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41-563: Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) is a multi-academy trust (MAT) that operates forty schools (twenty-eight secondary and twelve primary) across northern England and the East Midlands . It is an exempt charity , regulated by the Department for Education . Its chief executive is Lee Wilson. The trust was founded in 2009, led by Sir Michael Wilkins who was principal of the trust's namesake, Outwood Grange Academy . Its CEO, from 2016 to 2023,

82-493: A Yorkshire school to court to challenge the legitimacy of “consequence rooms”; lawyers have applied for a judicial review. The issues to be judged are to be loss of education, the lack of a review procedure, and the lack of monitoring by the Department of Education which is now responsible as academies are free of Local Authority oversight. The trust has been accused of failure to promote the pupil's welfare and doing so in an “irrational” manner, as well as failure to have regard to

123-780: A charitable trust and individual contracts were signed with the Department for Education (DfE). These were all schools that had been failed the Ofsted criteria. By 2010 there were 203 such schools, out of a total 3333. The Academies Act 2010 was passed by the incoming Conservative Government, It provided a bespoke statutory mechanism for maintained schools, both primary and secondary, to be forced or allowed to ‘convert’ to academy status. The DfE adopted various ‘model funding agreements’ for new academies. New academies called ‘free schools’ could be built. A local authority needing to build new school in its area had to seek proposals to establish an academy, in

164-799: A combination of both isolated and integrated learning environments. He calculated the average number of words read by each group in the fall and again in the spring, and compared the outcome. The findings showed that those in integrated learning environments or a combination of isolated and integrated environments experienced greater improvements in their reading skills than those in strictly isolated environments. Integrated classrooms can also have many social benefits on students with special needs. By surrounding special needs students with their fully functioning peers, they are exposed to diversity. Their close contact with other students will allow them to develop friendships and improve interpersonal skills. The integration of children with special needs into school systems

205-481: A full list of active academy sponsors. In September 2017, the Wakefield City Academies Trust announced it was winding down and ceasing to trade as it hadn't the capacity to manage its 21 schools and asked the government to make an alternative arrangement. The Sutton Trust has verbalised the concerns that academies and particularly academy chains (MAT)s were not always delivering the results that

246-496: A national system of primary and secondary education, with schools under the overall supervision of ‘local education authorities’ who were responsible for funding all such schools. This legal called maintaining then in 1988 schools gained legal autonomy. Sponsored academies were introduced from the early 2000s by the Labour government. The sponsor paid the capital cost and the revenue costs were paid by central government. A sponsor set up

287-422: A practice of intimidating and humiliating assemblies, which the trust denied; other teachers reported that these assemblies were trust policy and took place at other schools in the trust. On 1 May 2019, the trust announced its intention that pupils will have to repeat a year, and be separated from their peer group, if their behaviour is deemed inadequate. The trust insists this is their legal right, no extra support

328-491: A spokesperson stated "The trust employs all reasonable adjustments for students with special needs within their behaviour policy". However, the banned activities include many self-stimulatory behaviours used by people on the autism spectrum to cope when under stress, and would be considered reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 . A parent of a child who was subjected to this treatment for 35 school days has taken

369-534: A student with a special need is classified as being a severe case when the student's IQ is between 20 and 35. These students typically need assistance in school, and have different services provided for them to succeed in a different setting. In the United Kingdom, special needs usually refers to special needs within an educational context. This is also referred to as special educational needs ( SEN ) or special educational needs and disabilities ( SEND ). In

410-405: Is Schoolsworks Academy Trust , West Sussex where the median hourly pay gap in favour of men is 62% – meaning that a woman is paid 38 pence for every £1 earned by a man. The Wakefield City Academies Trust , which managed 21 schools before its collapse, had a median hourly gender pay gap of 52%. The Kent Catholic Schools Partnership staff face a gender pay gap of almost 50%. In December 2018,

451-807: Is a diagnosis used to classify children as needing more services than those children without special needs who are in the foster care system. It is a diagnosis based on behavior , childhood and family history , and is usually made by a health care professional. More than 150,000 children with special needs in the US have been waiting for permanent homes. Traditionally, children with special needs have been considered harder to place for adoption than other children, but experience has shown that many children with special needs can be placed successfully with families who want them. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105–89) has focused more attention on finding homes for children with special needs and making sure they receive

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492-477: Is a short form of special education needs and is a way to refer to students with disabilities, in which their learning may be altered or delayed compared to other students. The term special needs in the education setting comes into play whenever a child's education program is officially altered from what would normally be provided to students through an Individual Education Plan, which is sometimes referred to as an Individual Program plan. Special education aids

533-405: Is an issue that is being addressed worldwide. In Europe, the number of students with special needs in regular classrooms is rising, while the number of those in segregated exclusive special needs classrooms is declining. However, in other countries such as China, educational opportunities for those with disabilities have been a longstanding issue. Certain cultural beliefs and ideologies have prevented

574-696: Is being provided for the students in spite of a warning that this type of zero tolerance creates child mental health problems, and violence against teachers. Multi-academy trust BESA, the British Educational Suppliers Association states that in November 2019 there are 1,170 Multi Academy Trusts in England that manage at least two schools: 598 have five or fewer schools, 259 have 6-11 schools, 85 have between 12-25 schools and 29 have 26 or more schools. The Education Act 1944 established

615-452: Is found to be somewhere between ten and sixteen percent. A 1989 study performed by Richard Barth and Marianne Berry found that of the adoptive parents that disrupted, 86% said they would likely or definitely adopt again. 50% said that they would adopt the same child, given a greater awareness of what the adoption of special needs children requires. Also, within disrupted special needs adoption cases, parents often said that they were not aware of

656-544: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases 9th edition. Special needs can range from people with autism , cerebral palsy , Down syndrome , dyslexia , dyscalculia , dyspraxia , dysgraphia , blindness , deafness , ADHD , and cystic fibrosis . They can also include cleft lips and missing limbs. The types of special needs vary in severity, and

697-491: The Education Policy Institute found that English MATs had significantly higher annual turnover of secondary classroom teachers (19.5%) than local authorities schools (14.4%). Large MATs, with 10 or more schools, also had higher rates of pupil absence, suspension and unexplained departures than smaller MATs and local authority schools. Following mounting ongoing concern a league table was produced to name and shame

738-591: The Sutton Trust published a report, Chain Effects 2018, building on work they had done in previous reports on the effectiveness of MATs in improving the performance of disadvantaged children. Poorer pupils in 12 out of 58 chains analysed by Professor Merryn Hutchings and Professor Becky Francis, performed above the national average on key measures of 2017 attainment for disadvantaged pupils. Three chains – City of London, Diocese of London, and Harris – were significantly above

779-520: The Equality Act 2010, as pupils with special educational needs or poor mental health are being placed in isolation against their best interests. To add, failure to comply with article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights . The school trust responded saying "other of their schools were outstanding". In September 2019, the trust launched a new behaviour policy. Schools Week reported that

820-545: The United States, 19.4 percent of all children under the age of 18 (14,233,174 children) had special health care needs as of 2018. The term is seen as a dysphemism by many disability rights advocates and is deprecated by a number of style guides (e.g. APA style ). In the United States "special needs" is a legal term applying in foster care , derived from the language in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. It

861-456: The average. However, in 38 of the 58 chains analysed, disadvantaged pupils performed below the state school national average. The Sutton Trust recommends that: Special educational needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs ) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in both

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902-483: The best large academy group (10 schools or more)". In the multi-academy trust league tables released January 2017, the trust was ranked in the top 5 nationally for secondary progress, and also for both primary writing and maths progress. The academy trust operates a zero tolerance discipline policy with children internally isolated and sent home for any breach of the uniform code as well as serious offences. In September 2018 The Guardian published an article criticising

943-569: The central board. The board of directors originally were responsible to the Secretary of State for Education , through the National Schools Commissioner. In September 2014 eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) were formally appointed as civil servants within the Department for Education (DfE); were given responsibility for intervening in under-performing academies in their region and approving new free schools . Their role

984-487: The child's history or the severity of the child's issues before the adoption. There is also more care that goes into it when a child of special needs is in the process of getting adopted. Because of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 P.L. 96-272 , the child's needs have to be met within the home before allowing adoption, including being able to financially support the child. The term special needs

1025-445: The education system. In many cases, the integration of special needs students into general-learning classrooms has had many benefits. A study done by Douglas Marston tested the effects of an integrated learning environment on the academic success of students with special needs. He first gathered students in from three different categories: those in isolated learning environments, those in integrated learning environments, and those in

1066-426: The form of a ‘free school’. They were no longer allowed to construct it themselves. In 2014, eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) were appointed as DfE civil servants. with the responsibility for approving new academies and intervening to address performance issues in academies. They have significant powers to influence to academies and local authority maintained schools. The academy trust model of governance

1107-433: The government had hoped for. They sponsored and published research challenging aspects of policy; the programme is called Chain Effects. Other, independent research has examined the impact of MATs. Bernardinelli et al (2018) found no positive impact from MAT status overall, but that pupils in small and mid-sized MATs tend to perform better, on average, than their peers in comparable maintained schools in both phases and, in

1148-471: The most challenging and disadvantaged areas of the country”. The money was awarded to raise standards in deprived areas in South Yorkshire, Bradford, Greater Manchester, Northumberland and Tees Valley. The Northern Powerhouse minister said, James Wharton said, " 'experience, leadership, and the chains’ strong track record of success' will mean northern school children can now fulfil their potential." It

1189-409: The new policy included "more praise, a further safeguard to pick up – and provide support for – those pupils stuck on the “merry go round” of sanctions, and more teaching for pupils about how to behave." Ofsted noted that this resulted in much-improved behaviour and, consequently, a significant reduction in the need to use exclusions." In 2019 former teachers at Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth reported

1230-473: The post-adoption services they need. Pre-adoption services are also of critical importance to ensure that adoptive parents are well prepared and equipped with the necessary resources for a successful adoption. The United States Congress enacted the law to ensure that children in foster care who cannot be reunited with their birth parents are freed for adoption and placed with permanent families as quickly as possible. The disruption rate for special needs adoption

1271-578: The primary phase, than comparable standalone academies. Conversely, secondary school pupils in larger MATs (with 16+ schools) tend to do worse compared to those in both standalone academies and maintained schools. Other studies have focussed on the wider impact of MATs. This includes Greany and Higham 's (2018) study of academisation and the Government's wider 'school-led self-improving system' reforms, which showed that MATs were contributing to fragmentation and reduced democratic oversight of schools. In 2024,

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1312-509: The role assigned to them by the MAT board itself There is one central board of directors, who may call themselves the board of governors. The majority are appointed by the sponsor. They appoint the executive head teacher, and run the back-office services such as building, human resources and allocation of special fund. They may govern all the schools centrally or appoint local governing bodies with defined delegated powers which act as subcommittees to

1353-987: The strength of these, they informed headteachers that their schools were failing and must apply to become academies and join an academy chain. In effect there were two inspection regimes: the education minister Damian Hinds told the 2018 NAHT this must change: “Ofsted inspectors should be the only people who should be inspecting schools…which means no more RSC-initiated visits that can feel like inspections with those extra demands for data, adding to bureaucracy.” Regional School commissioners do not stay in post for long, and often leave to become CEOs of multi-academy trusts. A number of private and charitable organisations run groups of academies. These major operators include ARK Schools , Academies Enterprise Trust , E-ACT (formerly Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust), Emmanuel Schools Foundation , Harris Federation , Oasis Trust , Ormiston Academies Trust , Tauheedul Education Trust and United Learning Trust . The Department for Education publishes

1394-577: The student's learning environment to create a uniform system for all children. In the past, individuals with disabilities were often shunned or kept in isolation in mental hospitals or institutions. In many countries, disabled people were seen as an embarrassment to society, often facing punishments of torture and even execution. In the US, after the creation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and many other regulations, students with disabilities could not be excluded or discriminated against in

1435-505: The use of isolation booths as a form of punishment within schools, describing them as a form of internal exclusion (in this context, exclusion is a policy where pupils are forbidden from attending school for a period of time as punishment). A report from the Department for Education , highlighted in an August 2018 article in The Guardian , revealed that 45 schools in England had excluded over 20% of their pupils in 2016-2017. Outwood Grange

1476-505: The worst performers using the Progress 8 benchmark , which measures GCSE results after compensating for each pupil's performance at the end of Key Stage 2 . A summary of the league table for 2017 is: Trusts are exempt from all Teacher Pay and Conditions agreements. In March 2018, The Guardian revealed that they fail in gender equality. The study reveals several trusts where women face hourly pay deficit of more than 50%. The worst offender

1517-539: Was Sir Martyn Oliver , who previously served as a principal of schools within the trust. The trust operates using an "80:20" principle, where about 80% of how its schools operate is standardised and 20% is open to local innovation. In 2015, the Conservative Education Minister, Nicky Morgan , announced she was giving five multi-academy trusts, including Outwood Grange Academies Trust, a million pounds each for “improving performance for pupils in some of

1558-613: Was expanded in July 2015 to approve converter academies and assign sponsors. It remained unclear exactly what the limits to the role of Regional School Commissioner were and how they related to the elected Headteachers Board (HTB), to the Local Authorities , to Ofsted and the local community. Ofsted is a separate government department not answerable to the DfE. The regional commissioners ran shadow inspections of schools and trust, bypassing Ofsted. On

1599-400: Was pointed out at the time that Sir Michael Wilkins had been previously criticised for taking £500,000 consultancy fees over and above his salary; then a financial audit by Wakefield Council reportedly uncovered an “excessive rewards culture” with lavish spending on foreign trips. In July 2016, a report by the Education Policy Institute found that at the secondary level "Outwood Grange is

1640-539: Was stated to run nine of them, with Outwood Academy Ormesby in Middlesbrough excluding 41% of pupils in the last academic year. Notes were drawn in the earlier article to the risk of disabled pupils with challenging behaviour being overly at risk of exclusion. The trusts' policy for “consequence rooms”, as isolation booths were called, stated pupils must not "tap, chew, swing on their chairs, shout out, sigh, or [engage in] any other unacceptable or disruptive behaviour" and

1681-467: Was the one imposed on all: By 2017, the concept of academy chain was in retreat, the multi-academy trust was the predominant model of governance. The MAT contracts with the Secretary of State directly and schools run by a MAT have no separate legal identity. Each school is, in law, simply the local site through which the MAT delivers the central contract. Local staff and any local ‘governing body’ have only

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