16-19 Participation in education

Written Evidence Submitted by The Children’s Society

1. Introduction and key points

1.1 The Children’s Society welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the Education Committee inquiry into participation in education and training of young people aged 16-19 years. The Children’s Society is concerned with the welfare of all children and young people, but especially those who are at risk of social exclusion and discrimination. Our organisation works across England and has a well-developed practice base working directly with children and young people in a range of school, community and specialist projects. We have a wealth of experience working with disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs. We have chosen to focus our response on issues that have emerged from our research and practice with disabled children and young people.

1.2 Analysis of the 2001 census indicates that 7% of all children are disabled. This means there are 770,000 disabled children in the UK. That equates to one child in 201. The recent Ofsted report notes that past the age of 16, young people with learning difficulties or disabilities comprise one of the groups most likely not to be in education, employment or training. [1]

1.3 It is therefore imperative that in reviewing the participation of 16-19s in education the Education Committee should not overlook the needs of young people with disabilities and special educational needs. Within this inquiry we would like to see a specific focus on disability and separate section of the Committee’s final report examining the needs of this group. We would particularly like to see the focus on:

- Transition to post-16 education and training and support that disabled young people and young people with special educational needs (SEN) receive in their earlier school careers

- Levels of support for disabled young people and young people with SEN and attitudes to disability in post-16 education and training

- Choice and accessibility of post-16 education and training for disabled young people

- Impact of admission and exclusion policies on access to education for disabled children and young people and children and young people with SEN

- Disability awareness training for workforce involved in post-16 education and training

- Transition planning for disabled young people leaving education at 18.

1.4 The Children’s Society supports an inclusive education for all children in schools that have the resources, support and trained staff to ensure that children’s experience of school is positive and where they can develop to their full potential. The Children’s Society aspires for every disabled child to receive the highest possible quality of education, involving an engaging, well-rounded and creative curriculum for learning, founded on an understanding of children’s capacities and the flexibility to respond to their individual needs. The Children’s Society believes every school should be a community where children feel valued themselves as individuals, mix with and learn about a wide diversity of different children and their families, and do not face barriers or less favourable treatment on the basis of their race, disability or family circumstances.

2 The preparations necessary for the gradual raising of the participation age to 18 years, including current state of readiness

2.1 Children entering post-16 education need to have choice about their education and training options. Choice is currently constrained by accessibility, varying levels of support and attitudes towards disability. Despite recent legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 and the Equalities Act 2010, schools and colleges are at very different stages of meeting their obligations towards disabled children and young people. A 2004 Ofsted report highlighted that over half the schools visited had no accessibility plans and that only a minority of mainstream schools met special needs very well. An NOP survey from 2003 shows that only 10% of secondary schools were fully accessible. [2] While one would expect there to have been some improvement during the intervening years, it is the case that very many schools still fail to provide an environment that is accessible for young people with a range of disabilities.

2.2 The Time 4 Change young people’s group based at The Children’s Society’s PACT project in York has demonstrated how effective young people can be in helping to create an inclusive environment in schools. The report and DVD Disability Equality in Schools: Working in partnership with disabled young people (available from The Children’s Society) has inspired young people’s involvement in many schools. One head teacher commented, ‘this initiative has enabled us to make really essential changes to the school that we would not have been aware of. Disabled young people were an extra pair of expert eyes that every school needs when they work through their disability equality scheme’.

2.3 Choice can also be constrained by discriminatory admissions policies. Research and inspection reports indicate that children with disabilities and special educational needs continue to lose out due to poor admissions policies and practices. [3] The recent Ofsted report noted that the real choice of education and training opportunities for those aged 16 and over is particularly limited for disabled young people and those with special educational needs. The Children’s Society is concerned that an increasingly selective and independent market will only exacerbate this lack of choice.

2.4 Not all special schools have a 6th form and so many young people who have received an education in this setting struggle to move into further education. Arrangements are far from satisfactory as young people often stay in their special school and are provided with an individual programme and accompanied by a support worker to access provision out of school. This can be complex to set up and can result in gaps in education due to the amount of time this can take to organise. It also means that young people staying in their special school are kept with younger children and their experience is not at all similar to their non-disabled peers.

2.5 The lack of staff skills and knowledge in relation to disability have also been raised as a problem by the young people that we work with. Teachers receive little initial teacher training in identifying and working with special educational needs and some schools lack a system directing teachers to how to apply for and arrange support. We are particularly concerned that communication support needs, including speech therapy services, are scarce in secondary education. This needs to be addressed in both pre- and post-16 settings if children are to be enabled to engage effectively with education.

2.6 Participation and consultation with pupils to shape education provision is key to effective engagement in learning. The importance of taking the views, wishes and feelings of children and young people into account in relation to decisions about their care and education is clearly reflected in a range of legislation, [4] yet despite these good intentions the experience of many disabled children and young people is that they are rarely consulted and involved in decisions about their education. In our experience, those with communication impairments are often not involved in the development of their personal education plan, not invited to their transition planning meeting and often not consulted about school placements.

2.7 Transition support for students moving to post-16 education is often poor. The Children’s Society’s consultation with children and young people about their experiences of education in York noted that none of the students with learning disabilities in post-16 education had received support with the transition from secondary school to post-sixteen education prior to starting post-16 education. [5] A more robust and systematic approach to transition across schools is called for, particularly in managing transitions between secondary schools and college or work.

3 The impact of raising the participation age on areas such as academic achievement, access to vocational education and training, student attendance and behaviour and alternative provision

3.1 Raising the age of participation is likely to impact positively on levels of achievement if schools and colleges are ambitious for all of their pupils, including those who have disabilities and special educational needs. The recent Ofsted report noted that high aspirations and a focus on enabling children and young people to be as independent as possible led most reliably to the best achievement. There are excellent examples of well-resourced schools which have a climate of acceptance of all pupils, including those who have complex needs. These schools have fully embraced the accommodations and adaptations required for disabled children and young people in their locality. Moreover, they concentrate on being responsive to the needs of the individual child. They recognize that positive inclusion requires realistic staff pupil ratios; quality training for all staff, pupils and governors on disability awareness; a range of forms of support for pupils and teachers; and, a culture of high expectations and a commitment to ensuring all pupils can access the whole life of the school.

3.2 In order to effectively engage young people aged 16-19 years in education, it is important that they have been engaged and supported earlier in their school careers. The Children’s Society is concerned about the high level of exclusions of children and young people with special educational needs as 2007 figures from the DCSF show. [6] Disabled pupils and those with SEN need help and support in accessing education. Too often disabled children and children with special educational needs are not adequately supported and this can result in a lack of engagement and behavioural problems. In many cases such problems are addressed through a disciplinary route and result in a high number of exclusions. Children who are turned off education in this way are less likely to want to engage at 16-19. Moreover, developing effective engagement and policies to support disabled young people who are in education at 16-19 would help avoid such problems at this later stage in their education.

3.3 Attendance and behaviour are both likely to be improved if children and young people fully participate in shaping educational provision. As noted above, recent legislation and guidance have set out a strong framework for children’s participation yet the 2007 MORI Schools Omnibus Survey with secondary school pupils found that just 5% of pupils felt they had helped to design the curriculum at their school. From research and our own practice in schools we have seen the positive impact of involving pupils in decision making within schools. Involving pupils can improve their knowledge and skills in relation to becoming active citizens and members of their local community and it can lead to better school performance in relation to behaviour, engagement and attainment.

3.4 Improvements in transition planning for those leaving education at 18 will be needed if children are to fully realize their potential. We know from our experience working with disabled young people and those with special educational needs that transition from school to adult life can be an extremely stressful experience for them and their families. A number of factors can improve this experience such as adequate preparation, the full involvement of the young person in the planning process, a lead professional, and a transparent process. Young people in our York consultation reported talking to learning support tutors, education care officers and tutors about future options. [7] We are concerned however that there is a lack of specialist careers advice for young people with disabilities and the demise of the Connexions service will further hinder this group’s ability to access appropriate employment.

3.5 Disabled young people and young people with special educational needs require greater support to access vocational training and work experience. Many disabled young people are unable to access volunteer placements. Furthermore, the previous Government chose to focus resources on NVQ levels II and III, largely unachievable for many learning disabled young people. The Children’s Society’s PACT project in York has been funded by the Big Lottery to develop ‘Reaching Out’, which is a programme of work giving disabled young people 16-25 years old the opportunity to gain work experience and placements with local businesses and voluntary organisations. The project aims to offer volunteering opportunities alongside an accredited course to give young people a base line qualification to move on to further college courses. The project also provides training and support for job interviews and workplace behaviours and communication. Such experiences help disabled young people gain confidence and independence while gaining recognition for new skills and volunteering in the community. Developing such skills and relationships help young people find paid employment in the future. The opportunities afforded through the project are very different from traditional day centre / service provision and have included gardening, being a room steward, office work, cleaning, web-based research, reception duties, and youth work. To-date the project has been successful in supporting a significant number of young people but it should be noted that this requires an investment in sessional staff, recruitment and training of volunteer staff to support the young people, disability training awareness for the workplace, and time spent developing links with local employers. It has been critical to the success of the project that support is flexible, tailored to individual needs and respectful. At the end of year one: thirty-one young people have participated in a diverse range of volunteering and learning experiences; one young person has gained paid work as a direct result of the experience gained as a volunteer; 90% of the young people who have undertaken voluntary work are still actively involved with their volunteering opportunity; three disabled young people have achieved their V-fifty Award for volunteering. We believe schemes based on this model from The Children’s Society should be rolled out nationally. We would be happy to provide the Education Committee with further details of the scheme.

28th March 2011