Reflections on DfE research publication and practice in and out of borough
Inclusion sub-group members reflected on the DfE’s Alternative Provision Market Analysis (October 2018), their visits to Cambridgeshire and Horizons Academy and case studies presented at their meeting of 20th March 2019.
Members agreed that for Bexley’s aspiration for head teachers to feel they have ‘no need to exclude,’ the local authority and schools would need to have a shared knowledge of children at risk, effective processes to support inclusion, transparent educational value for money judgements, a ‘learning from’ culture and more capacity. Those who had visited Cambridgeshire in February had observed a culture of trust between secondary schools and the local authority and a sharing of data and evidence between all parties. Those who had visited Horizons Academy in February had heard parents share their experience of a system that had stopped seeing the solution for their child, making the child the problem. They articulated the breakdown in relationships with education professionals, its impact and the legacy of distrust it engendered.
