CYP Now - Secure schools: government looks to providers to deliver reforms

MoJ documents reveal details of how secure school will operate and what prospective providers must do to fulfil ministers' ambitions. But one expert fears that a lack of funding and too many children may harm its impact.

The language used in the guide for applicants to run England's first secure school leaves no doubt that the setting will be first and foremost an education setting.

References to teachers, students and learning objectives are scattered throughout the 51-page document, published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last month.

The language in the guide and supporting bidding documents is one illustration of the MoJ's desire for secure schools to "deliver a fundamentally different service to that provided in the current youth custodial estate".

Plans to pilot two secure schools were first announced in December 2016, on the back of recommendations made in Charlie Taylor's review of the youth justice system. Their aim is to place a greater focus on the education and rehabilitation of young offenders, improving safety in the youth secure estate and reducing reoffending.

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