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At this week’s Cabinet meeting, members will consider introducing a new policy of reduced school timetables for children who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend school full-time (pdf).
Schoolchildren who might benefit from a temporary reduced timetable include persistent truants, those who’ve had an extended absence for medical or mental health reasons, those who need extra support for behavioural or emotional problems and those being reintegrated into school following suspension or exclusion.
There’s no legal responsibility for the council to have a reduced timetable policy, but officers believe a formal policy would provide clarity and consistency across the borough’s schools and the Pupil Referal Unit (PRU).
In the longer-term, proper reintegration into mainstream schooling will prevent problems in childhood becoming serious life-limiting problems in adulthood.
The draft policy (pdf) requires that a Pastoral Support Plan is prepared for any student who it’s believed may benefit from a reduced timetable. This would include a named point of contact within the school/education setting, as well as input from the pupil, the school and parents/guardians on what’s working and what isn’t.
Seemingly, reduced timetables would be limited to 12-weeks with regular reviews.
There’ll also be a responsibility for the school to keep proper records of attendance and to properly flag when a pupil on a reduced timetable is or isn’t expected to attend.
Reduced timetables would be overseen and monitored by the Access to Education Panel, which meets monthly.
