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| ‘Missing children’ at risk of exploitation, says schools inspections chief | ‘Missing children’ at risk of exploitation, says schools inspections chief |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has warned that children could be put at risk of harm or exploitation by the failure to track pupils who are taken out of school. | |
| Wilshaw’s comments highlight recent concerns about children travelling to countries such as Syria and ongoing worries about pupils as young as 15 being targeted for recruitment by extremist organisations such as Islamic State. | |
| Related: School heads raise alarm over new duty to protect students from extremism | Related: School heads raise alarm over new duty to protect students from extremism |
| In a letter to the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, Wilshaw said recent inspections of schools had revealed a “serious safeguarding issue” involving missing children that had implications for the whole country. | |
| “I believe that the regulations relating to in-year transfer, which date back to 2006, need to be urgently reviewed and considerably strengthened,” Wilshaw told Morgan. | “I believe that the regulations relating to in-year transfer, which date back to 2006, need to be urgently reviewed and considerably strengthened,” Wilshaw told Morgan. |
| “They should take into account of our heightened awareness of the risks that some young people face, such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, child sexual exploitation and falling prey to radicalisation.” | “They should take into account of our heightened awareness of the risks that some young people face, such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, child sexual exploitation and falling prey to radicalisation.” |
| Wilshaw’s comments came in a letter updating Morgan and the Department for Education on schools in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets thought to be at risk of extremist influence. | |
| A DfE spokesperson said: “The safety of young people in our schools is paramount and we will be taking immediate steps to strengthen our guidance to schools on safeguarding and to amend the current regulations about the information schools collect when a pupil is taken off the register. | |
| “It is vital local authorities failing in this area take immediate action to establish the identities of children missing education and we are working with them to improve their approach so that children are kept safe from harm.” | |
| Wilshaw said Ofsted inspectors “have become aware of potentially high numbers of pupils whose names are being deleted from school admissions registers without either the schools or the local authorities having an accurate understanding of where those pupils have gone”. | Wilshaw said Ofsted inspectors “have become aware of potentially high numbers of pupils whose names are being deleted from school admissions registers without either the schools or the local authorities having an accurate understanding of where those pupils have gone”. |
| Further investigation revealed inconsistent practices for recording and reporting where children are removed from the school, as well as poor communication and coordination between schools and local authorities, and inadequate systems for tracking pupils who leave private schools. | Further investigation revealed inconsistent practices for recording and reporting where children are removed from the school, as well as poor communication and coordination between schools and local authorities, and inadequate systems for tracking pupils who leave private schools. |
| Wilshaw commissioned a series of unannounced inspections of schools thought to be at risk. Ofsted said it also held talks with local authorities to assess whether systems for recording and tracking the destination of pupils who leave school during the academic year were sufficiently robust. | Wilshaw commissioned a series of unannounced inspections of schools thought to be at risk. Ofsted said it also held talks with local authorities to assess whether systems for recording and tracking the destination of pupils who leave school during the academic year were sufficiently robust. |
| Ofsted found many schools did not record a destination for pupils. “In many cases, schools only noted very generic reasons for a pupil being removed from the register. Examples of this included ‘gone to live with grandparents’, ‘moved to Manchester’, ‘gone back to Libya’ or, in a number of cases, simply ‘moved abroad’,” Wilshaw said. |