The Department is aware of a small number of cases in the last few years where parents and carers have complained about a school either asking a child with autism to stay at home on Ofsted inspection days, or diverting the child to other non-academic activities on those days.<\/p>
Whenever such complaints have been received, we have been absolutely clear that any request for a child to stay at home during an Ofsted inspection would be an unlawful exclusion and that parents and carers should make a formal complaint to the school\u2019s board of governors. Taking a child out of normal timetabled lessons during an inspection is unacceptable and should be drawn to the attention of the school\u2019s board of governors.<\/p>
Parents can also ask the Secretary of State to make a determination under Sections 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996, which give her the power to direct a governing body where it has failed to discharge a statutory duty or has done so unreasonably. Any such direction would have to be expedient, in that there must be something the Secretary of State could direct the school to do which would put matters right.<\/p>
Depending on the circumstances, parents and carers could also bring a claim of disability discrimination to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).<\/p>
Ofsted\u2019s school inspection framework requires inspectors to take account of schools\u2019 use of exclusion. The Department would also pass to Ofsted any relevant evidence that falls within the inspectorate\u2019s remit. If, during the course of an Ofsted inspection, inspectors become aware that a school has unlawfully excluded pupils for the period of the inspection, this will be taken into account in judging the effectiveness of the school and its leadership. If the evidence emerges after the inspection, the matter will be investigated by Ofsted and could lead to the school receiving an unannounced inspection visit.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1605", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Edward Timpson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Crewe and Nantwich"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Edward Timpson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-02-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-02-24T14:51:44.423Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-02-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Autism"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has received representations on requests by schools to parents and carers that children with autism spectrum disorder not attend school during Ofsted inspections in the last five years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4036", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luciana Berger"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Liverpool, Wavertree"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luciana Berger"} ], "uin" : "27239"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/452413", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/452413/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Department does not collect data on schools which have restricted the school trips that children with autism can attend.<\/p>
Public sector bodies, including maintained schools, are covered by the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010. When carrying out their functions they must have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations between disabled and non-disabled children and young people. This duty is anticipatory, which means that schools must take into account the needs of disabled pupils, such as those with autism, when planning school trips and other events.<\/p>
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 emphasises that school leaders should establish and maintain a culture of high expectations that expects those working with children and young people with SEN or disabilities to include them in all the opportunities available to other children and young people so that they can achieve well. This would include opportunities to socialise and attend external school trips.<\/p>
If parents believe that a school has discriminated against their autistic child in planning school trips, they can make a claim for disability discrimination to the First-tier Tribunal.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1605", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Edward Timpson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Crewe and Nantwich"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Edward Timpson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-02-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-02-23T11:55:51.847Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-02-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Autism"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of schools which have restricted the school trips which children with autism spectrum disorder can attend in each of the last five years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4036", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luciana Berger"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Liverpool, Wavertree"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luciana Berger"} ], "uin" : "27052"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/452414", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/452414/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The number of pupils recorded as having a mental health condition who received a permanent or fixed period exclusion is not held by the Department.<\/p>
The number and proportion of pupils in national curriculum year group 10 and 11 with an autistic spectrum disorder primary need who were excluded in each of the last 5 years can be found in the attached table.<\/p>
Information on the number of fixed period and permanent exclusions for all pupils, including separate breakdowns by national curriculum year group and special educational need provision, is available in the \u2018Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England\u2019 National Statistics release[1].<\/p>