Lastly, you can read @arlenpettitt.bsky.social 's report, recommendations & his moving personal foreword here (sending love to your son Arlen!):

👇

www.arlenpettitt.co.uk/sen-suspensi...

🧠As someone with neurodivergence myself, I managed to succeed in school being the more reserved 'neurotypical' passing type, but you shouldn't have to present neurotypical to not be penalised.

😦What really stands out for me - is these are children as young as 5 years old. And suspension rates only increase with age.

Children need to be supported right from the outset & able to flourish as themselves, not forced into neurotypical boxes.📦🙅‍♀️

We can see the NE is:
👉 slightly more likely to refuse an initial assessment for an EHCP
👉North Tyneside most likely in the NE with 46.1% of initial assessments refused
👉more likely to miss the 20wk deadline for decisions

This means kids without a plan are more likely to have unmet needs

📜⚖️Arlen also highlights EHCPs (Education, Health & Care Plans) - a legal document setting out a young person’s needs, and what should be done to accommodate them.

The highest proportion of SEN suspensions is in South Tyneside (where I'm from) at 88.9%, and the lowest is Gateshead at 73.3%...

2) In the North East, the % of suspensions of pupils in state-funded primary schools in receipt of SEN support, was higher than the English average

🔍When we look at local authority break downs for the NE we can see...

1) Across England, the number of suspensions in state-funded primaries has increased from 49,600 in 2014/15
to 84,200 in 2022/23 (a 69.7% increase)!

But in the North East Combined Authority region, a 103% increase has been seen!😱

As always, sending lots of love to everyone who is currently personally impacted by these events and rhetoric. 💔♥️

We need proper policies that will invest funds into left behind areas, eradicate poverty, and tackle inequality head on.

This is a worrying time when statements such as these are being said so confidently, supported, and platformed.

We have already seen this pushing of the rhetoric in parties initially targeting so-called "illegals" (btw it's a legal right to claim asylum) to all refugees to people with Indefinite Leave to Remain, or expected to gain status.

What needs to be made clear is that this othering and scapegoating will never be enough. It will not solve the problems of decades of regional inequality, deep poverty, underinvestment, privatisation, poor policy decisions, and the under taxation of wealth.