Laura Trott, shadow education secretary, has called for more ‘high-quality’ alternative provision (AP), as she addressed the Conservative party conference in Manchester last week. Praising the work that is done in alternative settings, where staff ‘work with extraordinary dedication to turn around the lives of children’, she called for alternative provision to be independent of local authorities. She cited football teams and sports clubs as possible organisations to partner with to deliver this. She said: ‘Our blueprint will create more high-quality places in alternative provision, reducing disruption for the many who suffer from it and delivering specialist support for the few who need it.’ However, no funding details were given.
Ms Trott also said having sufficient AP provision would ensure pupils excluded from school would have an appropriate setting to go to. She said it was time to be ‘honest about the need for permanent exclusions’, adding ‘We can’t shy away from setting clear boundaries for excluding pupils when they’ve been extremely violent or are carrying a knife’.
The shadow education secretary also repeated calls for a ban on smartphones in schools. Citing Portugal as an example of a country where a ban on smartphones had seen ‘a huge drop in bullying’, she also said that Australia, Norway, Finland, and France are all tightening restrictions on the devices. She argued that pupils are also supportive of a ban, with the ‘most frequent reaction from students after a ban has been put in place is one of pure relief’. She called for education secretary Bridget Phillipson to ‘just get on and do it’ and implement a ban. When the Conservatives were last in office, they introduced non-statutory guidance which recommended a ban on smartphones in schools, but stopped short of making this compulsory.
Greensheets has approached the Green Party for details of education debates at their recent conference. At the time of printing we had not received a response, but as when we do so we will cover this in a future edition.