28 February 2001

Schools Minister Jacqui Smith today welcomed the OFSTED report into attendance and behaviour which highlighted special inspections of ten secondary schools with disproportionately high levels of truancy or exclusions.

She also revealed that nearly 560 extra staff had been employed at Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) since 1997 which was helping to improve standards and to deliver a full-time education for excluded pupils in an increasing number of authorities. The number of in-school Learning Support Units (LSUs) has already reached 1,000 a year ahead of schedule.

Jacqui Smith was presenting the Truancy Buster Awards in London today. The awards are given to 50 schools which have done the most to reduce truancy or to maintain high attendance over the last three years.

She said:

"Good schools prevent truancy and maintain discipline well. Today's report focusing on schools which have had a more challenging record offers valuable lessons on what works well - good practice that we are committed to making available widely.

"That's why we provided £131 million to tackle truancy, improve discipline and educate excluded pupils in 2000-01 and next year this will increase by a third to £174 million - ten times the level available in 1996-97. Extra resources are also being provided through Excellence in Cities and the Children's Fund.

"These resources have helped the schools which are tackling truancy successfully, highlighted today.

"They mean that we now have 1,000 in-school learning support units established for about 10,000 pupils at any one time. This network, designed to get badly behaved pupils out of the class quickly, has been delivered a year ahead of the original target date. The further expansion of Excellence in Cities and the Excellence Clusters programme will provide around an additional 140 units. OFSTED is right to stress the importance of pupils being taught to behave in such units as well as their having a clear programme which matches the pupils' needs and encourages effective re-integration. They are proving very popular with schools, heads and teachers and are helping improve discipline.

"We are giving heads the full support they need to tackle disruptive and violent behaviour, including the use of exclusion where appropriate. We have clarified the exclusion guidance to emphasise that heads can permanently exclude pupils who are very disruptive or violent. And the new guidance for exclusion appeal panels makes clear that the head's decision to exclude should not be overridden in a range of circumstances, including where there is violence or the threat of violence.

"We recognise that improving behaviour also means better attention to teaching. As Mike Tomlinson said in his annual report, the worst behaviour often begins to surface in the early years of secondary school. We intend to tackle that with a programme to improve standards particularly for 11 to 14 year olds. We also intend to improve greatly the opportunities for those over 14 to take vocational programmes, including GCSEs and apprenticeships."

There is also a growing trend for pupils at risk of exclusion to attend off-site PRUs. Such placements are frequently successful - particularly for Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils. OFSTED's 1995 report on the first 12 PRUs inspected showed low pupil attainment, sub-standard teaching quality and work programmes which were making little impact on the low level of students' reading and writing.

OFSTED's most recent annual report on 1999-2000 inspections highlighted the improving performance of PRUs and said that many of the units were planning to move to full-time provision from September 2000, as well as offering a wider curriculum to students with a strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy. Teaching was now reported as satisfactory or better in nine out of ten PRUs and pupils in most units were making satisfactory or better progress.

Jacqui Smith added:

"We are seeing a transformation in the education provided to excluded pupils and we are committed to driving up standards for all pupils, including the most challenging and difficult. Between 1997 and 2000, the number of places at PRUs has increased by over 1,000.

"Over the same period the number of full-time equivalent teachers, instructors and education support staff increased by 559, including nearly 300 teachers and instructors. Local Education Authorities are planning to spend 13 per cent more on PRUs and behaviour support plans this year compared to last and we expect there to be a ten per cent rise in the number of PRUs between 2000 and 2001.

"In the past excluded pupils often received only 2/3 hours education each week. All local authorities will move to a full timetable for excluded pupils by September 2002: in January 2000 a third of PRUs were providing full-time education and two-thirds 13 or more hours per week. The most recent LEA plans indicate that by September 2001 nearly two thirds of authorities will be making full time provision for excluded secondary pupils. We regard such provision as an absolute priority for LEAs and given that it is being properly resourced, will not regard it as acceptable for any authority to avoid making such provision by 2002."

Editor's Notes

1. Improving Attendance and Behaviour in Secondary Schools is available free of
charge from OFSTED's distribution centre on 07002 637833 or alternatively on the Website at www.ofsted.gov.uk. The schools inspected were:
Benfield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Bishop Thomas Grant, Lambeth; Copperfields College, Leeds; Ducie High, Manchester; King George V, South Tyneside; Lees Brook Community, Derby; The McEntee, Waltham Forest; Queen Elizabeth High School, Rochdale; Rosebridge High, Wigan; and Whalley Range High, Manchester.

The inspection report 'Improving Attendance and Behaviour in Secondary Schools' inspected ten secondary schools with disproportionately high levels of truancy or exclusions and a further 80 where truancy and exclusion rates were above the national average in 1999/2000 at the request of Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett. The report's findings show:
· strong leadership and consistent systems for monitoring attendance are key to cutting truancy;
· attitudes of parents are also important - schools which made headway on attendance began to counter casual attitudes on the part of some parents; and
· schools are getting better at responding to difficult behaviour. Most teachers managed the behaviour of most pupils well most of the time, though a minority of pupils were less willing to co-operate.

2. Jacqui Smith was speaking at the DfEE's Truancy Busters event at the New Connaught Rooms, in Holborn WC2, presenting 50 awards to schools leading the way in cutting truancy.

3. The OFSTED findings, which confirm advice given in DfEE Circular 10/99 'Social Inclusion: Pupil Support', show that as well as explicit behaviour policies and sound guidance on exercising discipline, teachers need to be consistent in applying sanctions. A lack of consistency allows some pupils to exploit situations and disrupt others' education. Another finding is that the greater the range of sanctions available, the fewer the pupils who end up being permanently excluded from school.

4. The most recent Annual Schools Census figures for PRUs show that the number of pupils solely registered at PRUs has increased from 7,530 to 8,479 since 1997 and the number of dually registered pupils from 4,403 to 4,586. The number of full-time equivalent teachers and instructors at PRUs has increased from 1,779 to 2,070 and the number of education support assistants from 382 to 650. A third of PRUs reported providing full-time education and two thirds 13 or more hours per week. Last year there were 295 PRUs. A ten per cent increase in PRUs would create a further 30 units.

5. The DfEE's letter of 21 January 2000 to Chief Education Officers clarified the guidance on the use of exclusion and the letter of 4 August 2000 revised the guidance for exclusion appeal panels.

Contact Details

Public enquiries: 0870 000 2288, info@dfee.gov.uk
News Desk 020 7925 6789, news.desk@dfee.gov.uk

Press Notice 2001/0112