A national framework for special schools and alternative provision (AP) should be created to clearly define the roles and expectations of these settings, according to a report from children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza.

It also calls for a review to be carried out to establish best practice in AP, and for the category to be renamed to reflect its purpose and give the public a better understanding of what these settings are and do.

The report, shared with Tes, explores the responses from leaders in special schools and AP settings to a national census and roundtable discussions carried out by the commissioner’s office earlier this year.

‘Pressing need’ to define AP and special sector

A key finding is that there is a “real and pressing need for definition in the AP and special sector”.

The report says this could provide a clear statement of purpose and intent for each of these settings.

It warns that currently this is unclear - especially in AP, where the report says there are widespread concerns about it becoming a “shadow SEND system”.

The report recommends a “clear national framework for special and alternative provision, setting expectations, accountability and reintegration pathways”.

It has been published as a Tes investigation explores what leaders of AP and pupil referral units want to see in the upcoming Schools White Paper.

The commissioner’s report adds that once a clear statement of purpose for AP has been introduced, a review should be carried out to “establish best practice”.

This would look at what works in terms of delivering on the established purpose of AP, considering a range of options and pathways.

Funding and staffing concerns

The report analyses responses from both special schools and AP settings.

It notes that staffing and workforce pressures are highlighted as one of the most significant concerns for more than half of special schools that responded (54 per cent).

It says: “Many report difficulties recruiting qualified teachers and allied health professionals, limiting their ability to deliver education, health and care plans effectively.”

The report also warns that funding constraints compound these pressures, with 67 per cent citing the funding of wider children’s services as a top concern, and 58 per cent highlighting their own school’s funding challenges.

Funding pressures are also highlighted as an issue among responses from AP settings. Some 84 per cent of APs identify funding shortages as their top barrier, followed by staff capacity (66 per cent).

Poverty and local deprivation are also highlighted as “defining concerns of AP”.

Some 67 per cent of AP settings list poverty as a top concern, with a third operating in the most deprived school areas in England.

Schools need better pupil information

Dame Rachel praised the staff working in special schools and AP as “some of the most vital, and most under-valued, roles in English education”, adding: “They are superheroes, often doing amazing work with little reward.”

However, she warned that these schools need to know more about their pupils.

She highlighted that 66 per cent of respondents could only provide an estimate of the number of their pupils on waiting lists for mental health support, and 28 per cent were able to estimate how many of their pupils were absent from school due to treatment for serious or complex illness.

In AP settings, she said that only 67 per cent could provide an estimate of the number of their pupils living in unsuitable conditions.

Dame Rachel added: “Let me be absolutely and unequivocally clear: this is not the fault of school leaders. It is the consequence of a system that is not set up to give those working with children the full picture of their lives.”

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