent setting, “which is costing a lot of money”.

“Whereas if the intervention and support had gone to the school early enough, then that could have been prevented,” he suggested.

And he added: “Are the schools getting the support they need? Because I think the evidence suggests that they are not.”

In response to concerns about the relatively high number of permanent exclusions amongst those with EHCPs, the council’s strategic lead for intelligence and insight David Butcher suggested that, to some degree, it was “a quirk of the data because of our relatively low overall rates”.

“Nationally there is also a much higher rate for children with EHCPs,” he said.

“But it is particularly noticeable in Hertfordshire in terms of the data.”

Mr Butcher also pointed to the investment in and increased capacity of the school age SEND service.

And he stressed that headteachers did not permanently exclude lightly.

Director of integration and skills Hero Slinn said it was “absolutely” a national problem – and said there were “a number of factors contributing to why that is”.

But pointing to the ability of schools to be more inclusive, she highlighted the “conflicting policies that do exist” and the “restraints on resource”.

She told councillors that she thought there was more that they could do, but that Hertfordshire was “not an outlier”.

And she said: “And that message mustn’t be lost in terms of that disproportion that we are seeing.”

Meanwhile director of education Tony Fitzpatrick, a former Hertfordshire headteacher, said: “I’ve never yet met a headteacher that wants to permanently exclude – but you get to that position in the end that you know that it’s very difficult to do anything else.

“So the important bit is not getting to that point. And that is the bit that I think you are saying, is we need to be doing more. And I am very keen that we do more to support schools earlier on.”

He said that having been a headteacher he was keen to make sure that the authority is working alongside schools at this earliest stage possible, to support schools and to support the pupils in school.

ADDITIONAL data presented to the education, libraries and lifelong learning cabinet panel showed that more than 250 children were permanently excluded from Hertfordshire schools last year (2023/24).

During the course of the academic year the data shows that the county council was notified by schools of their intention to permanently exclude 355 pupils.

But 98 of those were cancelled or withdrawn – leaving an overall total of 257 permanent exclusion.

Where the authority was notified of the school’s intention to permanently exclude, the most common reason – given 167 times – was “persistent disruptive behaviour”.

In 70 cases schools reported instances of “physical assault against a pupil”. And there were 30 reports of “physical assault against an adult”.

In 26 instances the reason given was “use or threat of use of an offensive weapon”. And in 21 cases the reason recorded was “drug or alcohol related”.

The number of permanent exclusions recorded in 2023/24 is 25 higher than the 232 recorded the previous year (2022/23).