A new book examined pupil disaffection in schools in England. Drawing on observational methods, it said that disaffection was layered and contextual, affected by a wide variety of pupil experiences, from which they interpreted, understood and acted out their identities.
Source: Sarah Swann, Pupil Disaffection in Schools: Bad boys and hard girls, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Dec
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that some local authorities did not know enough about the levels of education received by children and young people who were not in full-time education in the usual way. The report said that inspectors had found insufficient provision, low expectations, and poor information sharing. It also said that some local authorities were failing to arrange, and monitor properly the effectiveness of, education for children directly in their care. Recommendations included: better recording of information; better information sharing between relevant organizations; clear lines of responsibility; and ongoing inspection. The report highlighted examples of effective practice.
Source: Pupils Missing Out on Education: Low aspirations, little access, limited achievement, HMI 130048, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Nov
An article presented data drawn from interviews with a range of service providers and with the parents of pupils permanently excluded from alternative provision in England. The interviews with service providers illustrated the complex and contingent nature of their relations with the parents, as well as fundamental inconsistencies in the way the latter were regarded. Service providers' perceptions were partly shaped by the degree to which parents appeared to comply with their suggestions, and by the level of resources (financial, personal, and social) that parents had at their disposal.
Source: Gale Macleod, Anne Pirrie, Gillean McCluskey, and MairiAnn Cullen, 'Parents of excluded pupils: customers, partners, problems?', Educational Review, Volume 65 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Oct
The coalition government published its response to two reports by the children's rights watchdog on school exclusions. It rejected a call for schools found guilty of making illegal exclusions to be fined. It said that most schools acted lawfully, that existing monitoring and inspection arrangements were adequate, and that it wanted to avoided imposing 'bureaucratic burdens' on schools.
Source: The Children's Commissioner's Reports, 'They Go the Extra Mile' and 'Always Someone Else's Problem': The Government's Response, Department for Education
Links: Response
See also: OCC report (1) | OCC report (2)
Date: 2013-Aug
The children's watchdog for England said that schools should be heavily fined if they falsified registers to cover up illegal exclusions.
Source: 'Always Someone Else's Problem', Office of the Children's Commissioner | Richard White, Emily Lamont, and Helen Aston, OCC School Exclusions Inquiry: Perspectives of Teaching Staff and Other Professionals, National Foundation for Educational Research
Links: Report | OCC press release | NFER report | ASCL press release | ATL press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Apr
The children's watchdog for England said that there was an unacceptably high correlation between a pupil's background (gender, ethnicity, and whether or not they had a special educational need) and the likelihood of permanent exclusion from school.
Source: 'They Go the Extra Mile': Reducing inequality in school exclusions, Office of the Children's Commissioner
Links: Report | OCC press release | ASCL press release
Date: 2013-Mar
A new book examined how bullying could affect young people in the school environment, focusing on bullying on the grounds of sex and sexual orientation.
Source: Ian Rivers and Neil Duncan (eds), Bullying: Experiences and discourses of sexuality and gender, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jan
