New Clause 13 - Pupil referral units: supply and publication of information
Education Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Mrs Angela Watkinson (Shadow Minister, Education; Upminster, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The thinking behind the new clause is that, on the rare occasions when pupils are excluded from school, it is absolutely essential that they do not have part-time education; for the rest of the week they could be wandering around and getting into trouble. They need proper specialised full-time education.
The new clause would embrace whether there is sufficient capacity in pupil referral units to accommodate all the students who need them, would ensure that they receive a proper education while they are there, and would monitor their attendance—we know that it sometimes a little too casual, to put it mildly. It would ensure proper monitoring of how many children are referred and what progress they are making while they are in the units, so that progress can be made towards returning them to mainstream schools when that is appropriate.