The problem

There is a new push from government for schools to be more welcoming and inclusive, particularly for children with SEND or neurodiversity who are already at greater risk of ‘lost learning’. Permanent exclusion and absenteeism is rising, while removal, isolation and school related distress are largely unaccounted.

These children are among those most impacted by an apparent race towards increasingly harsh and inflexible practice in Hackney schools.

Disproportionate and unfair sanctions are common (including excessive isolation from class), but children are also intimidated and humiliated by teachers, shouted at, and caused to soil themselves due to rigid toilet rules.

There is often no effective mechanism for these experiences to be identified and addressed. Complaints procedures can deter and exclude parents, and individual experiences may not reach the threshold for council intervention.

With negligible scrutiny, this is growing, invisible, institutional harm. The Independent Children’s Safeguarding Commissioner for Hackney wrote, in 2023:

“The clear message to me was that in some of Hackney’s schools, children experience what they perceive as an unhealthy and unhelpful culture of authoritarianism and on occasions, harsh discipline. Some believe it is the rigidity in these settings that can lead to children’s needs, including their safeguarding needs, being overlooked.”

What do we want to see?

We are calling on the Council to use the means available to it to address the problem.

Much of the harm may be taking place within schools that are not controlled by the Council – this should not deter action to protect Hackney children.

We call on Hackney Council to:

• Conduct a Child Safeguarding Practice Review in light of growing evidence of likely systemic impairment of mental health and wellbeing.
• Work with schools, where necessary, to impliment existing best-practice guidance around improving wellbeing and attendance.
• Ensure that any data that could help identify patterns of harmful practice are collected and published for all schools.
• Work with schools, and the community, to ensure there are effective processes for individual issues to be raised, recorded and addressed, and that parents, as a group, are listened to.
• Use its extensive experience of leading progress in children’s services to press for a review of national policy and accountability around discipline and wellbeing in schools.

We agree with the Secretary of State for Education that this is not about “happy ignorance”, nor “miserable achievement”, and that achieving and thriving need not be in opposition. 

We want all schools in Hackney, and across the country, to be compassionate and flexible with respect to children’s individual needs, with appropriate regard for happiness and wellbeing, as well as for educational attainment.