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STV News
17-06-2025
- Health
- STV News
'I missed around half of school - I refused point-blank to go'
Care experienced young people are receiving as little as 30 minutes of education a week, according to a report. Charity Who Cares? Scotland found that looked-after pupils face an exclusion rate almost six times higher than the average. The research has been described as a 'reality check' for those claiming Scotland is on track to keep The Promise to transform care by 2030. It calls for an end to formal and informal exclusion for care experienced pupils. STV News spoke to young people affected, including Honey, who has been in foster care for four years. She's recently been assigned an advocacy worker to ensure she has a say in her future, after missing out on around half of her education. iStock Honey said she missed her S3 exams. She said: 'I missed probably half of my school because I didn't go to my S3 exams. I barely went in. 'I just refused point-blank to even go into school. 'Even when I had a cut down timetable, I would still not go in. I've probably missed a huge bit of school. 'Going to school is a huge support system and having teachers that understand you help a lot. I've also just been given an advocacy worker. 'I think if I was younger, I would have benefited a lot from that if I had it before. 'When you're a kid, it's really hard to speak up in front of loads of strangers, in meetings because you don't have that sort of confidence. 'Sometimes it's just good to have someone that's there for you and you know that they have the right thing planned for you.' Nicola Killean, Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, said: 'Within the report we heard that there were some children and young people who were getting offered 30 minutes a week of education, sometimes in a room with minimal support and minimal engagement with other children, young people and the rest of the school. 'That's really worrying. 'I'm calling for the Scottish Government to ensure that there is monitoring scrutiny of when these are happening, why they're happening, and whether they are in the best interests of children and young people.' The Promise, set out in 2020, aimed to radically reform how young people are cared for in Scotland. At the time, Nicola Sturgeon described The Promise as 'one of the most important moments' in her time as First Minister, and the Scottish Government said it was committed to implementing the recommendations within a decade. Louise Hunter, chief executive of Who Cares? Scotland, who produced the report, said: 'Unfortunately, this tells us what we've known for a while that The Promise isn't being kept for the vast majority of care experienced children, young people who had an education. 'That basic right to education is not being met. And that's not what The Promise said.' She added: 'We know that are huge pressures on the workforce, on funding. 'The young people that we work for and speak to tell us that if they had someone who was in their corner helping them understand their rights, then they might have an opportunity to have those rights upheld.' The Scottish Government insists exclusion should only be used as a last resort. First Minister John Swinney said this week: 'There are good examples in our education system about nurturing approaches, about inclusive practices that enable individuals to sustain their education. 'It is far preferable to exclusion and that will particularly relate to care experienced young people whose prospects and opportunities we need to address as a matter of urgency.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The National
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Statistics mask the reality of school exclusion rates
Who Cares? Scotland has this week raised the alarm about the widespread 'informal exclusion' of care-experienced children, suggesting the practice is masking schools' failure to uphold policies that were put in place in 2020. The pledge that 'Scotland must not exclude care-experienced children from education or reduce their timetable to such an extent that they are denied their rights to education' formed part of The Promise, which was drawn up following an extensive Independent Care Review that asked care-experienced people and their families about the care system they had been forced to negotiate and learn what they wished had been different. READ MORE: Green leadership have dispensed with the radicalism that got them elected School was identified as of particular importance to children whose home lives were unsettled, with school exclusion being a key area of concern. When the Scottish Government published its report on Education Outcomes for Looked After Children last August, the picture was gloomy. The rate of exclusions for 'looked-after' pupils had risen from 78 cases per 1000 pupils in 2021-22 to 97 in 2022-23. This exclusion rate was almost six times that for the general pupil population, and while the gap between these rates was smaller than a decade earlier, it had widened over the previous 12 months. These figures were already cause for concern, but Who Cares? Scotland believes the true picture is worse. Attendance rates for looked-after children had dropped from 88% to 84%, and its report says its advocacy workers are reporting 'a sharp increase in informal exclusions and a change in language around exclusions to circumvent new exclusions policies stemming from The Promise'. Examples of this included 'exclusions often recorded as authorised absences, or drastic part-time timetables offering as little as 30 minutes of education a week'. One worker stated that this amounted to 'exclusion labelled as support'. (Image: PA Media) Another described this practice as 'improving the school's statistics at the detriment of the needs of the child'. The child referred to here is, of course, the one on the drastically reduced timetable, but this comment obscures the reality that no headteacher wants to be excluding pupils – officially or otherwise – and such decisions must take into account the needs of the entire school community. Who Cares? Scotland quite rightly advocates for the best interests of care-experienced pupils, who so often have decisions made for them by others – whether relatives, teachers, social workers or children's panel members – and can feel like they have almost no control over their own lives. This disempowerment comes through in many of the testimonies included in the report, such as when a child says: 'I'm struggling quite badly in some subjects but nothing is being done about it. 'I've spoken to my guidance teacher about it but they're busy and I don't know what they could do about it.' Focus groups run by the charity found that many young people felt they had been branded a 'problem child' or a 'bad pupil' and as a consequence would be unfairly blamed for things they did not do, or subjected to what they perceived as a harsher interpretation of school rules. There's little in the report about specific reasons for exclusions, although one quote from an advocacy worker provides hints, referring to 'behaviour and incidents' and the school saying 'the aim is for [the pupil] to be back at school when they feel everyone will be safe'. Schools must acknowledge that care-experienced pupils are at a disadvantage, and they have an obligation to provide the necessary support to allow them to be educated and achieve their full potential. By law, looked-after children must be considered to have additional support needs unless the local authority is able to demonstrate otherwise. Who Cares? Scotland wants to see all local authorities adopt a 'whole-school approach' that involves staff training, drop-ins for care-experienced pupils and lesson inputs that challenge the stigma looked-after children can face. It also wants to see greater use of virtual headteachers and online schools to keep these pupils engaged with learning. These are not unreasonable asks, especially when the costs of young people disengaging from education are so high, and potentially devastating. However, it must also be acknowledged that schools and their staff cannot solve all of society's problems. Yes, more can always be done – whether to provide support in school or virtually, or to tackle prejudice in the classroom and the wider community – but can exclusions ever be avoided altogether? And is The Promise likely to be met if schools are finding ways to obscure the reality of the decisions they are taking to keep everyone safe?
The Herald Scotland
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
'Exclusion labelled as support' for looked-after pupils
The latest report - 'Exclusion labelled as support': Care experienced children in Scotland's education system - was commissioned by Nicola Killean, the Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland, who argued that the evidence shows that 'too many children are being let down by the current education system.' Louise Hunter, CEO of Who Cares? Scotland, said that children's 'full right to education must be realised' and called the report a 'reality check' for those who claim that Scotland is on-track to keep The Promise by 2030. Researchers analysed a range of existing evidence related to the experiences of looked after pupils, including data on more than 1,200 advocacy requests submitted between April 2022 and March 2024. The commissioner also met with a focus group of advocacy workers, and young people themselves were also able to contribute either one-to-one or by participating in small group sessions. A key feature of The Promise was a commitment that 'all formal and informal exclusions of care experienced pupils would end', but the reality for children has been different. Although exclusion rates for looked after children have fallen significantly over the past decade, official data shows that they actually increased in the period between 2021 and 2023. The most recent figures revealed that 98 out of every 1000 care experienced pupils was formally excluded at least once in a year, almost six times higher than the levels seen in the broader pupil population. Informal exclusions and the use of part-time timetables are also widely reported and contribute to children's rights being 'breached'. Many care experienced young people continue to report feeling stigmatised at school, which the report states is partly due to 'stereotypes' portrayed in the media. Children referred to 'feeling othered for their clothing, transport, having to leave class and a general level of suspicion and rejection.' Those aged over sixteen were more likely to feel 'singled out' in school, although younger children tended to be more positive about their treatment. A major issue for looked after young people is the 'common experience' of changing schools, which can 'significantly disrupt their rights to education.' Sometimes these changes are requested by the pupils themselves, who may wish to be able to attend school with friends or family, but repeated placements moves for looked after children are also a key factor. The report notes that in the academic year 2022-23, almost one in seven children in care were moved more than once. Looked after pupils are also affected by a lack of appropriate support for learning in school, despite the fact that all care experienced children are regarded as having additional support needs, and the challenges involved in transitions from one stage of education to another. The new report highlights the positive impact of the Virtual School Teams (VST), explicitly praising the approach in Edinburgh where the team includes 'a Care Experienced Quality Improvement Officer, virtual headteacher, pupil support officers, educational psychologists and the lead for outdoor education.' READ MORE Virtual schools have been established to support care experienced pupils in more than half of local authorities, and are 'highly valued' by advocacy workers who feel that they are 'really useful in establishing measures to avoid exclusions or get young people back into school as soon as possible.' However, concerns are raised about a lack of access to digital learning or online schools for looked after pupil, with approaches varying from one council to the next and difficulty accessing services due to high levels of demand. The report ultimately makes three key recommendations, which it describes as 'interdependent'. The first is for the 'commitment to end formal and informal exclusions' for looked after children to be 'enforced immediately, better understood and properly resourced across local authorities.' The second recommendation is for 'all education authorities', up to and including the Scottish Government, to adopt 'a whole-school approach to supporting Care Experienced children and young people.' Finally, the report demands that the Scottish Government pass a new law that gives care experienced people the legal right to 'independent, relationship-based, lifelong advocacy.' Government statistics show that looked after pupils remain less likely to achieve the expected levels in literacy and numeracy, with some attainment gaps in this area increasing over recent years. They are also far less likely to achieve qualifications such as National 5s and Highers, less likely to move on to Higher Education, and more likely to be unemployed after leaving school. Commissioner Nicola Killean said: 'The report by Who Cares? Scotland reinforces findings from my recent report that too many children are being let down by the current education system. Every child has a right to an education that develops their personality, talents, and abilities to their full potential. But we know this isn't happening for lots of children who have care experience. It is important that we actively seek to include the views of children whose rights are most at risk as their voices can often be lost. 'This report shows that despite some examples of good practice, Care Experienced children and young people's right to education is often not being met. They are more often excluded from school than other children and are often given part-time timetables that they do not want. In some cases, a child can be on a timetable for as little as 30 minutes or one hour a week, even if they want to be in school for longer.' Louise Hunter, Chief Executive Officer at Who Cares? Scotland, said: 'Every child and young person in Scotland deserves to have an education that allows them to learn, flourish and dream big. But our report highlights that the most basic right to education for too many Care Experienced pupils is not being met. 'Scotland must uphold this right and within our report there are three recommendations on how to make this happen. First, there must be action on advocacy. The Government must legislate for a statutory right to independent, relationship-based, lifelong advocacy for all Care Experienced people who need it. 'Next, the commitment within The Promise to end the formal and informal exclusion of Care Experienced pupils must be enforced. Lastly, a whole-school approach to supporting Care Experienced children and young people must be adopted. Only then will we be able to ensure all pupils in Scotland are taught in communities that care.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government is resolute in our commitment to Keep the Promise and to ensure all care-experienced children and young people receive the vital support they need, to improve their life experiences and their educational outcomes. 'Over £60 million has been provided to local authorities through the Care Experienced Children and Young People fund as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and we are working with Education Scotland and local government to improve the educational outcomes of care experienced children and young people. 'Exclusion should only be used as a last resort - ultimately its use is a matter for local authorities as the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education rests with them.'
