Autism charity TreeHouse responds to latest on the Academies Act

Published by Nia for Tree House in Central Government and also in Communities, Education, Health, Local Government

TreeHouse has welcomed the steps the Government has taken through the Academies Act to help ensure that new Academies will work for children with special educational needs (SEN) such as autism – and will be working with the Government to ensure that commitments made are adhered to on the ground.

There have been significant advances in the legal protection that children and young people with SEN will have in Academies, which is vital considering the disproportionately negative experiences these children have in education – for example a child with autism is nine times more likely to be excluded than one without.

Jolanta Lasota, TreeHouse Chief Executive said:

“We welcome that the Government has stated Academies will be expected to follow the same legal obligations to children with SEN and has given Local Authorities a greater strategic role in funding SEN services in Academies in their area.

“However, though the Government has stated that all new Academies will be expected to act as though under the same legal obligations, we are not sure how this will work in practice and whether the relevant bodies will have the specialist knowledge and resources needed to deal with complex SEN complaints – such as exclusions.

TreeHouse also has strong concerns about the appeal process for exclusions in Academies, where Academies run their own exclusions panels, which a Government report saidwas not as robust as those for maintained schools. As children with SEN are eight times more likely to be excluded than children with no SEN, we would like to see Academies subject to the full exclusions legal framework so that so many cases of exclusion don’t amount to disability discrimination.”