Evaluation of Education Provision for Children and Young People Educated Outside of the School Setti

Descriptions

The purpose of the research is to inform the development of policy relating to the provision of education for children and young people educated outside the school setting, within the context of recommendations made in the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008) and those set out in the Behaving and Attending Action Plan (Welsh Assembly Government, 2009). The project will commence in January 2012 and will complete in July 2012. The National Behaviour and Attendance Review The National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) was published in 2008. This independent review was commissioned by the Welsh Government to shape and develop approaches to behaviour and attendance issues, including exclusion and education other than at school (EOTAS) provision. Exclusion from school The National Behaviour and Attendance Review found that, whilst there is adequate guidance on managing exclusions from the Welsh Government, in practice, the implementation processes vary considerably from authority to authority; and that significant school variation, in the policy and practice in managing actual and potential exclusions, also exists. The Review recommends putting into place an additional national point of appeal following the independent appeal panel. The national panel would be overseen by the Welsh Government and should include head teacher representatives with the aim of testing whether greater objectivity would be achieved in a more neutral setting. The Welsh Government view is that if there was to be a national appeal panel it would replace the local authority run independent appeal panels rather than it being a further stage. Out of school education provision The Review highlights the challenges local authorities and schools face in ensuring adequate and high quality out-of-school provision for those who require it, whether this is due to their being excluded from mainstream schools, or as a short-term provision to get pupils back on track, or any other reason such as illness or motherhood.It is a requirement for local authorities to assess and make arrangements for excluded pupils to receive full-time education within 16 days of their exclusion. Evidence and feedback from local authorities suggests that many have difficulty in providing this within the required timescales. The National Behaviour and Attendance Review recommends the Welsh Government introduce legislation to require local authorities to provide full-time education (25 hours at Key Stage 4) within 10 days of the permanent exclusion taking place.The Review highlights the variation in the types and quality of EOTAS, which is largely for excluded pupils or those in danger of exclusion. Whilst the number of pupils who are receiving local authority funded EOTAS is relatively small (around 2,400) these learners will form a significant proportion of those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The Welsh Government response to the National Behaviour and Attendance Review took the form of the Behaving and Attending Action Plan which was launched in March 2009. The Action Plan aims to impact positively on the lives of children and young people by putting in place new methods and processes to develop an improved, cohesive approach to promoting positive behaviour and attendance and help develop consistent practices across Wales. The Action Plan has recently been revised and updated to focus firmly on the priorities set out in the Minister for Education and Skills, Leighton Andrews’ speech, of 2nd February, Teaching Makes a Difference . A review of EOTAS was undertaken as part of the previous action plan, involving local authority behaviour support managers, teachers in charge of pupil referral units and Estyn. This was well-received and was released on the Welsh Government web pages in August 2011. This is in the form of a ‘living’ action plan which can be readily adapted to reflect wider developments and priorities . Planning, commissioning and delivering education outside the school setting The underlying principle in delivering education to children and young people educated outside the school setting is the need to ensure equality of opportunity and the right of children and young people to receive high quality education, no matter where that education may be delivered – as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) - which has been fully adopted by the Welsh Government. The provision of full-time education (defined as 25 hours for KS4) of equivalent learning for a pupil outside of a mainstream class is, however, expensive. Focusing on both improving the standard of EOTAS and value for money achieved through planning and commissioning of education could release funding for other purposes and ensure that those pupils who are receiving EOTAS are receiving the best quality education and are more likely to be reintegrated into mainstream education or training. Multi-agency workingThe needs of children and young people educated outside the school setting are often complex and require interventions from a range of partners other than schools and the education departments of local authorities, e.g. social services departments, voluntary sector organisations, youth offending teams, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Local Children and young people’s partnerships are required under Shared Planning for Better Outcomes, to work together to improve outcomes.The National Behaviour and Attendance Review concluded that for partnership working to be successful, there is a need to develop integrated systems around planning and partnerships that support multi-agency working. A number of systems, including needs assessment, service mapping, inspection, outcome measures, workforce planning, joint commissioning, common terminology and effective early assessment of individuals, form part of this broader agenda.Joint commissioning of servicesThe Welsh Government wishes to increase the use of joint commissioning to provide services for children and young people. Each Children and Young People’s Plan provides a basis for joint commissioning locally. Shared Planning for Better Outcomes (Welsh Assembly Government, 2007) reinforces the requirement to consider opportunities to use pooled funding. Pooled funding can be particularly valuable in providing services for children and young people with complex needs who require packages of care from a number of agencies and partners. A joint approach to commissioning services for the small number of young people whose emotional, social, behavioural and perhaps mental health needs are so great that they cannot readily be met by the existing resources of any one agency could, for example, lead to a development of more local, accessible resources reducing the need to make placements in distant expensive settings, with all the attendant risks and costs this can involve (WAG, 2008).Research purpose, aims and objectivesPurposeThe purpose of the research is to inform the development of policy relating to the provision of education for children and young people educated outside the school setting, within the context of recommendations made in the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (WAG, 2008) and actions set out in the Behaving and Attending Action Plan (WAG, 2011). Aim Undertake an evaluation of education provision for children and young people educated outside of the school setting, focusing on the issues and recommendations raised in the NBAR. Where possible and appropriate, the successful contract will quantify the extent to which the issues exist across Wales. The specific objectives of the research are to:1.Assess the effectiveness of the exclusion process in terms of the extent to which exclusion from Schools and Pupil Referral Units (Welsh Assembly Government, 2006) is consistently applied across schools and local authorities and results in equality of outcomes for children and young people. 2.Assess the effectiveness of the delivery, planning and commissioning of education for children and young people educated outside of the school setting in terms of the effectiveness of practices and processes in achieving: •Equitable outcomes for children and young people - provision of education for children and young people which is based on need and facilitates their reintegration into mainstream education or training•Legislative requirements - consistency in quantity and quality of education within statutory timeframes•Value for money - providing education for children and young people which is both equitable and economical. 3.To make recommendations on: •Whether establishing a National Independent Appeal Panel to replace those currently run by local authorities would improve the equity of outcomes for children and young people•How feasible would it be to reduce the statutory requirement for local authorities to provide full-time education for children and young people outside of the school setting from 15 days to 10 days •How inequalities in both the quality and quantity of education provision for children and young people could be reduced•How improvements can be achieved in the re-integration rates of EOTAS learners back into mainstream education and training •How the planning and commissioning of alternative provision could be improved to increase benefits for the local authorities and individual learners•How partnership working across agencies and services working with young people can be encouraged and implemented •How local authorities can work collaboratively, particularly in established consortia, to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of EOTAS.•The cost implications for the various forms of provisions and how provision can be made in the most cost-effective manner.To achieve the aim and objectives of the research, the successful contractor will answer the following questions: A.Exclusion processTo what extent: i.Are the reasons given by schools to exclude young people consistent with Welsh Government guidance?ii.Do schools’ Pupil Discipline and Exclusion Committees and local authority run Independent Appeal Panels consistently adhere to the practices and processes set out in Welsh Government guidance? iii.Do the decisions made by Discipline Committees and Independent Appeal Panels consistently result in equitable outcomes for young people across schools and local authorities?Where inconsistencies across schools and local authorities exist in practice and are demonstrated through outcomes, the successful contractor is expected to identify explanatory factors and to make recommendations to improve consistency and adherence to guidance. This will include consideration of the creation of a National Independent Appeal Panel to replace those run locally by local authorities.B. Delivery, planning and commissioningIn terms of the delivery, planning and commissioning of provision for young people educated outside of the school setting, the successful contractor will answer the following questions: i.To what extent is the quantity of education for children and young people educated outside of the school setting consistent across local authorities ? That is:•To what extent is there variation in the degree to which full-time education outside of the school setting is provided for young people across local authorities within statutory timeframes? Which children and young people, in what settings, are provided with full-time education, which are not?•Where local authorities are fulfilling the requirements, what factors enable them to do this?•Where local authorities are not fulfilling the current requirements, what factors prevent them from doing this? The successful contractor is expected to assess whether it is feasible, and would be effective, for local authorities not fulfilling current requirements, to adopt approaches used in local authorities that are fulfilling current requirements. ii.To what extent is there variation in the quality of education outside of the school setting provided across local authorities? That is, education which is based on the needs and capabilities of individual learners and provides them with the highest level of basic skills and qualifications possible. iii.How effective are local authorities in reintegrating children and young people back into mainstream education and training? •What practices are effective for which children and young people, in what settings?•Where local authorities have a high reintegration rate, what factors facilitate this? What factors act as barriers to reintegration? •Would it be feasible, and effective, for local authorities not achieving high reintegration rates to adopt approaches used in more successful local authorities? iv.To what extent is partnership working taking place in the delivery, planning and commissioning of education provision for children and young people educated outside the school setting? This will include an assessment of:•What approaches/ models have been adopted across local authorities? Which partners are included? •The effectiveness of models of partnership working in terms of:odelivering full-time education within the statutory timeframeofacilitating early interventionodelivering education which is of a high quality - is based on need, facilitates re-integration of children and young people into mainstream education and has equitable outcomes.•What factors facilitate effective partnership working across local authorities, what factors act as barriers?•How can effective partnership working be encouraged and implemented across Welsh local authorities?v.To what extent do local authorities pool resources across agencies/ service providers when commissioning education provision for children and young people educated outside of the school setting? •What approaches/ models have been adopted across local authorities? Which agencies/ services are involved?•How effective are models of joint commissioning in terms of delivering cost-effective full-time education within the statutory timeframe?•What factors facilitate effective joint commissioning, what factors act as barriers? •How can effective joint commissioning be encouraged and implemented across Welsh local authorities?vi.To what extent is there variation across local authorities in the costs of provision for children and young people educated outside of the school setting? This will include an assessment of: •the costs of existing models of education provision adopted by local authorities•factors which impact on the cost of education provision - for example, quantity and quality of provision, partnership working, joint commissioning, socio-economic context, geographic location •Costs associated with providing education for children outside of the school setting if the current requirement is reduced to 10 days.