Equality Impact Assessment - School Exclusion Procedure/Guidance

Function being assessed:

School Exclusion Procedure/Guidance
Exclusion data collection

Is this a new function or a review of an existing function?

Review of existing function

What are the aims/purpose of the function?

To provide advice and guidance to Head Teachers of Schools & PRU, School Governors and Parents on the use of exclusion from school (whether for a fixed period or permanently); roles and responsibilities
Annual training provided to school governors on their’ role in the exclusion process
Support/guidance provided to parents and individual pupils
To ensure a consistent approach by schools on the use of exclusion
To ensure all exclusions are treated in a fair and equitable manner and that they adhere to legislation including the appeal process
To ensure that consideration is given to all possible alternatives are that exclusion is considered the action of last resort

Is the function designed to meet specific needs such as the needs of minority ethnic groups, older people, disabled people etc?

All pupils attending RBK schools are covered by this function. The aim is to ensure that exclusion is used appropriately in a fair and equal manner and that the use of exclusion by schools is robustly monitored.

What information has been gathered on this function? (Indicate the type of information gathered e.g. statistics, consultation, other monitoring information)? Attach a summary or refer to where the evidence can be found.

Exclusion data relating to gender, SEN and ethnicity is collected on a continual basis. Latest secondary school exclusion data relates to academic year 2007/8:

Gender

	MALE	FEMALE
No of individuals excluded	234	133
Excludees as % of gender total	6.7	3.4
Excludees as % of total school population	3.2	1.8

SEN (data collection does not identified whether a pupil is registered ‘disabled’)

Total number of Actual Exclusions	Excludee not on Code of Practice at time of exclusion	Excludee at School Action at time of exclusion	Excludee at School Action+ at time of exclusion	Excludee with a Statement at time of exclusion
584	302	137	128	17

Ethnicity (secondary)

	WBR	WI	WOTH	MWBC	MWBA	MWA	OM	BAFR	BCRB	BOTH	AIND	APKN	ABAN	AOTA	CHNE	OOEG /NOBT
1	247	1	12	9	8	6	14	19	7	3	6	3	1	22	0	9
2	4392	58	473	100	61	150	194	184	46	44	333	152	36	623	114	433
3	5.6	1.7	2.5	9	13.1	4	7.2	10.3	15.2	6.8	1.8	2	2.8	3.5	0	2.1
4	3.3	0.01	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.04	0.1	0.04	0.01	0.3	0	0.1
5	67.3	0.3	3.3	2.5	2.2	1.6	3.8	5.2	1.9	0.8	1.6	0.8	0.3	6	0	2.5

Total Number of individuals excluded
Total number of ethnic group in secondary schools
Excludees as % of ethnic group
Excludees as % of total school population
Excludees as % of total number of individuals excluded

Latest primary school exclusion data relates to academic year 2007/8:

Gender

	MALE	FEMALE
No of individuals excluded	31	1
Excludees as % of gender total	0.8	0.02
Excludees as % of total school population	0.3	0.01

SEN (data collection does not identified whether a pupil is registered ‘disabled’)

Total number of Actual Exclusions	Excludee not on Code of Practice at time of exclusion	Excludee at School Action at time of exclusion	Excludee at School Action+ at time of exclusion	Excludee with a Statement at time of exclusion
87	6	2	70	9

Ethnicity (primary)

	WBR	WI	WOTH	MWBC	MWBA	MWA	OM	BAFR	BCRB	BOTH	AIND	APKN	ABAN	AOTA	CHNE	OOEG /NOBT
1	23	0	0	3	2	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2	5542	50	710	133	88	210	298	196	23	56	233	225	48	719	78	587
3	0.4	0	0	2.3	2.3	0	0.3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.2
4	0.3	0	0	0.03	0.02	0	0.01	0.02	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.01
5	71.9	0	0	9.4	6.3	0	3.1	6.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.1

Total Number of individuals excluded
Total number of ethnic group in secondary schools
Excludees as % of ethnic group
Excludees as % of total school population
Excludees as % of total number of individuals excluded

Significant variations from national, statistical neighbours (2006/7 - latest nationally published data)

Percentage of secondary pupils who had 1 or more episode of fixed period exclusion as a % of the school population:

Kingston – 5.49

Mean indicator for statistical neighbours – 9.18

Barnet - 10.72 Rank 1 (1=closest)

Sutton - 8.10 Rank 2

Merton - 13.79 Rank 3

Richmond upon Thames - 9.08 Rank 4

Bromley - 4.02 Rank 5

Windsor and Maidenhead - 7.22 Rank 6

Hillingdon - 9.95 Rank 7

Hertfordshire - 9.21 Rank 8

Surrey - 13.31 Rank 9

Reading - 6.44 Rank 10

Does your analysis of the information show different outcomes for different groups (higher or lower uptake/failure to access/receive a poorer or inferior service)? If yes, indicate which groups and which aspects of the policy or function contribute to inequality?

The function under assessment covers all pupils. The data is used to provide a picture and understanding on the use of exclusions throughout RBK schools. Whilst exclusion figures are consistently low in comparison with national & statistical neighbours the over-representation of boys, mixed race & Black pupils, and those with SEN requires close monitoring and further analysis.

The data shows that the overwhelming majority of exclusions are for a fixed period.

Are these differences justified (e.g. are there legislative or other constraints)? If they are, explain in what way.

All pupils in RBK are covered by the procedure regardless of age, ethnicity, gender and disability. However as the data shows there is an over representation of children as stated above and the differences cannot be justified (please see action plan).

What action needs to be taken as a result of this Equality Impact Assessment to address any detrimental impacts or meet previously unidentified need? Include here any reasonable adjustments for access by disabled people. Include dates by which action will be taken. Attach an action plan if necessary.

Continuing guidance & training being provided to schools & governors on the use of exclusion
On-going training provided to school staff on behaviour management/interventions/support strategies
Improving year on year capture and analysis of data in order to highlight any anomalies/concerns
Ensure in training and appropriate meetings to highlight the overrepresentation of boys, mixed race, black African, Caribbean and Special Educational Needs children within the exclusion data
Continue to work in partnership with schools to reduce the number of children been excluded.
To work with the CYPP in partnership with all agencies to work towards improving inclusion for all learners
Exclusion Report Form modified to better capture SEN/Disability information
Data collection follows DfCSF guidelines and therefore does not capture religion or beliefs and sexual orientation of excluded pupils.

When will you evaluate the impact of action taken? Give review dates.

Annual basis

Assessment completed by:

Adrian Bannister

Exclusions & Reintegration

19 January 2009