12:00 pm
Sir Alan Steer: I addressed this back in May in my second report when we looked at alternative provision. I think that this is a major area for development. I was very pleased when the “Back on Track” paper was produced. One could say that children who fall through the net often really do fall through the net. The case of a child in Sussex hit the headlines this week. Such children lack champions. They are difficult children to deal with and there are no easy solutions. I would hate to sit before the Committee as the man who has easy solutions. There are no easy solutions in such circumstances, but there are pointers that can improve the situation.
We need a range of provisions. One of the problems is that we sometimes have a one-size-fits-all provision when a range is needed. We might be talking about children with mental health problems. The quality of support services for children and adolescents with mental health problems is of serious concern to me and to head teachers nationally. There is a range of things with which we have to deal: it might be pregnant schoolgirls, or it might be scar-faced Harry. We must broaden what we do. Pilots were launched in the autumn that will be very interesting. It pleased me that a range of provisions were included in those pilots. I hope that we will look at them and learn from them.
One concern over pupil referral units is that they can get blocked. If the basis is that it is possible for some children to turn their behaviour around and reintegrate, there is obviously an appropriate time for such children to receive in-depth intervention before going back into the mainstream. Other children may have such severe behavioural problems that they will never go back into the mainstream. That would not be fair on the mainstream, nor on the child, because they simply would not cope. Too many PRUs keep children for too long, particularly in the younger age range. They do not act as remedial units that support local schools by helping children to cope with their problems before putting them back into the mainstream. Children are getting stuck, and when that happens, there is no capacity for new children to come in and get the support. The long-winded answer to your question is that we need a range of provision. Provision must be more geared to the needs of the individual child than it is at the moment.