Sussex pupils with special educational needs more likely to be excluded from school
A report out today reveals suspensions and exclusions are expected to rise by a fifth - with some groups affected more than others
Sussex pupils with special educational needs are more likely to be excluded from school, a report out today reveals.
Suspensions are predicted to have risen by a fifth over the past year, with children from poorer backgrounds and mental health issues also more likely to face exclusion.
A new “Who’s Losing Learning Solutions" council is setting out how the education sector should respond having heard evidence from parents, school leaders, and other relevant organisations.
Crawley mum Amanda Edwards' son has autism and attended a mainstream primary school.
She says children with special educational needs are "definitely more likely to be excluded than children with no disability."
"I think this is because mainstream facilities are unable to facilitate their needs.
"There aren't enough special education settings, provisions, schools, for the children that require them."
Children interacting with social services because their lives are unsafe are also permanently excluded at eight times, and severely absent from school at over five times, the national rate.
Kiran Gill, IPPR associate fellow and CEO of The Difference, said:
“The past four years, post-pandemic, have seen an alarming rise in children losing learning.
“We should all be worried about the social injustice that the most marginalised children - who already have the biggest barriers to opportunity outside of school - are those most likely to be not in classrooms through absence, suspension and exclusion.
“Over the next six months, the Who’s Losing Learning Coalition will be hearing evidence on how mainstream schools can evolve to better serve the needs of all children – especially those struggling with their mental health.
“We know that many teachers and school leaders are stepping towards this challenge, and innovating in their classrooms and communities.
“But too often they are doing this against the tide of the incentives around them, without the professional development and practice sharing they most need or at a remove from the services they need most to collaborate with.
“In our second solutions paper we’ll put forward solutions to change this picture, built from the hard work already going on up and down the country, against the odds.”