Situation
Ballerup Municipality works from a shared view of children and young people, with the fundamental value that they should have the opportunity to participate in communities where differences are seen as a strength. Like many other municipalities, Ballerup is experiencing a development where some pupils cannot be accommodated in mainstream settings and are therefore referred to specialist provision.
Complication
The development is leading to rising costs, which in the long term risks eroding the finances of the school sector. Against this backdrop, Epinion has produced an analysis for Ballerup Municipality that takes a 360-degree view of all stakeholder groups in the school sector. On the one hand, it assesses the mainstream sector’s financial, physical and educational resources for working inclusively. On the other hand, it analyses the specialist sector with a view to an overall assessment of the academic and financial sustainability of the existing specialist provision, including whether there is alignment between the existing provision and the needs for specialist teaching.
Recommendation
The analysis concludes that Ballerup Municipality is on a strong footing, with satisfied parents, pupils and educational staff, and a relatively low level of segregation, which has nevertheless been steadily increasing in recent years, partly because the mainstream sector is not currently equipped to accommodate the growing number of pupils with additional needs. Epinion therefore recommends that the mainstream sector be strengthened through the (further) development of intermediate provision, upskilling and the use of new methods, such as co-teaching; that special educational competences and cross-disciplinary support spend significantly more time in schools; that referral procedures be strengthened with a greater focus on reintegration into mainstream settings; and that early intervention be given higher priority.
