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A Different Class? Educational Attainment: the views and experiences of looked after young people

Disengagement

A key focus for the consultation was to try to establish when and why some looked after young people become disengaged from the education system.

As mentioned previously, 40 young people reported that they were not attending school either on a full or part time basis. This group can be divided into official school leavers and unofficial school leavers.

• 17 of the young people not at school described themselves as unofficial school leavers, 9 of whom were female, 8 were male. These young people represent 10% of the consultation participants.
• 14 of those unofficial leavers were aged 14-16 yrs old, representing 82% of all unofficial leavers.
• The mean age for unofficial school leavers varied significantly according to gender. The mean age for females in this group was 15.1 years, whereas the mean age for their male counterparts was 13.6 years.

Table 9:

Age range of young people describing themselves as Unofficial Leavers

• 3 unofficial leavers reported receiving no other form of educational input. All 3 of these young people were living in residential units and have been in care for 1-2 yrs.
• 2 of the 3 were male.
• Worryingly 1 of the young people is 7 years old and has had no educational placement for 6 months.

The Timescales for non attendance given by the young people were varied, however they imply an acceptance by some that it is acceptable for young people in care to be without an educational placement for significant periods of time. This is clearly not the case; the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 Regulations and Guidance -Volume 2 states that

"Children who are looked after should have the same opportunities as all other children for education, including further and higher education, and access to other opportunities for development"

The experience of these young people, and others like them, show that there is still progress to be made in reaching the target set in January 2002 by, the then Minister for Education and Young People, Cathy Jamieson, that all looked after children should receive full time education.

Table 10:

Timescales for non attendance for unofficial school leavers.

* Timescale given by a 12 yr old, implying no education for the current school term.

• 8 of the young people who were unofficial leavers explained why they do not attend school.

Disappointingly, one of the most common reasons was due to exclusion; this was the case for 3 of the 8 young people, in their own words…

A further 3 young people explained that their dislike of school was the main barrier to their attendance…

The remaining young people provided insights into their non-attendance, which will be familiar to many, as described below.

This is not an insurmountable problem, many schools and local authorities manage to overcome such obstacles. Provision of transport to maintain school placements, or prioritising educational placements when a young person is moving, are obvious ways of overcoming problems such as these.

The description above of one young person's non-attendance relates an all too common tale. It has been well documented that fighting is a frequent reaction to bullying, often incorporating verbal attacks on teachers, which further precipitates exclusion. Readily available support for young people experiencing bullying and further training for teachers on managing difficult behaviour are simple yet effective strategies in reducing levels of disaffection.

Whilst the young people who are disengaged from the education system represent a relatively small percentage of the total sample, the lessons we must learn from their experiences are extremely important. Further consideration must be given to apparent disparity between young people in residential units who become disengaged and those young people in other types of care.

Table 11:

Type of care placements for unofficial school leavers.

It is equally concerning that some young people living in residential schools do not describe themselves as receiving either full or part time education from that provision.

Conclusion

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