Schools 'taking overly macho approach to excluding pupils with SEND'

Some schools are taking an “overly macho” approach to excluding pupils with SEND, MPs were told today.The Commons Education Select Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into special educational needs and disability (SEND) education, heard concerns from local authority chief executives that the pressures on schools worked against inclusion in some cases.The authorities also said they needed powers to place children with special educational needs in certain schools.Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, told MPs that as well as the accountability system, certain leadership styles acted against inclusion in some cases."The pressure on attainment, as opposed to inclusivity, is something that then reflects itself in what we see in terms of excluded young people,” Mr Flinton said.“There’s also sometimes an overly macho, no-tolerance approach in some schools – and [for] those schools that get into difficulties and are trying to recover from a difficult Ofsted position, it’s almost an easy leadership behaviour that you see in some places.” Steve Rumbelow, chief executive of Rochdale Borough Council, told the committee that providing for pupils with SEND can “sit quite uncomfortably” with wider school reforms which emphasised more autonomy within schools.