New ways of helping pupils with severe social, emotional and behavioural difficulties are being explored by education chiefs in Swansea.
Only 7% of young people with these difficulties, including those who have been excluded from schools, have returned to mainstream education since 2016.
That was the year Swansea Council overhauled its provision - known as 'education other than at school' - for this group of young people. The 2016 shake-up led to the creation of the Maes Derw pupil referral unit in Cockett, which opened last year.
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Maes Derw currently has 117 pupils on its roll, with most of them also registered with a mainstream school. A report before a council scrutiny panel said attendance, exclusions and part-time provision at the £9.6 million facility "are all areas than can be improved". The report said fewer children and younger people needed pupil referral unit education than in the past, partly because mainstream schools were better at prevention and intervention work.
But it said there was a higher number of young people with long-term social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and autistic spectrum disorder with challenging behaviours. And that in turn was putting pressure on the council's principle of reintegrating them back into mainstream education. You can get more education and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
The report said the council's child and family services department was providing extensive support for Maes Derw, which has 158 available places and a £2.6 million annual budget.
"Now that we have a whole year since the opening of Maes Derw, it is appropriate to consider how well the changes are in meeting the needs of Swansea children and young people," it said.
Kate Phillips, the council's head of service for vulnerable learners, said an action plan was being developed to address these changing needs. The school reintegration principle was "quite difficult", she said, when ways of trying to achieve it had been "exhausted". "We will be making fresh recommendations to cabinet," she said.
The council's education other than at school service also includes home tuition for just under 70 pupils who are not well enough to attend school, and a small specialist unit at Birchgrove Comprehensive School called Ty Fedw. In addition, just under 50 young people are educated at independent special schools.
The council, meanwhile, is reviewing specialist teaching facilities at mainstream schools with the aim of increasing provision and support for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and autistic spectrum disorder. The scrutiny report said improvements had been made to the education other than at school service, but that a redesign was needed. Cabinet member for education Cllr Robert Smith said flexibility was required as "needs are forever changing".
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