Your say / Education
‘We need to look at the issues behind youth violence headlines’
Can you imagine headlines blaming A&E for injuries due to youth violence? That wouldn’t make sense so why are schools like ours blamed for wider issues in society?
Knife crime is definitely not caused by exclusion from mainstream schools and the schools that I run under the Learn@ Multi Academy Trust, where excluded pupils and those at risk of exclusion are taught (pupil referral units or alternative provisions), do not encourage youth violence.
What we need to do is look behind the issues in society that are behind the headlines.
is needed now More than ever
Perhaps we need to consider why permanent exclusions from mainstream schools have risen to 41 pupils a day in England. Bristol is bucking the trend by reducing secondary permanent exclusions, but we all see increasing pressures on schools that risk undermining the achievements made so far.
There isn’t a typical pupil who is excluded, but some are more at risk than others.
And the most at risk are our most vulnerable. Particularly at risk of exclusion are pupils who have additional learning needs, who may struggle with literacy and are falling behind in their progress.
This is a group who are able to access less and less support in mainstream settings because of financial cuts to schools’ SEN budgets and a reduction in mainstream staff dedicated to supporting them.
The huge deficit in Bristol’s SEN high needs budget means there is little prospect of an improvement in funding any time soon.
Parents in Bristol protested against cuts to SEND provision and won a high court battle against the council
When pupils are referred to our Learn@ Alternative Provisions, we carefully assess their learning and speech and language needs because we know that many come to us with undiagnosed and therefore unmet needs.
Recently, a younger pupil made 54 months of progress in his reading in three months. In our academies we can support pupils’ social needs so they can begin to learn in a classroom and with targeted teaching and expert support, can thrive.
It’s Friday afternoon and staff are gathered in the staff room to speak to Sam, 19, who has visited and is catching us up on what he’s been doing since he left St Matthias four years ago.
No knife crime, no stint in prison just a genuinely lovely young man who has trained as an electrician and who has hopes and dreams for his future.
When asked what he thought of his nine months at the school for those who’ve been excluded from mainstream schools (like Sam) or those at risk of exclusion, he says: “St Matthias made me a better person. I was a so-and-so before, but the focused teaching and one-to-one support helped make a difference. It made me more mature and ready for life.”
So the current headlines linking exclusions and knife crime, criticising pupil referral units and alternative provisions tell one tiny part of a bigger picture.
We can’t blame the media for focusing on attention-grabbing headlines, but we have to pick up the pieces with our parents and pupils. We have to convince them that an exclusion from school is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a different journey that can be life-changing as in Sam’s case.
The job of managing the behaviours of pupils whose needs are beyond what mainstream schools can offer is hugely challenging. However, the rewards are boundless
Aileen Morrison is the executive principal for alternative provision at Learn@ Multi Academy Trust. She manages two alternative provision academies across four sites in Bristol and Bath.
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