A focus group of school leaders has warned that a reluctance to admit and support vulnerable pupils means some schools and multi-academy trusts have become “no go areas” for young people being brought up in the care system, the University of Exeter has reported.
Professors Neil Harrison and David Hall from the University of Exeter and Judy Sebba from the University of Oxford drew on focus group discussions with 26 virtual school heads – senior leaders in local authorities with statutory responsibility for supporting the education of children in care through advocacy and engagement with local schools.
The academics stated that while government policy says children in care should be the top priority for school admissions, schools and multi-academy trusts increasingly find ways to delay their entry or use punitive sanction policies to quickly exclude them. This disrupts their time in school and means their educational outcomes are significantly below national averages.
Harrison said: “Our research shows the chances for young people in care are strongly tied to the educational and governmental ecosystem where they live. Although virtual school heads did mention individual schools and trusts who were supportive of children in care, they reported a widespread reluctance to admit these pupils. Some talked about having issues with ‘one or two’ schools, but for others this resistance was universal in their area.
“Virtual school heads understood the pressures on school funding and the need to showcase good examination results, but were also frustrated that schools were not more empathetic towards young people experiencing profound challenges in their lives.
“Even where a young person was eventually admitted, virtual school heads often felt they were being set up to fail by inflexible school policies and an unwillingness to meet their social, emotional or mental health needs.”