THE lack of a specialist pupil referral unit (PRU) to deal with pupils excluded permanently from Blaenau Gwent schools has been highlighted to councillors.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s People scrutiny committee on Tuesday, January 7 councillors received a report which looked at figures for school exclusions.
The report shows that the number of children and young people in the county borough who are temporarily excluded from schools has dropped from 426 in 2022/2023 to 349 in 2023/2024.
Permanent exclusions have gone up from six in 2022/2023 to seven in 2023/2024.
Committee chairman, Cllr Tommy Smith (Labour) said: “What support is in place to get a young person back into school after a permanent exclusion?”
School inclusion manager, Julie Sambrook said: “When the child is permanently excluded twice that’s really difficult because guidance says that a school doesn’t have to re-admit them.”
She explained that there is a process to follow which starts with a “pupil disciplinary committee” meeting where the “first” permanent exclusion would be “validated.”
The next stage would see the case taken to the “vulnerable learner panel” where all the details and reasons for exclusion would be presented and then a decision on the next step would be taken.
Ms Sambrook said: “If a child has been excluded for violence another school is not going to be keen to take them.”
“We’re in a difficult position as we don’t have a pupil referral unit (PRU) and have not had one since 2017.
“So, we’re in a limbo as to what we can do.
“The panel can look to put a period of home tuition, youth service and wellbeing support in place.”
But the eventual outcome explained Ms Sambrook is that the child would have return to a Blaenau Gwent school albeit “very gradually.”
Cllr Smith said: “It’s reassuring there’s support in place.”
Director of education, Luisa Munro-Morris said: “There is still significant work to do, and we are commissioning a consultant who is going to be supporting us in a number of areas that will include looking at exclusion and what we could do to further improve that.”
The committee accepted the report which will go on to be presented to councillors at a meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, January 15.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service have asked the council why it does not have a PRU and if any permanently excluded pupils were sent to PRU’s outside the county.
A council spokeswoman said: “Pupils stay in Blaenau Gwent schools with the relevant support from external agencies. ”
Canolfan yr Afon PRU was based at the Thomas Richards Centre in Tredegar and closed by the council in 2017.
This was part of a re-jig of special education in the county which saw the River Centre which teaches children and young people with Social, Emotional, and/or Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) established across three campuses in Ebbw Vale and Tredegar.
This leaves Blaenau Gwent as one of only four local authorities in Wales without a PRU.
PRUs are small specialist schools that deal with children who need greater support than mainstream schools can provide.
Pupils attend PRUs for a range of reasons including exclusion from mainstream school due to behavioural issues, mental health issues and illness.