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Pinball
Kids
Preventing
school
exclusions
Laura Partridge, Fran Landreth Strong,
Eli Lobley and Danni Mason
March 2020
Pinball Kids
Pinball Kids 1 Preventing school exclusions
Contents
Introduction 4
Summary of recommendations 6
Considerations for school leaders 7
Terminology 9
Methodology 12
Chapter 1: Background – what do we know about school exclusions? 14
Chapter 2: The systemic causes of rising exclusions 18
Wider societal factors 20
Direct consequences of deliberate policymaking 23
Unintended consequences of policy making 29
Chapter 3: The conditions for change 39
Every child has a strong relationship with a trusted adult in school 40
Every child’s parents or carers are engaged
as partners in their education 46
Every child attends a school with an inclusive ethos 52
Every pupil is assessed early and continuously for learning and social
and emotional needs and appropriate support can be provided 60
We know where every child is in the system 70
Conclusion 73
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids2
About the RSA
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and
Commerce) believes in a world where everyone is able to participate in creating a
better future. Through our ideas, research and a , strong Fellowship we are
a global community of proactive problem solvers. We are committed to uniting
people and ideas to resolve the challenges of our time.
Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed expertise to this project.
We would like to thank all those who have generously given their time to advise
our team including John Watkin (former PRU leader and local authority adviser),
Tom Sherrington (former head teacher and education consultant), Brenda
McHugh (co-founder, Pears Family School), Luke Billingham (Hackney Quest),
Kerri Marriner (London Borough of Tower Hamlets), Terry Bryan (London
Borough of Tower Hamlets), Phil Mellen (Leeds City Council), Val Waite (Leeds
City Council), Barbara Temple (Leeds City Council), Tim Head (Hackney CVS),
Maggie Atkinson (former Children’s Commissioner and local authority adviser),
John Bradshaw (London East Alternative Provision), and Anna Cole (formerly
inclusion specialist at ASCL).
We are particularly grateful to the busy sta, students and parents of the schools
who feature in this report: Simon Flowers, Dean Alexis, Sarah Holdsworth and
Tom Shaw (Carr Manor Community School); Brenda McHugh and colleagues
(Pears Family School); Vic Goddard, Dawn Moore, Tina Baldwin, Lucia
Goddard and colleagues (Passmores Academy); Richard Billings, Rob Gaygan,
Anmari Clarke and Tracey Epps and colleagues (Towers School and Sixth Form
Centre); Colin Scott and colleagues (Risedale Sports and Community College);
Rohit Naik and Elaine Anderson (Hope School); Lee Cambray, Mark Robinson
and Nic Brindle (The Fermain Academy); Jonny Mitchell and Karen Horler
(Co-op Academy Leeds); Georgia Crew, Ed Vainker and colleagues (Reach
Academy Feltham); Nicola Noble, Fiona Carrick-Davies and colleagues (Surrey
Square Primary School). Pupils and parents from these schools were interviewed
anonymously so cannot be named here, but we thank them for their time and
thoughtful contributions.
Our thanks also go to the many other experts who kindly contributed to our
research including Adam Boddison (nasen and Whole School SEND), Matt
Archer and Clare Finnigan (Think Forward), Peter Fonagy (Anna Freud Centre
for Children and Families), Elisa Mascellani (Nurture UK), Karen Wespieser
and Christopher Rossiter (The Driver Youth Trust), youth members of Account
Hackney (Hackney Community and Voluntary Sector), Helen Phillips (teacher
training consultant), Frank Norris (formerly of Co-op Academies Trust), Pete
Sears (Phoenix Junior Academy), Joe James (Stanley St Peter’s Primary School),
Martin Blacoe (Co-op Academy Priesthorpe), Martin Nirsimloo (South Quay
College), David Boyle (Dunraven School), Manny Botwe (Tytherington School),
Andy Hough (Wandsworth Borough Council), Dan Hamer (Torbay Council),
Julianne Wesemann (Department for Education), Tom Bennett (government
behaviour adviser), Viv Trundell (Buckinghamshire County Council), Carl
Parsons (University of Greenwich), Shauna Mullarkey (PhD candidate, UCL),
Rachel Lofthouse (Leeds Beckett University), Sarah Dove (PRUsAP and Phoenix
Education Consultancy), Sara Parsonage and Lucy Boddington (Social Finance),
and Anton Florek (The Sta College). We are equally grateful to those who
contributed valuable insights anonymously both through interviews and
workshops.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 3 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
We would also like to thank RSA colleagues past and present who have oered advice
and practical support including Matthew Taylor, Hannah Webster, Toby Murray, Ian
Burbidge, Ed Cox, Hannah Pater, Aidan Daly, Claudia Devlin, Fabian Wallace Stephens
and Naomi Bath.
This report would not have been possible without the generous support of our partners
and funders: the Betty Messenger Charitable Foundation since the inception of the
project, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for their subsequent support of the work.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids4
Introduction
In the last five years, there has been a percent increase in the number of pupils
permanently excluded from England’s schools. By /, the last school year for
which data is available, there were – on average – pupils expelled each school day.
In that same academic year, pupils were suspended from school over , times,
missing – on average – two school days at a time. Pupils are most commonly expelled
or suspended for ‘persistent disruptive behaviour’ suggesting that there are a group
of pupils who consistently bounce up against the boundaries of their school’s rules,
norms and expectations. It is this group that former head teacher Tom Sherrington was
describing when he used the term “pinball kids”.
It is the growing number of children being suspended and expelled that has recently
grabbed national headlines, but the school exclusions issue is not just one of total
numbers; it’s a question of social justice.Children with special educational needs
and disabilities (SEND), those from poorer backgrounds and certain ethnic minority
groups, and those who have been in care are disproportionally represented in exclusions
statistics. Children who the system should hold on to are being let go and let down.
The educational and life outcomes for pupils who have been excluded are undeniably
shocking and are costly to the public purse. Exclusions are estimated to cost £,
per young person aected in lifetime education, benefits, healthcare and criminal justice
costs. In the first chapter of this report, we examine how exclusion rates have changed
and who has been aected.
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
are not alone in caring deeply about improving the educational lot of the pupils
most at risk of exclusion. The Children’s Commissioner, Barnardo’s, the Institute
for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the Centre for Social Justice, the Education Policy
Institute (EPI), the Education Select Committee and others have shed light on this
issue and proposed solutions. Youth research and advocacy groups such as Take Back
The Power have explored how exclusions aect young people who are excluded. The
government too commissioned a review of school exclusions, led by Edward Timpson,
which reported last year. And yet the system persists in excluding its most vulnerable
children despite the concern of so many prominent actors. So, what can we do to reduce
unnecessary exclusions?
In Chapter of this report, we begin by looking at the system-led causes of rising
exclusions, which we believe fall into three distinct categories:
•Wider societal factors, beyond the education system, that aect children’s
wellbeing and capacity to cope in school. Examples include growing poverty,
rising incidence of mental health and special educational needs. It is not
down to schools and colleges alone to solve fundamental societal issues.
. Sherrington, T. () No Excuses and the PinballKids. Teacherhead. [Online] Available at:
https://teacherhead.com////no-excuses-and-the-pinball-kids/
. Gill, K. () Making the Dierence: breaking the link between school exclusion and social exclusion.
IPPR. [online] Available at: www.ippr.org/files/-/making-the-dierence-report-october-.pdfn
[Accessed Dec. ].
. Department for Education () Timpson Review of School Exclusion. [PDF] Available at: www.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Timpson_
review.pdf
. Department for Education () School exclusion trial evaluation. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//RR_-_
School_Exclusion_Trial_Final_Report.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 5 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Although it must be noted that schools can – and indeed often do – work
hard to mitigate the eects of these on the pupils they serve.
•Direct consequences of deliberate policymaking. Examples include the
decision to introduce a more ‘rigorous’ curriculum and accompanying exams,
or to reduce funding to local authorities, schools and other public services
that work with children. Here, we need leadership from those who make the
decisions in and about schools. They must make a commitment to change if
these policies are to stop negatively aecting some pupils.
•Unintended consequences of policy and practice decisions, where decision
makers set out to do what is in the best interests of children, but the by-
products of these policies negatively aect some groups. For example, the
desire to improve standards in the education system through accountability
mechanisms; to give autonomy to school leaders through the introduction of
new school models; or to make the job of teaching easier by advocating for
stricter behaviour management approaches. Here, we need to shed light on
the unintended side eects of policymaking for some disadvantaged pupils.
We must ask dicult questions about how the system can be better structured
to meet the needs of every child.
We believe that the last of these might be the most fruitful avenue for change in the
short to medium term because these policies and practices occur within the bounds
of the education system, and they often require only policy adjustments rather than
wholesale policy reform.
Looking at the issue through a causal lens, and in the context of the current system,
as described above, is essential. But there is a risk that it forces us to think only
within existing structures. We therefore decided to look at the problem from a second
perspective, asking practitioners, young people and their families to identify the
necessary conditions for change. This uncovers conditions that we could create in the
system that would be beneficial for the children most at risk of exclusion and would, in
fact, be good for all pupils.
Therefore, in Chapter , instead of looking down from the level of the whole system,
we look out from the perspective of the pinball kids to understand the conditions that
need to be created if they are to stay and be successful in mainstream school. Using this
approach, we identified the following conditions necessary for change:
•Every child has a strong relationship with a trusted adult in school
•Every child’s parents/carers are engaged as partners in their education
•Every child attends a school with an inclusive ethos
•Every child is assessed for learning and other needs throughout their school
career and there is capacity to provide appropriate support
•We know where every child is in the system to ensure they can benefit from
the four conditions above.
We spoke to sta in schools and local authorities where these conditions have been
intentionally created, who believe they are fundamental to achieving their low or even
zero exclusion rates. We believe that if these conditions could be present in every child’s
life, we could prevent the most vulnerable children from being unnecessarily excluded
and enhance the educational experience of all children.
A recurring theme throughout Chapter is the importance of strong relationships.
Exclusions are one of the clearest manifestations of the breakdown in relationship
between a child and the other members of their school community. This may be
triggered by the challenges presented by relationships in that child’s homelife. And the
lack of preventative support available before the child reaches the point of exclusion is
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids6
symptomatic of the lack of capacity for schools and other public services such as child
and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to work collaboratively. We need to set
about rebuilding these relationships from the ground up if we are to change the fate of
the pinball kids.
This report summarises the findings of our two dierent analyses (the system-level
analysis, and the ‘conditions for change’ analysis), drawing on new polling and
freedom of information data, case studies and interviews, and the findings of other
organisations working on this topic. We present examples of best practice from
mainstream schools and local authorities that are committed to reducing exclusions.
We also highlight innovative practice from alternative provision schools that
mainstream schools could learn from. And we recommend action to address the
systemic causes of rising exclusions (explored in Chapter ) and to create the conditions
(explored in Chapter ) for every school in the country to hold on to its pinball kids.
We recognise that policy change can take time, so in addition to recommending action
by government (page ), we also oer considerations to school leaders who wish to take
action now (page ). Furthermore, the RSA is committed to working with forward-
thinking partners to bring about the change that can happen while we await wider
system reform. The most exciting practice around preventing exclusions highlighted
in this report comes from those invested in building trusting relationships between
various influential actors working with children. Those actors have the power to change
the fortunes of the pinball kids by bridging the siloes that accountability and funding
pressures in the system have created between dierent schools in a locality, and also
by connecting those schools with public sector partners that could be a vital source of
support for the pinball kids.
The report features local authorities such as Leeds, Lincolnshire and Newcastle that
sought to build relational capacity in their jurisdiction by giving schools the time and
support to develop and implement a shared vision for all local children. These eorts
have the power to fundamentally shift responsibility for the pinball kids from individual
head teachers, who hold the legal right to exclude, to a collective of local school leaders
driven by a shared purpose. Some of these initiatives also proactively include other
public services, bridging the gap that can often exist between the various professionals
in children’s lives. The RSA is looking for partners who wish to invest time in developing
the connective tissue between schools and public services who together, united by a
common purpose, can rewrite the story of the pinball kids.
Summary of recommendations
In order to reduce unnecessary exclusions, we need to address the systemic causes of
rising exclusions (explored in Chapter ) and to create conditions within schools which
allow them to hold on to their at-risk children (explored in Chapter ). We recommend
the following actions to help achieve that goal. We have focused on actions that we
believe will be both feasible and eective, and we are committed to working with
partners in schools, local authorities, the Department for Education (DfE), and Ofsted,
to deliver these changes.
•Government should invest in multi-agency teams to support preventative
work by head teachers. Area-based teams of mental health, social care, youth
work and criminal justice professionals should work together to help head
teachers support pupils at risk of exclusion. These should be fully funded
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 7 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
through increases to the ‘high needs block’ to meet regularly and deliver
interventions.
•Government should create a ‘what works’ fund to assess the impact of
promising approaches to reduce exclusions. This would build more evidence
on the impact of approaches like restorative practice, trauma-informed
teacher training, and deployment of teaching assistants in pastoral roles.
This will help schools to eectively invest resources in developing stronger
pupil-teacher relationships. Joint proposals from schools and other public
services such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) should
be encouraged.
•The Department for Education should ensure that progression routes for
school sta recognise the importance of pastoral work. For example:
•The Higher Level Teaching Assistants qualification should require skills
in supporting social, emotional and behavioral needs.
•The Teaching and Learning Responsibility guidance should strongly
recommend protected time for heads of year to do pastoral work.
•Pastoral leadership should be embedded within the framework for the
National Professional Qualification for Headship.
•All teacher trainees should take a short placement in an alternative
provision or special school.
•The Department for Education should issue clear fair access guidance
that ensures all schools and agencies engage with fair access processes and
removes academies’ right of refusal over pupils placed via fair access under
quota systems. Guidance should also be available for parents to guide them
through the exclusion appeal process and finding an alternative educational
placement for their child if an exclusion goes ahead.
•The Department for Education should ensure we know where every child and
young person is in the education system by mandating that the date of and reason
for all managed moves and transitions to home education are recorded on school
information systems before pupils can be removed from the school roll.
•Ofsted should ensure inclusion carries explicit weight in inspection gradings.
It should consider re-introducing an element of the inspection framework
from the early s in which the first criterion for assessing the ‘overall
eectiveness of the school’ was ‘how inclusive the school is’.
Considerations for school leaders
School leaders interviewed for this project and schools we visited have highlighted
interesting approaches to preventing exclusions from school. If your school is looking to
do the same, you might wish to consider:
•How can you strengthen pastoral structures? You could consider making
pastoral experts including non-teachers part of your senior leadership team
(see Reach Academy case study on page ) or introducing a new professional
development pathway for non-teachers as welfare managers – a role to work
alongside your head of year (see Towers School case study on page ). You
may also consider reducing the size of tutor groups by deploying non-teaching
sta as ‘coaches’ (see Carr Manor Community School case study on page ).
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•Can you employ primary-trained specialists in your secondary school? They
could aid the transition from primary to secondary school by supporting
struggling pupils. Literacy and numeracy catch-up support could enable them
to successfully access the whole curriculum (see Passmores Academy case
study on page ).
•How can you engage other professionals to support your core sta team?
Research for this project demonstrated that teachers want support from other
professionals to reduce the number of times they internally exclude pupils.
You may consider co-locating mental health, social care, speech and language
or other professionals on site at school to bring their support closer to your
sta and pupils (see Hope School and Reach Academy case studies on pages
pages and respectively).
•Do you engage families as partners in education? Proven methods include
regular positive communications about a child’s progress and by inviting
them to learn with sta, for example during inset days and twilights on topics
like attachment and behaviour management (see Pears Family School and
Surrey Square Primary School case studies on pages and respectively).
•Do you actively promote diversity within your school? Research shows
the importance of collecting and reviewing data on diversity within your
workforce, reviewing personal specifications to ensure that language does not
discourage applicants with certain characteristics and oering perspective-
taking training (exploring scenarios to understand what it might be like for
other people facing prejudice or disadvantage). There is funding available
for schools to run their own diversity projects and there are organisations
including peer support networks who can provide a valuable network to
Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME), LGBT+ and female teachers.
•Have you reviewed your behaviour policy with inclusion in mind? You
should ensure that your behaviour policy does not discriminate against pupils
on the grounds of race, gender, SEND or sexual orientation. You may wish
to make clear that exclusion is an option available to the school rather than
stating that it is a sanction for a pre-specified list of behaviours. You could
also focus your policy on maintaining good relationships and repairing them
when broken (see Carr Manor Community School case study on page and/
or read their inclusion and behaviour policy).
. More than half of the , teachers surveyed wanted to be able to refer pupils to an in-school mental
health practitioner.
. CIPD () Diversity management that works: An evidence-based review [PDF]. Available at: www.
cipd.co.uk/Images/-diversity-and-inclusion-report-revised_tcm-.pdf [Accessed February ]
. Peer support networks include BAMEed: www.bameednetwork.com/about-us/; LGBTEd: http://
lgbted.uk/; Women Leading in Education regional networks: www.gov.uk/guidance/women-leading-in-
education-regional-networks. You can also apply to your equality and diversity fund regional hub for support:
www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-and-diversity-funding-for-school-led-projects#lead-schools
. External organisations such as EqualiTeach can provide support: www.equaliteach.co.uk/ [Accessed
February ]
. Carrmanor.org.uk. ().Inclusion and behaviour policy. [online] Available at: www.carrmanor.org.
uk/wp-content/uploads///Behaviour-Policy-.pdf [Accessed February ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 9 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Terminology
The following key terms appear throughout the report. This is how the RSA uses
each of them.
Alternative provision: this covers all educational provision outside mainstream
and special needs schools, including pupil referral units (PRUs) maintained by
local authorities, alternative provision academies and free schools and independent
alternative provision.
Children known to social services: if there are short- or long-term risks to a child’s
wellbeing and development, they may be referred to a social worker by their family or a
health visitor, teacher or other professional. There are three specific groups of children
with social workers that we refer to in this report:
Looked after children: these are children who have been in the care of the local
authority for over hours, for example with a foster family or in a children’s home.
Children in need: these are children who have been assessed by social workers as
needing help and protection as a result of risks to their development or health, or
who are disabled.
Children with a child protection plan: this plan is developed if a local authority
determines that a child is at serious risk of physical abuse, sexual abuse,
emotional abuse or neglect. It details the steps that will be taken to ensure the
child is safe and their needs are met.
Elective home education: this refers to a choice by a parent or guardian to educate their
child at home rather than send them to school. The child will not be registered on a
school roll. Reasons for home education include explicit choices, for example related
to religious beliefs and ideological views. Other reasons might not be experienced as a
‘choice’, for example being unable to find a school that meets the child’s needs.
Fair access protocol (FAP): each local authority is required to have a fair access protocol,
which directs how they handle admissions outside of the normal admissions rounds.
The protocol must be agreed by a majority of schools and are binding for all schools
within the local authority area. It is intended to ensure that children, particularly the
most vulnerable, are oered a school place quickly. This includes pupils who have been
excluded from school. Local authorities often coordinate the placement of pupils in
partnership with local schools through a regular meeting, commonly referred to as a
‘fair access panel’. This aims to ensure that each pupil receives the most appropriate
placement for their needs and that no school receives a disproportionate number of
pupils with additional needs.
. The British Association of Social Workers () The context, roles and tasks of the child and family
social worker. [PDF] Available at: www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/BASW%England%-%
Children%and%Families%Practice%Policy%and%Education%Group%role%of%
a%child%and%family%social%worker.pdf
. NSPCC () Looked After Children. [online] Available at: www.learning.nspcc.org.uk/children-
and-families-at-risk/looked-after-children/ [Accessed January ].
. Gov.uk () Children in Need of Help and Protection data and analysis. [online] Available at: www.
gov.uk/government/publications/children-in-need-of-help-and-protection-data-and-analysis [Accessed
January ].
. Gov.uk. ().Working together to safeguard children. Department for Education [online] Available
at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf [Accessed February ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids10
Free school meals (FSM): pupils are eligible to have a free meal at school if their parents/
carers receive income-related benefits. Eligibility for free school meals is often used as a
proxy measure of disadvantage. These pupils attract additional funding to their schools.
Primary schools receive £, additional ‘pupil premium’ funding for each pupil who
has been eligible for free school meals in the last six years (Ever FSM), and secondary
schools receive £ per pupil recorded as Ever FSM.
Inclusive education: an approach to education that considers and supports the needs
of all students, providing a sense of belonging and opportunities for success. Human
rights doctrine protects the right to an inclusive education that oers “flexible curricula,
teaching and learning methods adapted to dierent strengths, requirements and
learning styles”. Crucially, this definition emphasises that teachers must be suitably
supported to work in this way.
High needs funding: this is government funding to support children with SEND and
those in alternative provision. High needs funding is allocated to local authorities by
central government according to a national formula that considers the circumstances of
the local area. Local authorities distribute this funding to schools and other educational
settings according to need. It is also referred to as the ‘high needs block’ as it forms one
‘block’ of the total dedicated schools grant (DSG) distributed by central government
to local authorities; the other ‘blocks’ of funding correspond to schools, early years
provision, and local authority central services.
Managed moves: this allows a young person to move from one school to another,
including alternative provision academies and PRUs. These should take place with the
full agreement of the young person, their parents/carers, and both schools involved.
These are often used as a ‘fresh start’ which avoids a permanent exclusion from the
student’s original school.
Ocial exclusions: only a head teacher can exclude a child, and they must inform the
parents/carers of the exclusion. They must notify the local authority and the school’s
governing body of all permanent exclusions and any fixed-term exclusions of longer
than five days. Ocial exclusions are recorded by the school and local authority and can
take two forms:
Fixed-term exclusion: this refers to a pupil being suspended from school for
part of a day, a whole day or several days. A pupil cannot legally be fixed-term
excluded for more than days in an academic year.
Permanent exclusion: this refers to a pupil being permanently expelled from a
school. A permanent exclusion is the most serious sanction a school can give
to a pupil: government guidance states that permanent exclusions should only
be used as a “last resort”. The pupil can no longer attend the school and is
formally removed from the school’s roll. It is the responsibility of the local
authority to find the pupil another school place no later than the sixth day
following the exclusion.
. Gov.uk. ().Free School Meals Guidance. Department for Education [online] Available at: https://
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Free_
school_meals_guidance_Apr.pdf [Accessed February ].
. Gov.uk () Pupil premium 2018 to 2019: conditions of grant [online] (updated March ).
Available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant--to-/pupil-
premium--to--conditions-of-grant [Accessed February ]
. UN Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities () Convention on the rights of people
with disabilities. [online] Available at: www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRPD/GC/RighttoEducation/
CRPD-C-GC-.doc [Accessed January ].
. Gov.uk () Exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England
[PDF]. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file//_Exclusion_Stat_guidance_Web_version.pdf [Accessed February ]
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 11 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
O-rolling: this is when the pupil is removed from a school’s roll without following the
process of an ocial exclusion, or by encouraging a parent to remove their child from the
school. It is distinct from other types of pupil move because it does not involve identifying
a new educational placement for the child.
Progress 8: this is a measure of the ‘progress’ pupils make during their time at secondary
school, used in England and Wales. It compares their attainment in examinations
taken at the end of secondary school (GCSEs) with the results of pupils nationally
who got similar results in exams taken at the end of primary school (SATs). These are
averaged to give an overall Progress score for the school. A score of zero means pupils
on average made similar progress to pupils nationwide. A score above zero means that
pupils made more progress on average than pupils in other schools. A score below zero
means pupils at the school made less progress on average than pupils in other schools.
Pupil referral unit (PRU): these are local authority-maintained schools serving pupils who
have been excluded from mainstream schools, have medical needs that prevent them from
accessing mainstream education or are awaiting placement in a mainstream school.
School types: in this report we refer to various dierent types of school including local
authority-maintained schools, academies, free schools and grammar schools.
Local authority-maintained schools/maintained schools: schools that are
overseen by the local authority. They follow the national curriculum, admissions
regulations, and teacher pay and conditions. There are dierent types of
maintained schools: community schools, foundation and trust schools, voluntary
aided schools and voluntary controlled schools.
Academies: schools that are not overseen by the local authority and have more freedom
over curriculum and policies around admissions and teacher pay and conditions.
There are two main types of academy: converter academies that were able to convert
to academy status based on good performance; and sponsored academies that were
underperforming schools forced to become academies (run by sponsors).
Free schools: schools that are set up by groups outside of local authority –
e.g. parents, universities, charities – and do not have to follow the national
curriculum. They must be entirely new and cannot take over an existing school.
Grammar schools: selective maintained or academy schools. Students must
perform well on a test at age in order to be eligible for admission.
Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND): this refers to having a learning need
and/or disability which requires additional support to access education. When formally
recognised, this additional support can take two forms:
SEN support: support which is provided in schools, usually organised by the
SEN coordinator (SENCO).
Education, health and care plan (EHCP): a document which sets out provision
and support for children and young people with SEND up to years old. These
are decided upon after an assessment which demonstrates that more support
is required than that available through SEN support. An EHCP also triggers
additional funding for the provision agreed upon in the plan.
. Department for Education () Secondary Accountability Measures. [PDF] Available at: www.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
Secondary_accountability_measures_guidance__-_October__final_with_ref.pdf
. Gov.uk (unknown) Types of School. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/types-of-school [Accessed
January ].
. Gov.uk () Children with special needs and disabilities (SEND). [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/
children-with-special-educational-needs/extra-SEN-help [Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids12
Methodology
In , we embarked on a research project to explore the following questions:
•What are the current trends in school exclusions?
•Who is aected by exclusion and how?
•What are the systemic causes of rising exclusions?
•What conditions would need to be in place to prevent exclusions?
•Whatsystem-wide changes could create these conditions?
•What innovative practice by individuals andorganisationscould be developed
to create these conditions?
In order to answer these questions, we undertook the following research activities:
Literature review – a review of existing research and policy literature focusing on the
following themes and how they might relate to rising levels of exclusion:
•Changing approaches to behaviour management
•Curriculum reform
•Perverse incentives created by the accountability regime
•Rising numbers of pupils with SEND and mental health diagnoses
•Rising levels of poverty
•Atomisation of the school system
Analysis of existing government data – including trends in school exclusions and
alternative provision, and on public funding to support groups of pupils at risk of or
following exclusion.
A freedom of information request to all local authorities in England – we asked for
information including:
•The number of pupils enrolled at PRUs
•The number of PRU places funded by the local authority
•The academic term in which pupils are admitted to PRUs
•The number of cases considered by Fair Access Panels
•Total expenditure by the local authority on alternative provision.
Requests were sent in July and responses were collated between August and
January . All information requested related to the academic year -. We
received responses from of local authorities contacted, including those who
responded to confirm that they do not hold data on exclusions. local authorities
provided no response. Results of the request were reported in March .
Teacher survey – an online survey of teachers and school leaders as part of the
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey.
Questions were designed to understand teachers’ views on the use of permanent, fixed-
term and internal exclusions and which types of support would be most valuable to help
them support young people at risk of exclusion.
The survey was completed by , practising teachers from , state schools in
England between and June . Of these respondents, ( percent) were
teaching in primary schools and ( percent) were teaching in secondary schools.
, respondents were classroom teachers and were school leaders. There were
good levels of representation across key school-level factors including school type,
. Partridge, L. () Is pressure to achieve exam results contributing to school exclusions? Yes, new
RSA data indicates. [blog] March . Available at: www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/
rsa-blogs///exclusions-exams [Accessed December ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 13 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
performance and local authority type. Samples were weighted to ensure results were
representative of national free school meals eligibility. Results of the survey were
reported in a working paper released in September .
Stakeholder interviews – we conducted semi-structured interviews with
representatives of key stakeholder groups, including policymakers, local authority
services, school leaders, researchers and academics, excluded young people and their
families, youth workers, teacher training providers, child psychologists, and third sector
organisations. Interviewees were found through outreach within our own networks and
open calls in blogs posted on the RSA website. Interviewees then referred us to other key
stakeholders. Interviews lasted between minutes and hour and took place either in
person or by telephone. They explored the interviewee’s experience of exclusions, their
perspective on the underlying causes of exclusions and potential solutions.
Research visits to schools – we undertook day-long research visits to schools
identified ashaving an innovative approach to reducing exclusions. We received
initial recommendations of over schools from project advisors and interviewed
stakeholders. Following substantial desk research and telephone interviews with senior
leaders, schools were shortlisted for visits, conducted between January and
October . Of the schools visited, seven were mainstream (one primary, one all-
through, and five secondary schools), two were alternative provision (one primary and
one secondary school) and one was a special school for to -year olds.
During each visit we interviewed senior leaders and key sta members responsible for
inclusion, sta involved with delivering interventions for students, observed lessons and
interventions and took a tour of the school. We also spoke to over students across the
schools visited (as well as parents and carers in some schools), using a combination of
focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and informal conversations.
System change workshops – we convened half-day workshops in partnership with
two local authorities, Tower Hamlets Borough Council and Leeds City Council, in
September and October respectively. These workshops brought together key
stakeholders from mainstream schools, alternative provision, local authority services
for children, family and education, and others involved in supporting young people who
have been excluded or those at risk of exclusion.
Through workshop activities, participants helped us to understand the ecosystem that
exists around school exclusions in each locality. Participants also spent time considering
what improved outcomes for young people who are excluded or at risk of exclusion
might look like, the conditions that need to be in place in order to make this possible,
and the barriers and opportunities to doing so that currently exist in each context.
Analysis of qualitative data – we carried out a thematic analysis of transcriptions and
observational notes from each of these research activities, coding data using NVivo data
analysis software.
. For our analysis of the teacher survey results, see Partridge, L., Mason, D., Webster, H. &
Landreth Strong, F. () School exclusions: the teachers’ perspective. [PDF] Available at: www.thersa.
org/globalassets/projects/cld/pinball-kids/rsa-school-exclusions-the-teachers-perspective.pdf [Accessed
February ]
. QRS International () What is NVivo? [online] Available at: www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/
what-is-nvivo [Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
01
Background – what
do we know about
school exclusions?
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 15 Preventing school exclusions
Official exclusions23
The number of permanent and fixed-term exclusions of pupils from England’s schools has been rising consistently since
/. In the last academic year for which we have data (/), on average pupils were expelled each school day. The
most common reason for exclusion is ‘persistent disruptive behaviour’.
. Gov.uk () Statistics: exclusions [online] (updated July ) Available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions
[Accessed February ]
Particularly concerning is the fact that young people from
disadvantaged groups are disproportionately excluded from
school. Pupils with SEND are around six times more likely
to be permanently excluded from school than their peers
without SEND. Pupils eligible for free school meals were four
times more likely to be permanently excluded from school
than their non-eligible peers.
There are also racial disparities in exclusion rates, with Black
Caribbean pupils being excluded at a rate of nearly three
times their White British peers. The patterns are similar for
these groups when it comes to fixed-term exclusions. Looked
after children (see ‘Terminology’ section for a definition) are
also significantly more likely to face fixed-term exclusion
from school than their peers.
Number of permanent exclusions in England
2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
5,080 5,170 4,630 4,949
5,795
6,684
7,719 7,905
Number of fixed-term exclusions in England
2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
324,110 304,370
267,520
269,475
302,975
339,362
381,864
410,753
Rate of fixed-term exclusions
SEN
support
Non-SEN
support
FSM Non-FSM Black
Caribbean
White
British
Looked
After
Children
All
children
15.10
3.36
13.65
10.46
11.83
5.08
3.73
5.70
Rate of permanent exclusions
SEN
support
Non-SEN
support
FSM Non-FSM Black
Caribbean
White
British
All
children
0.34
0.06
0.28
0.07
0.10
0.28
0.10
There is also a significant dierence in exclusion rates between boys and girls, with boys being permanently excluded three
times more frequently than girls.
Rate of permanent exclusions Rate of fixed-term exclusions
Boys
Girls
0.15
0.05
Boys
Girls 2.83
7.23
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids16
. Hutchinson, J. & Crenna-Jennings, W. () Unexplained pupil exits from schools: Further analysis and data by multi-academy trust and local
authority. [PDF] Education Policy Institute. Available at: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads///Unexplained-pupil-moves_LAs-MATs_EPI-.pdf
. Department for Education and Isos Partnership () Alternative provision market analysis. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.
uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Alternative_Provision_Market_Analysis.pdf
. Gov.uk () Statistics: school and pupil numbers. [online] (updated June ) Available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-
and-pupil-numbers [Accessed February ]
. FFT Education Data Lab () Timpson Review reflections, part one: Not all pupils who end up in alternative provision have been permanently
excluded. [online] https://teducationdatalab.org.uk///timpson-review-reflections-part-one-not-all-pupils-who-end-up-in-alternative-provision-have-
been-permanently-excluded/ [Accessed February ]
. Gov.uk. (). Underlying data: Schools, pupils and their characteristics . Available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-
their-characteristics-january-
. Department for Education and Isos Partnership () Alternative provision market analysis. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.
uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Alternative_Provision_Market_Analysis.pdf
Unexplained pupil exits
While the government statistics are revealing, they do not
show the whole picture. There is good reason to believe
that a greater number of pupils than the figures suggest are
leaving a school never to return: pupils who have not gone
through an ocial exclusion process and are therefore not
captured in the statistics, but have eectively been ‘removed’
from school. They may have moved to another mainstream
school, into alternative provision, to an independent school,
a special school or into home education.
It is dicult to know how many pupils are in this situation
or how many of these moves are against the best interests
of the pupil and the will of the parents/carers. However,
according to the Education Policy Institute’s analysis of the
, pupils sitting GCSEs in , an estimated ,
had exited to an unknown location, not to return to a state-
funded school, between Year and Year .
Unexplained exits in 2017 GCSE cohort
Estimated students who
exited to an unknown
destination and did not
return to a state-funded
school by Year 11
Remaining cohort
4%
96%
Pupils educated outside mainstream schools
At the time of the January school census, , pupils
were being educated in state-supported alternative provision
(PRUs, and alternative provision academies and free
schools). The latest analysis from FFT Education Datalab
(based on data) suggests that percent of pupils
educated in these settings were permanently excluded – the
remainder may have “managed moved” or moved into an
alternative provision school via an unocial exclusion.
Pupils may also end up in independent alternative provision.
Data collected from local authorities as part of the January
alternative provision census indicates that ,
pupils were being educated in alternative provision settings
such as independent schools and further education colleges
oering pre- provision. Again, these figures may
underestimate the size of the issue: independent providers of
alternative provision do not have to register as a school – and
therefore provide data – if they oer part-time education or
they provide full-time education to fewer than five pupils.
As pupils move through education, their likelihood of
returning to a mainstream school diminishes; only
percent of pupils who spend time in alternative provision in
Year return to a mainstream setting.
Primary Key Stage 3 Year 10 Year 11
65% 64%
58%
46%
Rate of fixed-term exclusions
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 17 Preventing school exclusions
Educational outcomes
There are concerns over the educational and life outcomes
of pupils who leave mainstream school. Only percent of
students who complete their GCSEs in alternative provision
achieve five ‘good’ GCSEs including English and maths,
compared to the national average of . percent.
This has a knock-on eect on life outcomes: percent
for excluded students who finish education in alternative
provision (PRUs, alternative provision academies, alternative
provision free schools and hospital schools) go on to become
NEET (not in education, employment or training), compared
with only percent of students leaving mainstream schools.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates that the
cost of exclusion is around £, per young person in lifetime
education, benefits, healthcare and criminal justice costs.
% of pupils not in 'sustained' employment, education
or training after leaving school by school type
Alternative provision Special schools Mainstream schools
35%
9%
5%
KS4 Destination of permanently excluded Pupils
(2014-18 average)
AP
schools
Mainstream
schools
Other
provision
Lost Special
schools
21.0%
13.5%
7.7%
5.2%
52.6%
Case study: the cost of exclusions
The mother of a child permanently excluded from a school in Greater
Manchester found that the lack of available places at local PRUs meant
that her 12-year-old had to make do with no more than a few hours a day
of online English and maths material. This child missed out on their right
to a full curriculum, the opportunity to socialise with peers and the support
of professional educators.
For this working mother, in addition to the stress caused by the
uncertainty of their child’s educational future, there was the added
dilemma of whether it was appropriate to leave her child unsupervised,
with little to do for the greater part of the day.
For parents/carers in this situation, giving up work or cutting back on
hours may seem like the only option, even if it risks financial instability
for the whole family. Children who have grown up in poverty are
disproportionately excluded from schools in England. This example
demonstrates how exclusion could further exacerbate financial instability
for those families.
. IPPR () Making the Dierence. [PDF] Available at: www.ippr.org/files/-/making-the-dierence-report-october-.pdf
. Department for Education ().Destinations of KS4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students: 2018. London: Gov.uk. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/
statistics/destinations-of-ks-and--to--ks-students-
. IPPR () op cit.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
02
The systemic causes
of rising exclusions
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 19 Preventing school exclusions
Being excluded from school has negative consequences for the rest of a child’s life, with
the most vulnerable children at most risk of exclusion. This means we have a duty to
ensure that no child is unnecessarily excluded. But to understand how we might curb
school exclusions, we first must understand why they have risen over recent years.
Our research revealed a complex web of factors within the education system and
beyond that create a perfect storm for rising exclusions. Some of these are to do with the
education system: the , schools across the country, those who work in them, the
policymakers whose policies govern them and the many organisations and groups that
support them. Others are far beyond the control of those who would say they work in
education (policy or practice) in England.
Key factors include:
• Wider societal factors, beyond the education system, that affect children’s
wellbeing and capacity to cope in school, including:
• Rising poverty
• Increasing diagnosis of mental ill-health
• Increasing numbers of children with a social worker
• Direct consequences of deliberate policymaking where the negative conse-
quences for some groups were inevitable, including:
• Curriculum reform making learning harder to access for some pupils
• Real-terms cuts to school funding
• Reductions to funding for local authorities and other services that work with
children and young people
• By-products of policy and practice decisions, where decision makers set out
to do what is in the best interests of children but their choices have unintended
consequences, including:
• Perverse incentives caused by the accountability regime
• Fragmentation of the education system
• A shift in behaviour management
In this chapter, we take each of these factors in turn, exploring how it contributes to
rising school exclusions.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids20
Wider societal factors
Throughout our research, we heard reports of young people facing increasingly
complex challenges in their lives. Representatives from schools, local authority
children’s services and third sector organisations highlighted factors in a young person’s
home life that can act as triggers for changes in behaviour that lead to exclusion from
school. These include loss of parental income due to insecure employment or benefit
system reform, housing insecurity, domestic violence, a change in foster care placement
and mental ill-health of a family member.
The professional experiences of these participants echo wider research, which shows
that certain groups of young people are more at risk of exclusion: those growing up
in poverty, children with a social worker, and those with mental health problems.
Research reveals that levels of need are rising in each of these areas and intersecting in
complex ways, which may be contributing to increasing rates of exclusion.
Poverty
One explanation for the rising levels of school exclusion in recent years is the increase
in the number of children living in poverty, who are disproportionately excluded from
schools. Research from Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights that while the past two
decades have seen periods in which poverty has declined, such as in the early s, this
progress has “begun to unravel” and poverty levels have stagnated at around percent
of the total population.
For children, poverty levels are even higher, having seen a year on year increase between
/ and /, at the same time that exclusions rates have risen. The Institute for
Fiscal Studies (IFS) reports that approximately percent of children in England are
living in poverty.
The risk of poverty is greatest for children living in larger households; percent of
families with four or more children are in poverty. It also shows that, although work is a
protective factor against poverty, levels of in-work poverty are high; seven in ten children
in poverty are in a working family. Levels of child poverty are projected to continue to
increase across all areas of the country in coming years, with a particularly sharp rise
expected in the North East, East Midlands and Wales.
Studies into the impact of poverty on a young person’s experience of school find
that around a third of poorer children report falling behind as a result of not having
. Gill, K. () ‘Making The Dierence: Breaking the link between school exclusion and social
exclusion’. [PDF] Institute for Public Policy Research. Available at: www.ippr.org/files/-/making-the-
dierence-report-october-.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Ibid.
. Joseph Rowntree Foundation () ‘UK Poverty /: the leading independent report’. Joseph
Rowntree Foundation: York. [PDF] Available at: www.jrf.org.uk/file//download?token=azqCkRcQ&file
type=full-report [Accessed February ].
. Kelly, E., Lee, T., Sibieta, L. and Waters, T. () ‘Public Spending on Children in England:
to ’. [PDF] Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/
uploads///Public-Spending-on-Children-in-England-CCO-JUNE-.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Joseph Rowntree Foundation () op cit.
. Hood, A. and Waters, T. () ‘Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: – to –
’. [PDF] Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/comms/R.pdf
[Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 21 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
the necessary books and internet facilities to study at home. This may lead to
disengagement from school, which itself could be a precursor to exclusion. A more
direct link between poverty and exclusion is made in research from The Children’s
Society. Their exclusions review reports that poorer students may face sanctions for not
having the correct uniform or equipment, making “them feel unjustly treated, and in
some cases caus[ing] them to resist punishments”, in turn escalating to more serious
sanctions including exclusion.
Research by the Sutton Trust finds a disparity between parents of dierent
socioeconomic backgrounds in navigating the education system, for instance, in
securing a new school place, with working-class parents less likely to access sources of
information in their search than middle-class parents. Insights from our interviews
suggest that this imbalance in parental power also applies in the event of exclusions,
which may require the navigation of complex admissions and appeals processes.
Several interviewees reported that, as a result of their child’s exclusion, one parent or
carer had given up work in order to look after them until a suitable school place was
secured. In the case of one parent we spoke to, sustaining full-time work had not been
possible for almost a year while they home educated their child. But in households
already struggling to make ends meet, this is unlikely to be an option.
Children with a social worker
There could be a link between the growing number of children being referred to a social
worker and rising school exclusions given that pupils with a social worker (and those
who have had a social worker in the past) are significantly more likely to be excluded
from school than their peers. The rate of fixed-term exclusions for looked after
children – those with foster parents, in a residential care home or secure care home – is
five times that of their peers. Children with a social worker are also more likely to be
permanently excluded than their peers even when other factors that predict exclusion,
such as deprivation and special educational needs, are controlled for.
The number of children with a social worker has been increasing in recent years.
The number of looked after children in England has continued to rise steadily since
, reaching , at the end of March . Local authorities have struggled
. The Children’s Society () ‘At what cost? Exposing the impact of poverty on school life Executive
summary’. [PDF] Available at: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/At_What_Cost_Exposing_the_
impact_of_poverty_on_schoo_life-report_%summary.pdf [Accessed January ].
. The Children’s Society () ‘Exclusions review: Call for evidence Written evidence from The
Children’s Society’. [PDF] Available at: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/dofe.school.exclusion.
consultation.response.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Sutton Trust () Parent Power. [online] Available at: www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/parent-
power--schools/ [Accessed December ].
. Department for Education () Children in need outcomes national tables: 2018. [excel document]
(updated April ) Available at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file//_Outcomes_National_Tables.xlsx
. Department for Education. (b) Children in Need Review. [PDF] Available at: https://assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//CIN_review_
final_analysis_publication.pdf
. Department for Education (c) Children looked after in England (including adoption), year
ending 31 March 2019 [PDF] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/
system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Children_looked_after_in_England__Text.pdf [Accessed
January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids22
to meet this rising need, with children’s social care experiencing the highest levels of
overspending of any local authority area in recent years.
The government’s Children in Need review, published in , emphasises the
importance of consistent and trusting relationships between adults and this group of
young people. It highlights the important role that schools play in this: “where children
may lack consistency, clear boundaries and a place free from harm in their home lives,
schools can oer much-needed stability and security”. But this is challenging for
schools to achieve given that children with a social worker are twice as likely to join a
school at an unusual time of year, three times as likely to be persistently absent from
school, and experience more school moves than their peers. These factors, combined
with decreasing numbers of support and pastoral sta, discussed below, may make it
harder for schools to oer that trusting relationship.
Mental health
Research shows that a child having a psychiatric disorder is a strong predictor for them
being excluded from school. Indeed, percent of children with a diagnosed social,
emotional or mental health condition were fixed-term excluded from school during the
last academic year for which data is available. Therefore it is possible that rising levels
of mental ill-health are contributing to rising school exclusions.
We heard time and again throughout our research that levels of mental ill-health are high,
and rising, among young people, and this concern is reflected in national data. A
NHS study reveals that the number of to -year-olds with a mental disorder is rising
gradually, from . percent in , to . percent in , to . percent in .
At secondary school, girls are more likely than boys to be aected by emotional
disorders (. percent compared to . percent), while boys are more likely than girls to
experience behavioural disorders (. percent compared to percent) and hyperactivity
disorders (. percent compared to . percent). A report from IPPR links this trend
to the much higher rate of exclusion of boys – whose “externalising symptoms” are
more likely to present as aggression – than girls, who are more likely to experience
“internalising behaviours, such as being withdrawn and self-harming”.
The link between mental ill-health and exclusions may be further exacerbated by the
inability of mental health services to meet rising demand. Around one in five young people
. Oce for Budget Responsibility () Economic and fiscal outlook. [PDF] Available at: https://cdn.
obr.uk/EFO_October-.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Department for Education (b) op cit.
. Ibid.
. Ibid.
. Ford, TJ; Paget, A; Parker, C; et al. ‘Which children and young people are excluded from school?
Findings from a large British birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
(ALSPAC)’. Child: Care, Health and Development. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net// [Accessed
February ]
. Department for Education () Permanent and fixed period exclusions in England 2017 to 2018
[online] (updated August ) Available at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england--to-
. NHS Digital () Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017 [online] Available
at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-
people-in-england// [Accessed January ].
. Sadler, K. et al () Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017: Summary of
key findings. [PDF] NHS Digital. Available at: www.files.digital.nhs.uk/A/EAD/ MHCYP%%
Summary.pdf [Accessed January ].
. IPPR () op cit.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 23 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
are reportedly waiting more than six months to see a mental health specialist. In the
meantime, families and school sta try best to support the children, but they can do little
to prevent the manifestation of symptoms that may result in an exclusion from school.
Direct consequences of
deliberate policymaking
The wider societal trends impacting on the most vulnerable young people are sometimes
exacerbated by policymaking. Examples include the decision in the early s to
introduce a more ‘rigorous’ curriculum and accompanying exams, which make
education less accessible for some children; or decisions to reduce funding to local
authorities, schools and other public services that carry out work designed to support
vulnerable children.
Here, we need leadership from those who make the decisions in and about schools.
They must make a commitment to reform if these policies are to stop negatively
impacting vulnerable pupils.
Curriculum reform making learning
harder to access for some pupils
Interviewees cited reforms to vocational qualifications (practical qualifications relating
to a particular career), the narrowing of the secondary curriculum, and fewer extra-
curricular opportunities as contributing factors to rising school exclusions.
Fewer opportunities to study vocational qualifications
Research shows that young people studying vocational courses are less likely to
be excluded from school, but there are fewer opportunities to study vocational
qualifications than in the past, which could be contributing to rising exclusions.
Analysis from the Department for Education (DfE) suggests that sitting vocational
qualifications is a protective factor for exclusion from school. It shows that for pupils
aged - sitting Technical Award qualifications, fixed-term exclusions are percent
lower, and permanent exclusions percent lower, than their for peers sitting GCSEs.
This is surprising given that pupils from groups most at risk of exclusion are more likely
to take these qualifications in secondary schools. For example, percent of entries to
Technical Awards in were pupils with special educational needs, despite making up
only percent of the total cohort.
However, opportunities for pupils to sit vocational qualifications are diminishing. From
, the coalition government pledged to ‘simplify’ the vocational education system,
. Sadler, K. et al () op cit.
. Department for Education () Non-GCSE qualifications in England: key stage 4 entries and
absence and exclusions outcomes. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Non-GCSE_qualifications_in_England_key_stage__
entries_and_absence_and_exclusions_outcomes.pdf
. Ibid.
. Ibid.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids24
with only ‘high value’ qualifications counting towards school performance tables.
The eect of these reforms has been for schools to oer a smaller range of vocational
qualifications. Today, fewer pupils aged - are sitting vocational qualifications: only
five percent of total qualification entries in were for Technical Awards, a reduction
year on year since when these represented seven percent of total entries. Several
interviewees used the analogy of ‘fitting square pegs in round holes’ to describe the
eect of expecting all students to sit the same qualifications.
A more ‘rigorous’ curriculum
Since the early s, there have been moves to make the GCSE curriculum more
‘rigorous’. Many interviewees noted that the diculties some pupils had in accessing
the GCSE curriculum led to a sense of not being able achieve at school, resulting in
disengagement which increases the risk of exclusion. Specifically, they noted that
the scrapping of modular courses and the shift from assessment by coursework to
assessment through summative exams makes sitting GCSEs more dicult for pupils
who struggle to concentrate in silence and those with literacy diculties – interviewees
for this project noted that the reading age for exam papers was often significantly higher
than some pupils’ reading ability. For those pupils who now feel unable to ‘succeed’, the
risk of disengagement and, ultimately, exclusion may increase.
A narrowing curriculum
The Education Select Committee’s review of exclusions suggested that curriculum
narrowing may be contributing to rising school exclusions. Respondents to their
consultation noted that the focus on exam preparation often comes at the cost of a
‘broad and balanced curriculum’, a concern that has also been expressed by Ofsted’s
Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman.
One example is the persistent decline in the number of specialist arts teachers and
the number of hours spent teaching the arts in England’s state schools since .
As discussed in previous RSA research, real-terms cuts to school budgets, diculties
in recruiting and retaining arts teachers, and the de-prioritising of the arts within
accountability measures may explain this trend. This may have an impact on pupil
engagement: some studies show that young people report greater engagement with
school as a result of arts participation. This was echoed in our interviews. For
. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills () Getting the Job Done: The Government’s
Reform Plan for Vocational Qualifications. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//bis---vocational-qualification-
reform-plan.pdf
. Department for Education () Non-GCSE qualifications in England: key stage 4 entries and
absence and exclusions outcomes. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Non-GCSE_qualifications_in_England_key_stage__
entries_and_absence_and_exclusions_outcomes.pdf
. Department for Education () DfE Strategy 2015-2020. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.
service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//DfE-strategy-narrative.pdf
. House of Commons (). Forgotten children: alternative provision and the scandal of ever
increasing exclusions. Report of the Education Select Committee. July . [PDF] Available at: https://
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmselect/cmeduc//.pdf [Accessed December ].
. Ofsted and Spielman, A. () HMCI’s commentary: recent primary and secondary curriculum
research. [Article] Gov.uk. October www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hmcis-commentary-
october- [Accessed January ].
. Department for Education () School Workforce in England: November 2018. [online] Available
at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november- [Accessed December
].
. Cairns, S. et al. (). Arts-rich schools. The RSA [online]. Available at: www.thersa.org/discover/
publications-and-articles/reports/arts-cultural-schools
. Education Endowment Foundation () Arts participation. [PDF] Available at: https://
educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/generate/?u=https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/
pdf/toolkit/?id=&t=Teaching%and%Learning%Toolkit&e=&s=
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 25 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
example, teachers in a PRU noted that art and design was a subject in which their
students performed strongly, giving them a sense of achievement and making them more
engaged with school as a whole.
Young people interviewed for this project also told us the benefits of this project for
factors linked to exclusion such as pupil wellbeing. For instance, one interviewee
reflected that studying drama “acts like a stress relief”, while others commented that
the arts had helped them to develop their confidence, make friends and gain a sense of
belonging at their school. The links between arts participation and wellbeing are widely
reported in research on the impact of the arts.
Access to extra-curricular opportunities
Young people interviewed also suggested that limited extra-curricular opportunities
further compounds pupils’ disengagement from learning. One described the
importance of having a wide variety of after school clubs available to students. He told
us that basketball had been crucial for his engagement at school, that it helped him
stay engaged with school by oering something that he could look forward to each
day: “it helped me through, I completed school, I got my GCSEs.” Others reported that
removing access to extra-curricular activities had been used as a form of discipline, for
example, being banned from sports matches for answering back in class. This negatively
impacted their relationship with school.
There may be wider impacts of lack of extra-curricular opportunities. The Sutton Trust
has reported that analysis of Millennium Cohort Study data shows that “after-school
clubs, sports and physical activities were positively associated with both attainment and
social, emotional and behavioural outcomes at age ”. This suggests that there is a
social cost to decreasing provision.
Funding and resource constraints faced by schools
Throughout our research, school leaders repeatedly described that funding and resource
constraints are making it increasingly challenging to meet the needs of students. The
growing number of pupils in our schools with unmet needs may, in part, explain rising
school exclusions.
Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that per pupil funding
in England fell by around percent in real terms from £, in / to £, in
/. Interviewees explained that immense pressure on resources has forced them
to make “trade-os” in order to balance the books. As one former head teacher put it:
“when funding goes, there’s no way to do it all”
For many, this has manifested in employing fewer support sta, such as teaching
assistants (TAs). As one head teacher explained, years ago there were far more
“additional adults” on hand in schools. While the number of TAs in primary schools
has increased, at secondary level the overall number of TAs has been in decline for
. Ibid.
. Cullinane, C. and Montacute, R. () ‘Life lessons: Improving essential life skills for young people’.
London: Sutton Trust. [PDF] Available at: www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads///Life-Lessons-
Report_FINAL.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Farquharson, C. and Sibieta, L. () ‘ annual report on education spending in England:
schools’. [PDF] Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/R-Annual-report-on-
education-spending-in-england-schools.pdf [Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids26
many years, falling from almost , in to fewer than , in . In a study
commissioned by the DfE, school leaders who have made cuts to their support sta
over the past three years cited reduced funding as the main reason for doing so. Many
interviewees expressed concern that it is students with SEND and mental health issues,
groups known to be disproportionately at risk of exclusion, who are most aected by
the loss of such support.
Insights from our interviews reflect much wider concerns about the increasing diculty
of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable students. In a survey conducted by the
National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), percent of head teachers reported
that they found it harder to resource the support required to meet the needs of pupils
with SENDthan they did two years ago.
Providing this support may be yet more challenging given that the number of young
people with SEND has been gradually rising in recent years. In , . percent
of the school population had SEND compared with . percent by the time of the
school census. Of the total pupil population, . percent receive SEN support,
targeted support provided “within as part of the school’s usual curriculum” for
pupils with, for instance, speech, language and communications needs and learning
diculties. Meanwhile, . percent have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP),
a document resulting from a formal assessment process which outlines a pupil’s needs
and the additional support they should receive to meet them. The proportion of
children with a plan has risen since , having previously been stable for a decade
at . percent. Pupils with an EHCP tend to require higher levels of support, for
conditions such as autistic spectrum disorder, and schools are required to provide the
first £, to do so.
It is dicult to know whether SEND has become more prevalent among young people
or whether we have simply become better at identifying and diagnosing these needs.
Regardless, many have raised concerns about whether, with such squeezed budgets,
mainstream schools will have the capacity to meet the needs of a growing pupil
population with rising levels of SEND.
Meanwhile, the high needs block is also under pressure. This funds provision for young
people with SEND and alternative provision for those who, because of exclusion, illness
or other reasons, cannot receive their education in mainstream schools (see terminology
for more details). This is explored further in the following section of this report.
. Department for Education () ‘School Workforce in England: November ’ [PDF] Available
at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
SWFC_MainText.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Skipp, A. and Hopwood, V. () ‘Deployment of Teaching Assistants in schools: Research report’
[PDF] ASK Research. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file//Deployment_of_teaching_assistants_report.pdf [Accessed January
].
. National Association for Head Teachers () ‘Empty Promises: The crisis of supporting children
with SEND’. [PDF] Available at: www.naht.org.uk/_resources/assets/attachment/full//.pdf
. Department for Education (a) ‘Special educational needs in England: January ’. [PDF]
Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file//SEN__Text.docx.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Ibid.
. Ibid.
. Thomson, D. () ‘Where have the pupils in mainstream schools with education, health and care
plans gone?’ [blog] February . FFT Education Datalab. Available at: www.teducationdatalab.org.
uk///where-have-the-pupils-in-mainstream-schools-with-education-health-and-care-plans-gone/
[Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 27 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Funding and resource constraints faced
by agencies that support vulnerable children
Local authority representatives conveyed a clear message during this research: austerity
and rising need are leaving them struggling. Across the education sector and children’s
services, many local authorities are finding that funding is not sucient to meet the
needs of the most vulnerable children: those with SEND, with a social worker and
growing up in poverty. Part of the reason that these pupils’ risk of being excluded from
school is so great could be the lack of opportunities to resolve the underlying issues that
lead to them struggling in school.
Council funding for education is calculated and distributed as part of the dedicated
schools grant (DSG). This takes into account factors such as historic spending and
population and is provided to local authorities as four ‘blocks’ of ringfenced funding:
schools, early years, high needs, and local authority central services (for example,
admissions processes). In /, councils received approval to move funds from
their school’s block to top-up high needs. This is an increase from the councils who
had to do so the year before, suggesting that resources which provide additional support
are increasingly strained. As part of the high needs funding supports students with
Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), questions have been raised over how health
and social care funding should work with the high needs block to avoid having to draw
on the schools budget.
However, this is not an easy solution, as these areas – particularly children’s social care
services – are also experiences rising levels of need. Making tough choices, for example,
reducing spending on transport and adult social services, has oered some protection
to budgets for children’s services, but not enough to meet increasing demand. Between
- and -, safeguarding inquiries have risen by percent. The impact
of this is visible in the budget: since -, councils have overspent by an average
of percent on children’s services each year. Funding pressures are greater in the
most deprived areas: while spending cuts in the least deprived decile were on average
percent (£) per person, this increases to percent (£) in the most deprived
areas. This is likely because there is higher demand for services and many are unable
to supplement their income to the same extent through council tax owing to the cheaper
housing stock in these areas.
Many council-run/supported services are feeling the eects of tighter budgets and
rising demand, such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), which
is jointly overseen by NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and the local
authority. Within this complex governance structure, there appear to be diculties
. Staufenberg, J. () ‘Revealed: The councils given permission to top up high needs funding from
the schools block’, Schools Week. [online] March. Available at: www.schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-the--
councils-given-permission-to-top-up-high-needs-funding-from-the-schools-block/ [Accessed January ].
. NASUWT () Advice and Guidance on Special and Additional Needs Funding. [online] Available
at: www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/in-the-classroom/special-educational-needs/advice-and-guidance-on-saanf.
htmls [Accessed January ].
. ‘Safeguarding enquiries’ refers to Section enquiries which are for cases where there are concerns a
child may be suering or likely to suer significant harm; IFS () English local government funding: trends
and challenges in 2019 and beyond. [PDF] Available at: www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/English-local-government-
funding-trends-and-challenges-in--and-beyond-IFS-Report-.pdf
. IFS () English local government funding: trends and challenges in 2019 and beyond. [PDF]
Available at: www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/English-local-government-funding-trends-and-challenges-in--and-
beyond-IFS-Report-.pdf
. Ibid.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids28
ensuring additional funding is eectively directed towards CAMHS. Through Freedom
of Information requests, Young Minds found that percent of CCGs had increased
their CAMHS budget by less than the additional funding they had been allocated
for children’s mental health; it appears that some of the funding was spent on other
priorities. However, in other areas, CCGs have increased their budgets by more than
the extra investment. This lack of a unified approach could form part of the ‘postcode
lottery’ that mental health provision is often described as. The waiting lists for
CAMHS were mentioned repeatedly to us both by schools and by parents/carers who
were struggling to access their services, describing that a child must be “in crisis” to
be seen. Research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) revealed that percent of
referrals to specialist children’s mental health services were rejected in /; this
amounts to approximately , young people, rejected for reasons such as not
meeting the threshold for treatment or ‘not suitable’ for treatment by CAMHS.
The EPI’s report also raised concerns that these young people did not have access to
alternative services, as many had been decommissioned over the past decade. The Care
Quality Commission has found that in areas where this is the case, young people end
up re-referred to CAMHS when their condition has deteriorated. This has a knock-on
eect in schools, with teachers trying to cope with needs they haven’t been trained
to meet. One head teacher described to us that schools must “prop up” other public
services that are under strain. In an RSA-commissioned survey, percent of teachers
and school leaders thought that being able to access more frequent support from
CAMHS and early help services would be one of the most helpful routes to reduce the
frequency of children being sent out of class. The IFS found a percent reduction
in spending per pupil by local authorities for services such as educational psychology,
and SEN support and assessment. Furthermore, adult mental health services are also
strained; as poor parental mental health has an association with exclusions, this could
place additional pressure on students who support their parents in this way.
The local authority is also responsible for commissioning and funding the majority
of alternative provision places from the high needs budget. However, rising exclusions
have meant that some local authorities are struggling to provide alternative provision
for students; meaning that more costly interim measures, such as online education
services, have to be provided. Furthermore, changes to pupil numbers and short-term
. Young Minds () Children’s Mental Health Funding: Where is it Going? [online] October.
Available at: https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/childrens-mental-health-funding-where-is-it-going/ [Accessed
January ].
. Ibid.
. Lough, C. () ‘Revealed: Pupils ‘appalling’ Camhs postcode lottery’, Tes . [online] January.
Available at: www.tes.com/news/revealed-pupils-appalling-camhs-postcode-lottery [Accessed February
].
. EPI () Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019. [PDF] Available at: www.
epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads///Access-to-CAMHS-in-_EPI.pdf
. Care Quality Commission () Are we listening? Review of Children and Young People’s Mental
Health Services. [PDF] Available at: www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/b_arewelistening_report.pdf
. The RSA () School exclusions: the teachers’ perspective. [PDF] Available at: www.thersa.org/
discover/publications-and-articles/reports/teacher-survey
. IFS (a) 2019 annual report on education spending in England. [PDF] Available at: www.ifs.org.
uk/uploads/R-Education-spending-in-England-.pdf
. NHS Providers () Addressing the Care Deficit. Available at: www.nhsproviders.org/mental-
health-services-addressing-the-care-deficit/the-demand-challenge [Accessed January ]; Ford, T.,
Parker, C., Salim, J., Goodman, R., Logan, S. and Henley, W. () ‘The relationship between exclusion
from school and mental health: a secondary analysis of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Surveys and ’, Psychological Medicine. [e-journal] Available through Cambridge Core: www.doi.
org/./SX [Accessed January ].
. Partridge, L. () ‘Pinball Kids’, Medium RSA Journal. [online] March. Available at: https://
medium.com/rsa-journal/pinball-kids-faeedc [Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 29 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
planning can pose financial instability to alternative provision. This can mean that the
local authority has to step in; in /, £, was spent by LAs across England
on supporting alternative provision schools ‘in financial diculty’, outside of general
and ‘top up’ funding. One head teacher related the pressures on public services to
the “vicious cycle” that a student enters; they miss out on early intervention, so the
situation escalates, and they are excluded. They are then distanced from their support
network of peers, and often miss out on education for a period, meaning that they fall
behind and their situation further worsens.
Case study: lack of mental health support
One mother found her son struggled with keeping up at school; his attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder made it more difficult to concentrate and he was self-conscious
about falling behind. His impulsivity also meant some low-level incidents escalated as he
shouted back when he felt ‘shouted at’. This led to missed lessons and fixed-term exclu-
sions. Her son became increasingly anxious; although he’d been referred to child and
adolescent mental health services aged six, he only received treatment when he eventu-
ally had a psychotic episode. When school staff said that they “couldn’t cope” with him,
his mother took the decision to remove him and look for somewhere else. However, much
of the alternative provision they visited was full and she felt like the local authority had
been able to do little but ‘ask’ schools to take him. She looked for advice and support,
both for herself and her son, and found little as all services were at full stretch. Finally,
after two years out of education, she found him a place at an independent specialist
provision in another borough. She is aware that it must be very expensive for their home
local authority and believes that “earlier support around the sides of the school” could
help stop young people “disappearing out of the system”.
Unintended consequences
of policy making
The final type of causes of rising school exclusions we look at here are the unintended
consequences of policy and practice decisions. Decision makers set out to do what
is in the best interests of children but their choices have unintended consequences.
For example, the desire to improve standards in the education system through
accountability mechanisms; to give autonomy to school leaders through the
introduction of new school models; or to make the job of teaching easier by advocating
for stricter behaviour management approaches. In this section, we aim to shed light on
the consequences of these policy choices for some vulnerable pupils.
Perverse incentives caused by the accountability regime
Throughout our research, senior leaders and teachers reported that increasing scrutiny
on schools in the last five years, including the introduction of Progress , incentivises
schools to exclude pupils who are unlikely to perform well academically or who may
. ASCL () Education Committee: Call for Evidence – Alternative Provision. [PDF] Available at:
www.ascl.org.uk/ASCL/media/ASCL/Our%view/Consultation%responses//Alternative-Provision.
pdf
. Department for Education () LA and School Expenditure 2017 to 2018. [excel] Available at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/la-and-school-expenditure--to--financial-year
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids30
disrupt learning for other pupils thereby negatively impacting their performance.
The State of Education report found that percent of surveyed school leaders
felt the level of pressure on schools created by performance measures had increased
in the previous two years. While it is crucial to have quality markers to ensure all
children are receiving a good education, and mechanisms to hold schools to account
when they are not, interviewees frequently described how the pressure to perform well
results in decisions to exclude, or ‘o-roll’, students who are seen as a risk to a school’s
performance. As one head teacher explained to us, it can be “tempting to take routes to
get Progress scores”.
The Progress measure, introduced from , compares pupils’ attainment aged
with the results of pupils nationally who got similar results aged . It is intended to
be a fairer judgement of secondary schools’ performance because it takes into account
a pupil’s starting point. However, it has also been shown that excluding pupils can
improve a school’s overall Progress score. Analysis from FFT Education Data Lab
reveals that if Progress data was reweighted to make schools accountable for students’
results, proportional to the amount of time they spent on its roll, the scores of many
schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) would not appear so high. This well-
intentioned policy has inadvertently created an incentive for schools to exclude.
A student’s exam results are attributed to the school at which they are enrolled at
the time of the annual January pupil census. Many, including those oering evidence
to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into rising exclusions, have argued that
this incentivises schools to remove low-achieving or disruptive students before this
point. Data that the RSA collected through a freedom of information request
supports these concerns. Our analysis found a spike in admissions to PRUs in the
first term of Year in -, the last point before a student’s exam results count
towards a school’s performance.
. Astle, J. () The Ideal Schools Exhibition. RSA: London. [PDF] Available at: www.thersa.org/
globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa-the-ideal-school-exhibition.pdf [Accessed December ].
. The Key and IPSOS Mori () State of Education SURVEY REPORT 2017 - Rising to the
challenge: Examining the pressures on schools and how they are responding. [online] Available at: www.view.
joomag.com/state-of-education-report-/ [Accessed November ].
. Department for Education () Secondary Accountability Measures. [PDF] Available at: www.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
Secondary_accountability_measures_guidance__-_October__final_with_ref.pdf
. Nye, P. and Thomson, D. () ‘Who’s Left , part two: What impact would reweighting
school league tables have for multi-academy trusts?’ [online] FFT Education Datalab. Available at: https://
teducationdatalab.org.uk///whos-left--part-two-what-impact-would-reweighting-school-league-
tables-have-for-multi-academy-trusts/ [Accessed December ].
. House of Commons () Forgotten children: alternative provision and the scandal of ever
increasing exclusions. Report of the Education Select Committee. July . [PDF] Available at: https://
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmselect/cmeduc//.pdf [Accessed December ].
. For further analysis of our Freedom of Information data, see Partridge, L. () ‘Is pressure to
achieve exam results contributing to school exclusions? Yes, new RSA data indicates’. [blog] March .
RSA: London. Available at: www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs///exclusions-
exams [Accessed December ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 31 Preventing school exclusions
It is worth noting that exclusions are higher
in the first term of each academic year than
in the second and third terms. This may be
because this is the longest term and therefore
there are simply more opportunities for an
exclusion-triggering incident to occur. However,
the peak is highest in Year and the numbers
drop o definitively from the second term
onwards, supporting the notion that pupils
are moved from mainstream schools into
alternative provision before their exam results
count towards the school’s performance scores.
It also follows that there would be little point,
from a ‘gaming’ perspective, in removing a child
from a school’s roll after the January census
as their results will count towards the school’s
performance anyway, so it would be risky to
entrust another school with the pupil’s attainment.
In addition, we frequently heard from interviewees that school inspections might
have unintended consequences. As one teacher explained, “you do the things that
arejudged”, so outcomes not explicitly recognised by Ofsted, such as building
relationships with students’ families, are deprioritised. What is more, some interviewees
described the incentive to exclude students whose behaviour might negatively impact
upon a school’s judgement: one former head teacher described how, amid pressure to
bring their school out of Special Measures, “it was so tempting sometimes to make
children disappear”. Students, too, commented on the perverse incentives that schools
face. One alternative provision pupil explained: “I don’t think a lot of mainstream
schools are particularly tolerant and there’s a push on academic standards and Ofsted”.
“it was so tempting sometimes to make children disappear”
This concern is echoed in national data. The Teacher Workload Survey found
that percent of secondary teachers and middle leaders reported that they spend “too
much” time on general administrative work. percent felt that changes to school
data tracking policies had increased their workload, compared to just percent who
felt these changes had reduced their workload. The survey also highlighted the areas
that secondary teachers wanted to spend more time working on: percent reported
wanting to spend more time on “team work and dialogue with colleagues” and
percent on “pupil counselling”. This suggests that teachers are not finding enough
time to build relationships with colleagues and students in the current system.
Some schools featured as case studies in this report have risked their performance
outcomes in order to pursue an inclusive vision. As Vic Goddard, co-principal of
Passmores Academy explained, “by making the decisions we make, we make our job
harder. And I have to trust the system that it’s going to recognise that”.
. Department for Education () Teacher workload survey 2019. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//teacher_
workload_survey__main_report_amended.pdf
. Ibid.
. Ibid.
Admissions to pupil referral units by year and term
Year 7 - T1
Year 7 - T2
Year 7 - T3
Year 8 - T1
Year 8 - T3
Year 8 - T2
Year 9 - T1
Year 9 - T2
Year 9 - T3
Year 10 - T1
Year 10 - T2
Year 10 - T3
Year 11 - T1
Year 11 - T2
Year 11 - T3
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids32
“by making the decisions we make, we make our job harder. And I have
to trust the system that it’s going to recognise that”
Many have expressed concerns that the current accountability system fails to reward
schools’ work towards inclusion, something that Ofsted have committed to addressing.
Fragmentation of the education system
Interviewees for this project frequently suggested that the rapid increase in the number of
academy schools has led to decreasing cooperation between schools. Collaboration across
schools in an area could limit exclusions in a number of ways, including by ensuring that
pupils have opportunities for a fresh start in another school before they reach the point of
permanent exclusion, and giving mainstream schools the best chance to provide for pupils’
needs by sharing those with additional needs evenly between local schools.
The academies programme was introduced under the - Labour government. It
aimed to rejuvenate failing secondary schools in disadvantaged areas, by pairing them
with a new sponsor. By the end of Labour’s time in oce, academies were in
operation. The successive Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and Conservative
governments have overseen rapid academisation; by , there were , academies,
representing percent of all schools. As well as the ‘sponsored’ academies
introduced by their predecessors (now including primary schools and not focused only
in areas of disadvantage) ‘converter’ academies have been introduced. Whereas the
former are under-performing schools required to become academies by the government,
the latter are schools recognised as successful that would benefit from increased
autonomy in the academy system. In October , . percent of all state-funded
primary schools and . percent of secondary schools in England were academies.
Of the total , academies, the majority (,) are converter academies and the
remaining , schools are sponsored academies. The current academy programme
aims to increase autonomy and flexibility for schools by allowing them to operate
independently of local authority control. Freedoms granted to academies include
setting its own pay and sta conditions, curriculum and term structure.
. House of Commons (). Forgotten children: alternative provision and the scandal of ever
increasing exclusions. Report of the Education Select Committee. July . [PDF] Available at: www.
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmselect/cmeduc//.pdf [Accessed December ];
Staufenberg, J. () ‘Ofsted inspectors urged to crack down on schools ‘o-rolling’ pupils’. [online] Schools
Week. March . Available at: www.schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-inspectors-urged-to-crack-down-on-
schools-o-rolling-pupils/ [Accessed December ].
. Machin, S. and Sandi, M. () Autonomous Schools and Strategic Pupil Exclusion. CEP
Discussion Paper. [PDF] London: Centre for Economic Performance. Available at: www.cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/
download/dp.pdf [Accessed December ].
. West, A. and Wolfe, D. () ‘Academies, the School System in England and a Vision for the Future’.
London: London School of Economics and Political Science. [PDF] Available at: www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/
Assets/Documents/PDF/Research-reports/Academies-Vision-Report.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Eyles, A., Hupkau, C., Machin, S. () ‘Academies, charter and free schools: do new school types
deliver better outcomes?’ Economic Policy [online] Available at: https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/
article////# [Accessed February ]
. Gov.uk () Open academies, free schools, studio schools, UTCs and academy projects in
development: Oct-19. [Excel document] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Open_academies__free_schools__studio_schools_and_
UTCs_and_academy_projects_awaiting_approval_October_.xlsx [Accessed December ].
. Ibid.
. Gov.uk () ‘Types of School’. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/types-of-school/academies
[Accessed December ].
. Ibid.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 33 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Critics have raised concerns about the impact of academies’ autonomy on rising levels
of exclusion. But comparing exclusion rates of dierent types of school reveals a more
complex story. DfE data for secondary schools shows that sponsored academies are
. times more likely to permanently exclude than maintained schools, but converter
academies are less likely to permanently exclude than both their sponsored academy
and maintained counterparts. This suggests that simply being an academy does not
make a school more likely to exclude, but that pressure to turn an underperforming
school around might.
However, insights from our research reveals that the fragmentation of the system into
distinct school types is creating the conditions for exclusions to rise. In a foreword to
the / DfE review of the academies programme, the then Secretary of State
for Education Michael Gove MP argued that increased freedoms for academies allow
them “to work together, and with their local communities, to do what is best for their
children”. But many interviewees reported that the opposite is true, describing how
an increasingly “business-like” model of school incentivises competition, rather than
collaboration, between schools. As one head teacher reflected, “collaboration across the
town has struggled since [the introduction of academies]”.
Collaboration between schools is formalised through fair access protocols (FAP) in
every local authority, which require leaders of all schools to meet regularly to agree
the best placement for every excluded child. Although FAPs apply to all schools in
an area, many interviewees highlighted that, because academies are not accountable
to the local authority, academy leaders are less likely to participate in fair access
meetings than their peers. We frequently heard reports that even a single academy
opting out of local exclusion processes can “destabilise the entire system”, with
many head teachers feeling that excluded children, who often have complex support
needs, are not distributed fairly between schools. This reflects wider concerns about
the diminishing role of local authorities, who cannot direct an academy to admit an
excluded child onto its roll or intervene in admissions appeals. As Maggie Atkinson,
former Children’s Commissioner, highlighted to the RSA, local authorities “have a
duty, but minimal powers of enforcement”.
Fragmentation of the education system isn’t only related to academies. Interviewees
in parts of the country with a high proportion of selective schools, namely grammar
schools, noted that this also fractures the system, adding an “extra layer of complexity
to exclusions”. While there is weak correlation between higher proportions of selective
schools in a local authority and rates of permanent exclusions, DfE data shows that
selective secondary schools serve fewer than the average number of students known
to be most at risk of exclusion. In /, selective schools had an average of .
percent of disadvantaged pupils (compared to the national average of . percent)
. Partridge, L. () School exclusions are a social justice issue, new data shows. [blog] August
. Available at: www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs///exclusions [Accessed
December ].
. Department for Education () Academies Annual Report. [PDF] The Stationery Oce: London.
Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file//academies_annual_report_-.pdf [Accessed December ].
. Department for Education () Fair Access Protocols: Principles and Process, Departmental
Advice. [PDF] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file//fair_access_protocols_departmental_advice.pdf [Accessed December ].
. Based on analysis of Department for Education data: Schools, pupils and their characteristics:
LA tables () and Permanent and fixed period exclusions in England 2017 to 2018 (). Available at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january- and www.gov.uk/
government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england--to- [Accessed January
].
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids34
and . percent of pupils with recognised special educational needs (compared to .
percent) on roll at the end of Key Stage .
A former head teacher of a comprehensive secondary school explained that being in an
area with grammar schools, which admit many of the highest achieving pupils, meant
that their school and other non-selective schools locally were admitted “more than
our fair share” of students with lower prior attainment and additional support needs.
National data reflects this, revealing that non-selective schools in highly selective areas
have an average of . percent of pupils with SEN Support, compared a . percent
average for secondary schools nationally.
Case study schools featured in this report, as well as the RSA’s own family of academies,
demonstrate that many are working hard to foster collaboration across increasingly
fragmented local education ecosystems. Workshops conducted by the RSA and partnering
two local authorities found pockets of innovative practice in academies and maintained
schools alike. But these instances are dependent on the commitment of individuals to
taking approaches that resist the prevailing culture created by fragmentation.
A shift in behaviour management
Parents/carers, teachers and young people interviewed for this project frequently
suggested that rising exclusions were, in part, the result of shift to stricter and more
inflexible approaches to behaviour management in schools. Their argument was that
internal exclusion, fixed-term exclusion and permanent exclusion were being handed
out for much less serious misdemeanours than in the past. This was also highlighted by
the House of Commons Education Committee in its recent review on school exclusions:
“the rise in so called ‘zero tolerance’ behaviour policies is creating
school environments where pupils are punished and ultimately
excluded for incidents that could and should be managed within the
mainstream school environment”.
Zero tolerance
The term ‘zero tolerance’ seems to have been coined in the US to reflect that
schools would not tolerate a pupil bringing a weapon to school; indeed, they would
permanently exclude any young person who did so. Under the Gun-Free Schools Act,
introduced in , American states had to introduce a law requiring schools to expel
any student who brings a weapon to school for at least one year in order to access
. The Department for Education define ‘disadvantaged’ pupils as children who are looked after or
adopted and those eligible for free school meals. Department for Education () Key stage 4 and multi-
academy trust performance 2018 (revised): Characteristics national tables. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/
government/statistics/key-stage--and-multi-academy-trust-performance--revised [Accessed January
].
. The Department for Education consider an area ‘highly selective’ if percent or more of state-
funded secondary places are in state-funded selective schools. Defined in Department for Education ()
Key stage 4 and multi-academy trust performance 2018 (revised): National tables. [online] Available at: www.
gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage--and-multi-academy-trust-performance--revised [Accessed
January ]; Department for Education () Key stage 4 and multi-academy trust performance 2018
(revised): National tables. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage--and-multi-
academy-trust-performance--revised [Accessed January ].
. House of Commons Education Committee () Forgotten Children: alternative provision and
the scandal of ever increasing exclusions. [PDF] Available at: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/
cmselect/cmeduc//.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 35 Preventing school exclusions
federal funding. Research in found that percent of schools had adopted zero
tolerance policies for weapons or firearms, percent for alcohol and percent for
violence. Data from shows that only percent of exclusions in the US were for
possession of a weapon, while percent were for insubordination.
There is not such a clear history of zero tolerance in England, but academisation has
heralded more specific requirements on schools to state the sanctions pupils receive for
misdemeanours. The education act covering local authority-maintained schools sets
out the requirement for schools to have a behaviour policy “with a view to promoting,
among pupils, self-discipline and proper regard for authority”, it is not prescriptive
about the content of the policy. By contrast, the legislation for academies and free
schools requires that “a written behaviour policy is drawn up that, amongst other
matters, sets out the sanctions to be adopted
in the event of pupil misbehaviour”. This is
broadly in line with the US National Center
for Education Statistics’ definition of zero
tolerance as “school or district policy mandating
predetermined consequences or punishments
for specified oenses [sic]”. Furthermore,
the government’s exclusion guidance makes
clear that, while it is a head teacher’s choice
whether they excluded, they can do so for
a pupil “repeatedly disobeying academic
instructions”.
Of course, few would disagree that consistency
in behaviour management is crucial to enable
a secure learning environment. But concerns
have been raised that in the strictest systems,
students can build up behaviour points for
low-level behaviour such as shouting out in class or being late, eventually triggering
a detention, fixed-term exclusion or even a permanent exclusion. These systems are
sometimes referred to as ‘consequence ladders’ and could be considered part of a zero
tolerance or ‘no excuses’ approach to behaviour. These policies have gained support as
a strategy to reduce disruptive behaviours that can interrupt learning and aect sta
retention. Proponents argue that consistency in sanctions supports a safe and calm
environment, and the approach has received political support for its apparent ability
. www.vera.org/downloads/Publications/a-generation-later-what-weve-learned-about-zero-tolerance-
in-schools/legacy_downloads/zero-tolerance-in-schools-policy-brief.pdf
. Heaviside, S., Rowand, C., Williams, C., & Farris, E. (). Violence and disctpline problems in
U.S. public schools: -. (NCES -). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Available at: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/.pdf [Accessed February
]
. Ibid.
. Legislation.gov.uk () Education and Inspections Act 2006. [online] Available at: www.
legislation.gov.uk/ukpga///section/ [Accessed February ].
. Appears in the , and versions of the Education (Independent Schools) Standards
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi///schedule/made
. Heaviside, S., Rowand, C., Williams, C., & Farris, E. (). Violence and disctpline problems in
U.S. public schools: -. (NCES -). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. Available at: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/.pdf [Accessed February
]
. Department for Education () Exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral
units in England. [PDF] Available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion
. Williams, J. () “It Just Grinds You Down”: Persistent disruptive behaviour in schools and what
can be done about it. Policy Exchange. [PDF] Available at: www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/It-Just-
Grinds-You-Down-Joanna-Williams-Policy-Exchange-December-.pdf
Case study: suspended from school
A 16-year-old boy who attended a secondary academy in London with
a strict behaviour points system found himself accumulating up to eight
points per lesson for failing to sit still and getting distracted. It wasn’t long
before he hit 20 points in a week, which led to an automatic three-day sus-
pension from school. This happened on multiple occasions. Each time, his
mum came into school to ask for work for him to do at home. They promised
to send materials in the post, but he received very little. He was searching
for something to occupy his time and he fell in with the wrong crowd.
“For the whole time I was in school, I was quite safe, like I said I wasn’t
involved with any gangs, I wasn’t involved with trouble, but as soon as
the very week that I got kicked out… it was one of the lowest times of
my life and that’s when I got stuck, got myself into the cycle of gangs
and drug dealing and stuff like that.”
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids36
to ‘turn schools around’ including in the Conservative Party Manifesto. We do
not know precisely how influential this narrative has been in schools, but research from
Policy Exchange suggests that there is “growing support for ‘zero tolerance’ behaviour
policies among teachers, parents and pupils”. And rates of permanent and fixed-
term exclusion for persistent disruptive behaviour have increased by percent and
percent, respectively, over the last five years for which data is available.
The role of multi-academy trusts
Interviewees for this project reported that the introduction of multi-academy trusts
(MATs) might have sped up the proliferation of strict behaviour approaches. They
cited cases where a local multi-academy trust had taken a stricter behaviour approach
across its family of schools, including specifying exclusions (internal, fixed-term and
permanent) as sanctions for specific behaviours. Indeed, research from Ofsted revealed
that in some MATs, schools’ behaviour policies are based on a central template.
Almost half ( percent) of all academies are part of a MAT, which vary in size; the
majority comprise fewer than schools, but a growing handful have upwards of
schools. Behaviour policy templates could be increasing the use of exclusions across
groups of schools in some cases but of course, the inverse
could also be true. Through our research we have also
seen examples of MATs whose central guidance actively
discourages exclusion.
Internal exclusion
The use of ‘isolation rooms’ as a sanction has also sparked
debate. While it is not clear whether they are more prevalent
in recent years, the use of isolation booths and rooms have
been receiving increased media and public attention, and DfE
research found that over half of secondary schools had an
internal space designed for pupils removed from lessons.
Their use can be considered a form of informal exclusion, as
they remove students from their lessons and peers, on occasion
for significant periods of time. Although requiring further
research, there is an argument that pupils who are in isolation
might frequently feel a reduced sense of belonging at school,
as well as fall behind in lessons; factors which could place
them more at-risk of formal exclusion. Some young people
. Bennet, T. () ‘Yes, school exclusions are up. But zero-tolerance
policies are not to blame’, The Guardian, [online] July. Available at:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree//jul//school-exclusions-
zero-tolerance-policies-disruptive-pupils [Accessed December ];
Conservatives () The Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2019.
[PDF] Available at: www.assets-global.website-files.com/daecaeebdfbdec/ddadaa
ba_Conservative%%Manifesto.pdf
. Williams, J. () op cit.
. Department for Education. (). Exclusions Statistics. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/
collections/statistics-exclusions
. Ofsted. (). Multi-academy trusts: benefits, challenges and functions. Available at: https://assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Multi_academy_
trusts_benefits_challenges_and_functions.pdf [Accessed December ].
. IFF Research Ltd. (). Investigative research into alternative provision. Department for
Education. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file//Investigative_research_into_alternative_provision.pdf [Accessed November
].
. Department for Education () School exclusion: a literature review on the continued
disproportionate exclusion of certain children. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Timpson_review_of_school_exclusion_
literature_review.pdf
Case study: internal exclusion
Her grandson’s transition from primary to secondary school
was a concern for this grandmother. He had settled well at his
primary school in Yorkshire, but she recognised that he was
struggling with literacy and maths and had difficulties making
friends. Secondary school began well. However, when he
started in Year 8, the school became an academy and a new
leader started. She holds their new behaviour policy respon-
sible for damaging her grandson’s education. Gaining 10
negative points a week would result in time spent in isolation,
and these could be given for small infractions like forgetting
equipment or calling out in class – things that her grandson
struggled with. Soon, he was frequently in isolation for hours
where he had no interaction with others, felt unable to access
the work, and could be penalised for moving too much. Her
grandson became more and more anxious, manifesting on his
arms as eczema, and was unable to sleep. Now in college,
she believes that the school’s harsh behaviour policy and lack
of understanding of her grandson’s needs are the reason that
he still struggles with writing and reading and contributed
greatly to his mental health difficulties.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 37 Preventing school exclusions
we spoke to who had spent time internally excluded described isolation rooms as
a “prison”, and a head teacher stated that, “it’s booths, it’s bare walls. It’s not a
curriculum.” percent of teachers surveyed by the RSA stated that repeatedly removing
a pupil from lessons was detrimental to their learning and progress. In a survey of
MATs, more than half reported that pupils in isolation did not get identical work to their
classmates.
However, there is a case to be made for removing a pupil to receive additional support
around their behaviour, or for a targeted learning intervention. Over three quarters
of teachers thought removal from class was justified for this kind of support. In
these examples (see later case studies), the word ‘isolation’ is rarely used, instead seen
as a form of inclusion. In DfE research, the dierence between ‘sanction rooms’ and
‘internal inclusion units’ was highlighted, the latter being viewed as a way to prevent
exclusion and allow the student some of the benefits of alternative provision, such as
one-to-one support, while remaining in mainstream education. As teachers require
recourse when a student is displaying behaviour that makes it dicult to continue the
lesson, or poses a safety risk, these spaces can be valuable for both students and teachers
when properly staed.
While clear and consistent behaviour policies are essential for creating a safe and
mutually respectful environment, these policies should be considered by leadership to
ensure they are supporting positive behaviour in all students, and do not risk a young
person missing out on learning and becoming disengaged.
Discriminatory application of behaviour policies
During RSA interviews with excluded young people and their families, some
interviewees shared experiences of discrimination within schools’ behaviour
management and exclusions processes. Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)
young people reported to us that they had been punished by their school for actions like
“spudding” (or "fist bumping"). They felt that this was a part of how people in their
community communicate with each other and that classifying this as a transgression led
to more young people of BAME backgrounds being reprimanded compared with their
white peers.
“There’s so much culture barriers and that it’s even the way we speak
and the way that we just manoeuvre. In African and Caribbean culture,
there’s a lot of things that we do that won’t necessarily be seen as
friendly in a white culture, do you get what I mean?”
Their experience seems to be part of a wider trends with media reports on cases
including a school where the behaviour policy lists kissing teeth as a breach of
behaviour code. Concerns were raised that this policy could lead to discrimination
against black pupils because this way of showing exasperation originates from the
Caribbean, while equivalent actions such as tutting carry no sanction.
. The RSA () School exclusions: the teachers’ perspective. [PDF] Available at: www.thersa.org/
discover/publications-and-articles/reports/teacher-survey
. Staufenberg, J. () Isolation rooms: How swathes of schools are removing pupils from their
classrooms [online] https://schoolsweek.co.uk/isolation-rooms-how-schools-are-removing-pupils-from-
classrooms/ [Accessed February ]
. The RSA () op cit.
. IFF Research Ltd. (). Investigative research into alternative provision. Department for
Education. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file//Investigative_research_into_alternative_provision.pdf
. Lough, C. () ‘Detention for kissing teeth ‘risks racial harassment’, Te s . [online] October.
Available at: www.tes.com/news/detention-kissing-teeth-risks-racial-harassment [Accessed January ].
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions 38
Young people with protected characteristics should be safeguarded from discriminatory
application of school behaviour and exclusion policies by the Equality Act .
Under this legislation it is illegal for schools to discriminate against a pupil ‘by
excluding [them] or subjecting them to any other detriment’ on the basis of a protected
characteristic. However, research from the National Foundation for Education
Research (NFER) shows that many teachers are unaware of this duty: ‘slightly [fewer]
than four in ten teachers ( per cent) said that their school had informed sta about the
requirements of the Act, while a further four in ten did not know’.
There is also evidence that teacher training insuciently prepares teachers to work with
pupils from a range of backgrounds. According to the latest DfE-commissioned survey
of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in , only percent felt that teacher training
had prepared them ‘well’ or ‘very well’ for teaching across all ethnic backgrounds,
compared with over percent in .
The young people we interviewed suggested that the problem is wider than simply
training new teachers. They suggested that the teaching workforce does not include
sucient teachers from diverse ethnic backgrounds and from the communities that the
schools serve. Pupils described feeling that they lack opportunities to build trusting
relationships with adults as a result. Indeed, percent of teachers in English schools in
were white, compared with percent of the population.
It is worth noting that it is not only pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds who
experience discrimination during their education. Research from the Children’s
Commissioner also uncovered evidence of discriminatory practices against pupils
on the basis of social class, gender and special educational needs. This included
dierential application of behaviour policies, teaching pupils separately from their peer
group and excluding them from school. We focused on BAME experiences of behaviour
here as this emerged as a key theme in our research.
. The Equality Act makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of the following
characteristics, which are ‘protected’ by law: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil
partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation. See: www.legislation.
gov.uk/ukpga///part/
. Department for Education () The Equality Act 2010 and schools. [PDF] Available at: www.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//Equality_
Act_Advice_Final.pdf
. NFER () NFER Teacher Voice Omnibus November Survey. [PDF] Available at: www.nfer.
ac.uk/publications//.pdf
. Data from Department for Education () Newly qualified teachers: annual survey. [online]
Available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/newly-qualified-teachers-annual-survey [Accessed
January ].
. Data from Department for Education () School workforce in England: November 2018. [online]
Available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november- [Accessed
January].
. Children’s Commissioner. (). They go the extra mile. [Online]. Available at: www.
childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads///They_Go_The_Extra_Mile-.pdf
Preventing school exclusions
03
The conditions
for change
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids40
This project has identified various causes of rising school exclusions in England.
They are complex, inter-related and some stretch far beyond the education system
into questions about the shape of health and social care provision, and how we might
eliminate poverty.
It would be easy to assume that these issues are too complex to resolve, but in our
research we encountered much hope for the future of the education system and some
concrete examples of approaches from case study schools, forward thinking local
authorities and third sector organisations that could prevent exclusions.
We set about to identify the key conditions that would need to exist in the system
to enable these approaches to thrive everywhere, not just where a small group of
committed individuals were pushing to do something dierently. There was much
consensus from the experts we consulted through interviews, system change workshops
and school visits. From their insights, we were able to identify five main conditions:
•Every child has a strong relationship with a trusted adult in school
•Every child’s parents/carers are engaged as partners in their education
•Every child attends a school with an inclusive ethos
•Every child is assessed for learning and other needs throughout their school
career and there is capacity to provide appropriate support
•We know where every child is in the system to ensure they can benefit from
the four conditions above
In this chapter, we explore how we might remove the barriers to achieving each
condition, what opportunities exist to achieve it, and best practice that could be built
upon. We make reference to insights from interviews, school visits, workshops delivered
in partnership with local authorities and existing research.
Every child has a strong relationship
with a trusted adult in school
One unintended consequence of the accountability regime in England has been rising
workload pressures on teachers, leaving less time for building relationships with pupils.
Strong relationships are shown to have a positive impact on classroom behaviour, so
would be expected to lead to fewer exclusions.
The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) found that teachers in
England reported the longest working hours in Europe. Between -, average
hours per week rose from . to . for full-time secondary teachers. However, it
has been noted that this rise might be due to the TALIS methodology and other reports
suggest that, instead of an increase, teacher workload has been similarly high for the
. Education Endowment Foundation () Improving Behaviour in Schools. [PDF] Available
at: www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Behaviour/EEF_Improving_
behaviour_in_schools_Report.pdf
. OECD () TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teaches and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners.
Paris: OECD Publishing.
. Department for Education () The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018.
[PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file//TALIS__research.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 41 Preventing school exclusions
past years. The Teacher Workload Survey found that teachers increasingly
believe they are spending too much time on general administrative work ( percent of
teachers now believe this to be an issue). Interviewees for this project noted that the
pressure to collect and report data might limit the amount of time that teachers have for
building relationships.
Interviewees for this project reported that it is particularly dicult for secondary
school teachers to build strong relationships as they have less time with each pupil
and substantial reporting requirements. For example, youth worker Luke Billingham
described in an interview with the RSA that, unfortunately, resource-strapped public
services like schools are having to become “more transactional, because being relational
takes time”. Moreover, there are fewer support sta available in secondary schools to
support teaching sta in their eorts to build relationships, as they are the ‘first to go’
when budgets are tight, as discussed in the previous chapter. Diculties in building
relationships are no doubt also exacerbated by high sta turnover in the teaching
profession, which limits the opportunities for pupils to get to know a teacher well and
build trust in them.
In RSA system change workshops delivered for this project, the condition that our
stakeholders most commonly identified as necessary for preventing exclusion was
that every child should have a strong relationship with at least one adult in the school.
They felt that ameliorating the unintended impact of accountability on teacher-pupil
relationships would support improvements in behaviour and engagement in school that
would, over time, reduce exclusions.
This notion is supported by guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation
(EEF) on how to reduce poor behaviour in schools, in which the authors recommend
that “every pupil should have a supportive relationship with a member of school
sta” explaining that “there is a strong evidence base that teacher-pupil relationships
are key to good pupil behaviour and that these relationships can aect pupil eort
and academic attainment”. Specifically, the authors comment on the role of a good
relationship in ensuring teachers become aware of negative changes in a child’s life
before they manifest in bad behaviour, and giving the teacher the opportunity to
mitigate against extreme reactions of the type that might result in exclusion.
In the EEF’s review, the authors explore a promising approach to building positive
relationships between students and school sta: the Establish-Maintain-Restore
(EMR) method. It consists of intentional practices to establish a relationship such as
enquiring about a student’s interests, proactive eorts to maintain the relationship
such as sending positive notes home and repairing any harm such as through engaging
in mutual problem solving. The authors note that this should take each sta member
no more than minutes per week and could be achieved during time that sta and
students would be spending together anyway. Actions like these promote mutual
. Allen, R., Benhenda, A., Jerrim, J. and Sims, S. () New evidence on teachers’ working hours
in England. An empirical analysis of four datasets. [PDF] Available at: www.johnjerrim.files.wordpress.
com///working_paper_teacher_hours.pdf
. Department for Education () Teacher workload survey 2019. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.
publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//teacher_
workload_survey__main_report_amended.pdf
. Department for Education () ‘School Workforce in England: November ’ [PDF] Available
at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
SWFC_MainText.pdf
. Henry, G. T., and Redding, C. (Forthcoming) ‘The Consequences of Leaving School Early: The
Eects of Within-Year and End-of-Year Teacher Turnover’, Education, Finance and Policy. [online] Available
at:
. Education Endowment Foundation () op cit.
. Ibid.
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids42
respect and evidence suggests this kind of relationship leads to more prosocial
behaviour longer term.
In this section of the report, we will discuss the unique approaches that two schools –
Carr Manor Community School and The Fermain Academy – take to developing strong
relationships with pupils. We will also explore innovative practice by local authorities
to support sta at schools in their jurisdiction to build strong relationships with pupils.
Finally, we will propose three recommendations that would support schools everywhere
to do this relational work.
Those recommendations look to build on the capacity that
schools already have for pastoral work in middle leadership
roles, but also at what can be learnt from other professions.
For example, we think about what can be learnt from youth
work, given that the way youth work is conceptualised,
and youth workers are trained, focuses around ‘building
relationships of trust and mutual respect’ with young
people. Indeed, youth workers are often found playing
pastoral roles in schools, including doing targeted work with
particular students in need of support. Certainly, the young
people interviewed for this project who had experienced
exclusion noted the unique role that youth workers had played
in helping them to mediate with schools in meetings about
behaviour and exclusions.
We also consider how the teaching workforce might be more
representative of the student population as discussed in the
previous chapter. Research indicates that BAME teachers
are well placed to develop ‘caring and trusting relationships’
with BAME students based on mutual respect and high
expectations. One study notes that it is problematic to
assume that minority ethnic teachers will automatically become ‘role models’ for
ethnic minority pupils; the strength of relationships built will depend on dynamics
between individuals. However, there is a general consensus that there are benefits to
diversifying the teacher workforce including breaking down stereotypes, introducing
more positive perceptions of BAME students and challenging institutional racism in
schools, for example where rules unnecessarily disadvantage one group of pupils.
However, we also note that more research is needed to understand which approaches
to building trusting teacher-pupil relationships have the greatest benefits for student
engagement and behaviour, and, ultimately, preventing exclusions.
. Obsuth, I., Sutherland, A., Cope, A., Pilbeam, L., Murray, A. L., & Eisner, M. () London
education and inclusion project (LEIP): results from a cluster-randomized controlled trial of an Intervention
to reduce school exclusion and antisocial behavior, Jour nal of Youth & Adolescence, [online] Available at:
www.link.springer.com/article/./s---
. Merton et al. (). An evaluation of the impact of youth work in England. De Montford
University Press.
. Commission into the Role of Youth Work. www.nya.org.uk/wp-content/uploads///
Commission-into-the-role-of-youth-work-in-formal-education.pdf
. Villegas, A. and Irvine, J. (). Diversifying the Teaching Force: An Examination of Major
Arguments. The Urban Review, pp. -. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/./s-
--
. Carrington, B. and Skelton, C. (). ‘Rethinking role models: equal opportunities in teacher
recruitment in England and Wales’. Journal of Education Policy. :. pp. -. www.tandfonline.com/
doi/abs/./
. Ibid.
Case study – the difference relationships
can make
In primary school, a girl from London felt supported by her
head teacher. However, her move to secondary school –
one publicly recognised for producing good results and
transforming its reputation – changed her experience. Her
mum has borderline personality disorder and she found
that her difficulties with this at home spilled over into school
where she got into trouble with staff over her lack of focus
and destructive behaviours. She felt that she had no-one
she could trust to talk to. In her opinion, staff did not try to
look behind her behaviour and find out what was going on at
home. Instead, she was labelled as a ‘naughty kid’. Escalation
of behaviours led to repeated fixed-term exclusions. During
this time, she got in trouble with the police. She believes that
the turning point was getting into art and being supported by
her art teacher. The first person in her family to go to univer-
sity, she now works as a graphic designer and volunteers
encouraging other young people to get into the industry.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 43 Preventing school exclusions
Innovative practice that can be built on to
ensure that every pupil has a strong relationship
with a trusted adult in school
School case studies
Carr Manor Community School, Leeds
Carr Manor is an all-through school in Leeds, serving 4-19-year olds. Carr Manor
has 1,255 pupils on roll and more pupils requiring SEN Support, with English as an
additional language and eligible for free school meals than the national average.156
Carr Manor is committed to building strong relationships between sta and students.
All sta – both teaching and non-teaching – are ‘coaches’ for a group of around
students from a range of year groups. Coaching groups ‘check in’ on Monday mornings
about their weekend and what is coming up in the week, have a mid-week ‘check-up’,
and ‘check out’ last thing on a Friday to review how the week has gone. They sit in
circles to enable participation from all members
of the group.
Sta interviewed for the project said they find
that, unlike traditional tutor groups, this format
helps to facilitate a more relational model, even
in a large school setting. It ensures that sta know
students well and can identify issues in their home
or school life before they manifest as behavioural
issues. It also enables organic peer mentoring,
especially between older pupils and their younger
peers. Ofsted commented on the relationship
between Carr Manor’s coaching programme and
strong relationships across the school: “the impact
of this programme on relationships between sta
and pupils and the inclusive ethos of the school
are impressive”. Students we spoke to were also
highly positive about the coaching group format.
One described her group as a “second family”, while another explained that “you get to
know one teacher really well… if there’s a problem you don’t want to speak to anyone at
home about, you have that trust”.
While Carr Manor school adopted a vertical tutoring approach, other schools have
coaching groups or crews made up of pupils from the same year group. Schools
considering developing this model may opt to group pupils by year group for a number
of reasons including the fact that the ‘critical incidents’ of education are dierent for
the age groups (e.g. induction in Year ; GCSE choices at the end of Year ), sta need
to have the experience and/or training on the concerns at each of these points and
support strategies. Proponents of vertical tutoring note the potential benefits in terms
of mentoring across year groups but early evidence suggests that carefully structured
. Gov.uk () Carr Manor Community School, Specialist Sports College. [online] Available at:
www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school//carr-manor-community-school%c-
specialist-sports-college/absence-and-pupil-population [Accessed January ].
. Ofsted () Short inspection of Carr Manor Community School, Specialist Sports College.
[online] Available at: www.files.ofsted.gov.uk/v/file/ [Accessed January ].
. For example, read about XP School Doncaster, discussed in the RSA’s Schools Without Walls report:
www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/reports/schools-without-walls
. Hamblin, D. () The Teacher and Pastoral Care. Oxford: Blackwell.
Coaching group at Carr Manor Community School
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids44
activities are required to develop eective leadership and communications skills that
support eective peer mentoring across age groups.
The leadership at Carr Manor Community School note that the coaching approach has
taken some time to embed but they believe that the rewards have been worth it. They
attribute rising attendance and falling exclusions to this approach.
The Fermain Academy, Macclesfield
The Fermain Academy is an alternative provision free school for 13-16-year olds who
have been excluded from mainstream school, with a particular focus on supporting
young people with emotional and behavioural diculties. The school was shortlisted
for Tes Alternative Provision of the Year 2019.
Opened in , The Fermain Academy’s
physical environment was built to facilitate
relationship building between sta and students.
Each morning, students make themselves
breakfast and hot drinks in a large room that
serves as a school hall, canteen and social
space. With no sta room, this communal
space is shared by sta and students alike.
During our visit, we watched teachers playing
pool and darts with students at lunchtime.
Head teacher Lee Cambray explained that this
gives students opportunities to develop social
competencies and, crucially, to open up to sta
about circumstances in their home lives that
might aect their behaviour and support needs.
Under-used areas of the school have also been
converted into spaces for students and sta to
work together, such as a disused store cupboard now converted into a small room for
one to one pastoral work.
The school’s ethos is centered on fostering mutual respect and trust; something
highlighted by Ofsted as contributing to its Outstanding judgement. When we
visited, we were taken on a tour of the school by three Year students. Handing over
his own set of keys to all areas of the building, the head teacher explained that it is
crucial to “treat them as adults”. Students we spoke to explained that they appreciate
the relationships they have been able to build with teachers. One compared this to her
experience in mainstream school where, because you only see teachers during class
time, you have “no relationship”. Another explained that teachers at The Fermain
Academy are constantly checking in with students, so any issues are less likely
to escalate. While this may come more easily to a small school oering specialist
provision and a higher teacher-pupil ratio, sta at The Fermain Academy were
confident that aspects of their approach to building relationships could be replicated
in larger and mainstream schools.
. Best, G. M. () Activities and Prosocial Behaviour in Vertical Tutor Groups. Institute of
Education, University College London. [thesis] Available at: www.discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint///
Graham%Best%Final%Thesis%for%Publication%.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Tes () Tes schools awards: Is your school on the shortlist? [online] Available at: www.tesawards.
co.uk/tessa/en/page/shortlist [Accessed January ].
. Ofsted () School inspection report: The Fermain Academy. [online] Available at: www.files.
ofsted.gov.uk/v/file/ [Accessed January ].
Staff and students in shared common
room at Fermain Academy
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 45 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Innovative practice from local authorities
Leeds City Council – restorative practice programme
Leeds City Council Children and Family Services Directorate is committed to a
restorative and relational approach to working with families. This means that they will
work with families rather than do things to them or for them.
The idea of restorative practice – influenced by work in the criminal justice field – is
to rebuild and repair relationships where harm has been done. Restorative practice
can take many forms. It may include reactive ‘conferences’, for example following a
behaviour incident in class, in which the teacher and pupil involved would be guided
by a mediator through a series of structured questions to explore who was aected,
what harm was done, and how the relationship can be restored. Restorative practice
also involves more proactive approaches such as regular meetings with all participating
pupils and sta sitting in a circle to share feelings and ideas with each other, much like
the approach to coachingtaken at Carr Manor Community School (described above).
To facilitate this work, the council oers schools access to restorative practice awareness
briefings and some schools have accessed a more comprehensive training programme.
Thereis limited rigorous evidence on the eectiveness of restorative practice, but one
high-quality study from the United Statesfound thatrestorative practices led to stronger
relationships with pupils and thatsuspension rates from school decreased in the
participating schools compared withcontrol schools. Teachers also felt more positive
about their working environment, suggesting positive benefits for sta retention.On the
other hand, there was no impact on academic outcomesand the study did not capture
reliable evidence on the impact of the approach on older(high school)students.The
intervention involved two full days of compulsoryInternational Institute for Restorative
Practice (IIRP)training for all participating sta,which may explain the high rates of
restorative practice use reported e.g. % of teachers said they often or always used
proactive circles.One evaluation of the approach in Leeds suggests thatpractice is more
variable between schools and some schools are keen to enroll more sta for training.
Given the positive early evidence fromthe American study, there is a strong rationale for
further investment in the model, especially if it includes rigorous evaluation in order to
understandthe outcomesfor pupils from this approach.
Greater London Authority – diversifying teacher recruitment
In December , the Greater London Authority (GLA) issued a tender for an
organisation to examine how they can recruit and retain more teachers from Black,
Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Currently, percent of teachers
in London are BAME compared with percent of the student population. GLA-
commissioned research found that the factor most commonly identified by BAME
teachers that would make them stay in the profession is “improved opportunities for
career progression”. This was selected by percent of BAME teachers, compared
with percent of their non-BAME peers. The work will include exploring how BAME
teaching assistants can be supported to qualify as teachers, mentoring/coaching for
BAME teachers and strengthening BAME teacher support networks.
. Augustine et al. (). Can restorative practices improve school climate and curb suspensions?
RAND. Available at: www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR.html [Accessed February ]
. University of Leeds. (Unknown). An Evaluation Following the Introduction of Restorative
Practice in Comparative School Settings. Available at: https://resources.library.leeds.ac.uk/final-chapter/
dissertations/llc/example.pdf [Accessed February ]
. Greater London Authority. (). Recruitment and retention of black, Asian and minority ethnic
(BAME)teachers project. Request for proposals. [PDF] Available at: www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/
bame_request_for_proposals.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids46
Their eorts may be supported by initiatives like the National Governance Association
and Inspiring Governance’s ‘Everyone on Board’ campaign which aims to improve
representation of ethnic minorities on school boards. The campaign encourages
people from ethnic minorities and those aged under to become a school governor by
demonstrating how their skills and lived experience can make a valuable and significant
contribution to schools and the pupils and sta within them.
Every child’s parents or carers are
engaged as partners in their education
Parental engagement in a child’s education has been highlighted as a key contributor to
success at school and could protect children against exclusion in two important ways:
. Given the association between exclusion and familial adversity, understanding
the child’s behaviour in the context of the family’s situation could enable the
school to intervene early and so reduce the risk of exclusion for the child.
. Lower levels of parental support for learning are strongly associated with
exclusion, which may be because of the impact of this on a child’s own
engagement with education.
However, since the mid-s – as discussed above – there have been reductions in the
number of support sta available in schools, including dedicated family support sta.
In , percent of schools oered parenting courses and percent oered specialist
support to parents. But schools report doing less work with families today since the
loss of ringfenced funding for these services. For example, a survey of , head
teachers found that less than half oered parenting support. As a teacher interviewed
for this project noted, teaching sta cannot prioritise parental engagement as much
of their time is taken up with assessments and data collection – “the things that are
judged” – leaving limited time for building relationships with families.
“It would be brilliant to work with parents in mainstream school, but it
can take terms to build a relationship and there simply isn’t the time”
There are also indications from our research that poor handling of behavioural
concerns by secondary schools might contribute to further disengaging parents/
carers. Parents of secondary school students interviewed noted that they have multiple
contacts for dierent subjects, plus a form tutor and a head of year. One parent we
spoke to felt that there was “no discretion” in how the school reported behaviour, with
several dierent sta members contacting them multiple times a day. She felt worn
down by the constant negativity, and believed the school showed little consideration
. Inspiring Governance () Everyone on Board. [online] Available at: www.inspiringgovernance.
org/everyone-on-board/ [Accessed February ].
. Ford, TJ., Paget, A., Parker, C et al. ‘Which children and young people are excluded from school?
Findings from a large British birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
(ALSPAC)’. Child: Care, Health and Development. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net// [Accessed
February ]
. Ibid.
. Partridge, L. and Bath, N. (). ‘Schools Without Walls’. London: RSA. [PDF] Available at: www.
thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/the-rsa-schools-without-walls.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Ibid.
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 47 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
for positive reinforcement. This is supported by previous research, showing that lack
of coordination between sta members may mean parents/carers whose children are
at risk of exclusion receive frequent negative feedback about their child. Rather
than working in strong partnership with families to resolve the underlying causes of
behaviour, the actions of schools may be contributing to further alienating the family.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recommend that promoting parental
engagement should be in the form of a partnership. This should be built through
a positive and mutually respectful relationship where, if interventions are required,
parents/carers are made to feel part of the solution. For example, there is promising
evidence from programmes which support the parents and school to take a consistent
approach on behaviour. As the most cited reason for exclusion is ‘persistent disruptive
behaviour’, working with parents/carers to support and reward positive behaviours,
as well as a consistent approach to more challenging behaviours, could reduce the
number of children who become at-risk of exclusion due to this. Working together
for a substantial amount of time, teachers and parents/carers can discuss problem
behaviours, set targets and learn and practice strategies to be applied at home and
at school. In some programmes, this is as a group of parents who can facilitate peer-
support and make parents feel less singled out. However, teacher workload can make
developing these relationships a big ask alongside their classroom responsibilities, and
some more intensive programmes require trained facilitators.
In addition to thinking about the positive partnership work schools and families can
do to prevent a child reaching the point of exclusion, we also need to give serious
consideration to how schools work with parents/carers following an exclusion. Families
interviewed for this project reported receiving limited information about their child’s
exclusion and feeling that they were powerless during the exclusion appeal process.
This is supported by other research on parental experiences of appealing their child’s
exclusion, which finds that schools understand the requirements of the appeals process
and know the others in the room, parents/carers can often feel out of their comfort zone
and ill-informed. In a survey by Coram, percent of parents felt that the school’s
communication with them about their child’s exclusion was very poor and percent
reported receiving an unclear explanation for the exclusion. Legally, head teachers
must provide parents/carers a reason for exclusion ‘without delay’, but Coram’s
research may indicate that parents are not aware of this and this undermines their
. Davies, J. D., Ryan, J. and Tarr, J. () ‘What we tell them is not what they hear: The importance
of appropriate and eective communication to sustain parental engagement at transition points’,
International Journal about Parents in Education. [PDF] Available at: www.uwe-repository.worktribe.com/
output/
. Education Endowment Foundation () Working with Parents to Support Children’s Learning.
[online] Available at: www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/working-with-
parents-to-support-childrens-learning/ [Accessed December ]
. Ibid.
. Mullarkey, S. () Second Chance Stories: Children and Families’ Journey from School Exclusion
to Therapeutic Alternative Provision. [thesis] Available at: www.repository.uel.ac.uk/download/ed
ddbacacffdddafdefa//_ClinPsyD_Mullarkey.pdf
[Accessed January ].
. Ellis, N. () ‘Parents, it’s not we don’t care about you…we just don’t have time for you’, Schools
Week. [online] April. Available at: www.schoolsweek.co.uk/parents-its-not-that-we-dont-care-about-you-
we-just-dont-have-time-for-you/ [Accessed December ]; the Incredible Years programme has been found
to be eective, using videos to stimulate discussion and role play. However, it requires a trained group leader
to implement the programme and lasts for to weeks. See The Incredible Years () Programs. [online]
Available at: www.incredibleyears.com/programs/ [Accessed January ].
. McDonald, T., and Thomas, G. (). ‘Parents’ reflections on their children being excluded’,
Emotional and Behavioural Diculties. Available through Taylor & Francis Online: www.tandfonline.com/
doi/abs/./ [Accessed January ].
. Coram. () Unfair results: Pupil and parent views on school exclusion. [PDF] Available at: www.
coram.org.uk/sites/default/files/resource_files/School%exclusions_full%report_final_.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids48
ability to challenge schools about decisions to exclude. During the exclusions process,
parents and carers also expressed to us a desire to be partners with the excluding school
and local authority in finding the most appropriate alternative school for their child.
However, families received limited information about the options available to them and
therefore were not empowered to advocate for their child.
Although the benefits of increased parental engagement to prevent exclusion and to
agree next steps if exclusion occurs is recognised, it is challenging to develop solutions
that are achievable within the limited time and resources of schools and teachers.
Some families might have less time or interest in engaging with the school and may feel
stigmatised by targeted approaches that seem to have an undertone of reforming them
as parents. In this section, we share innovative practice around engaging parents as
partners from The Family School, Surrey Square Primary School and Reach Academy
Feltham – the latter two schools were also written about in a previous RSA report,
Schools Without Walls. We also explore innovative practice from local authorities
looking to support strong relationships between families and schools. Finally, we
propose three policy recommendations that would support every school to work closely
with the families of the pupils they serve.
Innovative practice in engaging families
as partners in their child’s education
School case studies
The Pears Family School, London
The Pears Family School is a small alternative provision school in the London Borough
of Islington, serving 5 to 14-year olds. It specialises in providing placements for students
with behavioural issues, designed to prepare them to return to mainstream settings.
Established by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, The Family
School combines teaching and learning with a mental health-focused curriculum.
As the name suggests, family is central to all that this school does. Its vision is to
“provide vulnerable young people and their families with a therapeutic, nurturing, as
well as academically rigorous, learning environment”. As such, families are involved
and embedded across the school’s practices in ways that have been recognised by Ofsted
as “innovative and groundbreaking”.
During our visit, we joined a group of parents, carers, teachers and therapists at the
‘Parental Learning Hub’, a weekly session in which families meet and are supported to
better understand and manage their child’s needs. In these meetings, families are invited
to share experiences and challenges and learn from one another. Members of the group
expressed their appreciation for the “support network” these sessions helped to foster,
with one commenting that “it’s like a big family”.
. Department for Education () Exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral
units in England. [PDF] Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file//_Exclusion_Stat_guidance_Web_version.pdf
. See Partridge, L. and Bath, N. (). ‘Schools Without Walls’. London: RSA. [PDF] Available at:
www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/the-rsa-schools-without-walls.pdf [Accessed January ].
. Pears Family School () Head teacher’s Welcome. [online] Available at: www.
thefamilyschoollondon.org/about/head teachers-welcome/ [Accessed January ].
. Ofsted () The Family School London. [PDF] Available at: www.annafreud.org/media//the-
family-school-ofsted-.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 49 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Each session also involves an element of learning for parents and carers, who follow a
-session curriculum covering topics such as child development, diagnosing a child’s
needs, and managing challenging behaviours. When we visited, the topic of this
learning was early childhood trauma and the importance of schools, therapists and
families working together in a joined-up way to meet the needs of the child. After
a short presentation from Brenda McHugh, co-founder of The Family School and
consultant psychotherapist, families and sta reflected on the content, relating it to
their own child’s experience. Parents we spoke to were enthusiastic about the learning
available to them: one parent compared this to his experience with a mainstream school,
where “they just tell you to fix your child” but are not able to oer support to deal with
any problems.
As well as meeting with other families, parents and carers are invited to join students in
the classroom on certain days of the week. For instance, they spend minutes reading
with a student and share feedback about their progress with the child’s parents, and join
their child for ‘family learning’, lessons that explore the school’s values through topics
such as friendship that are designed to develop pro-social skills.
Because of its size and specialism, The Family School can oer intensive support to
both students and their families that is dicult to achieve in a large mainstream setting.
Nonetheless, sta and families stressed the importance of adopting elements of their
approach, such as incorporating a focus on mental health into the curriculum and
equipping sta and families alike to understand the impact of trauma on behaviour.
Surrey Square Primary School, London
Surrey Square is a much larger than average comprehensive primary school in the
London Borough of Southwark, with 473 3 to 11-year olds on roll. It has higher than
the national primary average of students eligible for free school meals (36.8 percent
compared with 23 percent) and those with English as an additional language (53.1
percent compared with 21.2 percent). Surrey Square became part of the Big Education
Trust in 2018.
During our visit to Surrey Square, senior leaders reported that around percent of
children on roll are living in temporary accommodation and, for some, their family’s
immigration status means they cannot access financial support or benefits. With such
high levels of need among their school community, Surrey Square employs a part-time
family worker (three days per week) whose role is to provide support for families
around parenting, housing, immigration, and personal development. Building trusting
relationships between family and school is central to the role, not least because families
may fear being reported to the authorities or have had previous negative experiences
when seeking support from professionals.
The role of family worker is currently held by Fiona Carrick-Davies, who explained
to us that for students facing insecurity in their home lives, getting on at school isn’t
always straightforward. For some, these challenges manifest in behavioural issues, poor
attendance and disengagement in the classroom. In this context, sta at Surrey Square
are committed to supporting students’ needs and removing barriers to learning, even
. The Family School () TFS Parent and Carer Learning. [PDF] Available at: www.
thefamilyschoollondon.org/uploads///plp-website.pdf
. Link to the video shown in the parental learning session: The repair of early trauma – a bottom-up
approach
. Gov.uk () Surrey Square Primary School. [online] Available at: www.compare-school-
performance.service.gov.uk/school//surrey-square-primary-school/absence-and-pupil-population
[Accessed January ].
. Ibid.
. Big Education () Our Purpose. [online] Available at: www.bigeducation.org/our-purpose/
[Accessed January ].
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids50
when this extends well beyond the usual remit of
a school. As Fiona explained to us, “if something
in your home life is aecting your ability to learn
then we need to do something about it”.
In interview, co-head teacher, Nicola Noble,
gave us the example of a student whose frequent
poor behaviour resulted in him spending many
hours out of class and in her oce. In time, they
discovered that the child was homeless, hungry,
his shoes several sizes too small and his family
sleeping on the floor of a local church. She
explained that these practical issues have easy
solutions, such as buying new shoes and socks
for the student, providing food bank vouchers
and blow up mattresses for the family, and
supporting the student’s parents/carers to find a
more suitable housing arrangement. With these in place, Nicola explained, the student’s
behaviour “transformed” and learning became possible. With improved behaviour,
the student spent less time out of class and the risk of sanction escalating to formal
exclusion for ‘persistent disruptive behaviour’ reduced.
Reach Academy Feltham, Greater London
Reach Academy Feltham is an all-through mainstream free school in the London
Borough of Hounslow, serving approximately 900 students aged 2 to 18-years old.
Almost half (44.9 percent) of the school’s pupils have been eligible for free school meals
at some point in the past six years. Reach Academy Feltham is currently the only
school in the Reach Academy Trust, which has plans to expand in the coming years.188
At Reach Academy Feltham, relationships with parents and families are nurtured early
on. Before a child begins at Reach Academy, their family receive a visit from school
sta. As well as allowing the Reach team to identify any students that might require
additional support, such as in-school mentoring or referral to specialist external
support, these visits allow the school to begin to develop relationships with families.
This relationship is formalised by a commitment form, signed by student, parents/carers
and sta, outlining that families and school are partners in “creating the best possible
education” for children, and developed throughout the school year through social events
for families. This family support work is overseen by the school’s assistant head for
safeguarding. This position, currently held by Georgia Crew, ensures that this vital work
is represented at senior leadership level but does not rest solely with the head teacher.
Working alongside Georgia are a family support worker and a pupil support worker.
For senior leaders at Reach Academy, the work done to develop strong relationships
with families is essential for ensuring the success of their students, something they see
as particularly important given that the school’s intake is disproportionately from low-
income backgrounds. As Ed Vainker, co-founder and executive head teacher of Reach
Academy Feltham, explained to us: “the key thing is that we’re not doing this from a
moral standpoint. It’s about how to get great results and win; to get the outcomes you’re
strivingforyou need to do that work with thefamily”.
. Gov.uk () Reach Academy Feltham. [online] Available at: www.compare-school-performance.
service.gov.uk/school//reach-academy-feltham/absence-and-pupil-population [Accessed January
].
. Reach Academy Trust () Our Vision. [online] Available at: www.reachacademy.ovw.
devwebsite.co.uk/page/?title=Our+Vision&pid= [Accessed January ].
Display designed by parents and carers
at Surrey Square Primary School
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 51 Preventing school exclusions
More recently, Reach Academy has extended its oering, positioning itself as a hub
for families in the wider local community to access support around antenatal care,
mental health and adult education and employment. To deliver this, the school
registered as a charity, Reach Foundation, in order to access funding that they
otherwise are not eligible for.
Innovative practice from local authorities
Tower Hamlets Parent and Family Service
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council oers an extensive programme of
school-based parental and family support. Family support workers can be allocated
to a school daily, weekly or monthly depending on the levels of need identified at that
school. The council thus provides a flexible resource for supporting local families in
need across all the schools in the borough. Practitioners work with families identified by
the schools as ‘vulnerable’ to identify issues that could impact on a child’s engagement
with school and their attainment. They work together, bringing in other agencies where
needed, to solve these problems. One-to-one sessions might take place at school or may
take the form of a home visit. Parents/carers and schools involved report improvements
in behaviour at school and home, in attendance, and engagement in learning.
Rethink Formulation Leeds
From local research around the diculties faced by some of the most vulnerable
adolescents in Leeds, the council learned that that multiple referrals of children and
families to dierent services was a common practice, especially when services were
unsure of exactly what the underlying issues were or what would help. This meant
that children and families experienced multiple assessments and that there was poorly
joined-up thinking and planning around complex cases.
The Rethink Formulation approach was developed to bring together agencies to:
•Use one consistent approach to analysing information and understanding
families’ situations – the Rethink approach
•Support all agencies to have conversations with families and each other using
the Rethink approach
•Grow multiagency knowledge and develop stronger links between
professionals across the city.
The Rethink Formulation is a tool that is designed to allow the development of a clear
understanding, using multiple perspectives, of any given situation. The tool encourages
practitioners to consider together:
•The challenges and dicult experiences families have faced in the past
•What led up to these challenges
•Their strengths and positive aspects of their lives
•What might happen if concerns are not addressed
•Why their struggles persist, including why the approaches taken by services
may be failing and how this can be improved.
The Rethink team regularly facilitate ‘Rethink Forums’ wherein multiple agencies
come together to learn about and try out the approach. All agencies in the city can
attend Rethink Forums free of charge and they run approximately three times week
across the city.
. Leeds City Council () Re-thing Formulation. [PDF] Available at: www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Re-
think%Formulation%-%Briefing%-%June%.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids52
Additionally, the Rethink team facilitate ‘Rethink Spaces’ which are specific requested
events organised around the needs of a particular family and specifically require the
family and the entire team around the family to attend. These spaces are designed to
help all those involved fully understand each other’s perspectives and concerns and
reach a common and aligned solution.
The Rethink team can work with any agency to help them use and embed this approach
and are currently working with several schools.
Every child attends a school
with an inclusive ethos
An inclusive ethos, spearheaded by a committed leader, can create a whole school
environment that is inclusive to pupils no matter what their background, abilities or
needs. A child who is fully ‘included’ – given a sense of belonging and opportunities
for success – is far less likely to behave in a way that would lead to an ocial exclusion
from school. But this is not about identifying the specific needs of a child who requires
intervention; that is what we explore in the next condition for change (that every pupil
is assessed early and continuously for learning and social and emotional needs and
appropriate support can be provided). Rather, this is about the universal experience that
a school creates for its pupils.
As mentioned above, accountability measures have unintentionally incentivised some
schools to resort to unethical practices such as o-rolling students in order to improve
their position in league tables. In this context, many stakeholders interviewed for this
project felt that it takes an ethical leader to create an environment in which all pupils,
no matter their needs, can thrive. These inclusive leaders admit pupils of all abilities to
their school and they wholeheartedly commit to holding on to these pupils no matter
the consequences for the school’s standing. However, when we talk about schools
pursuing an inclusive ethos, we are not simply talking about schools that operate fair
admissions and resist exclusions, but rather schools that do the important preventative
work of actively including pupils.
There are some recent changes that support this kind of leadership. Ofsted have begun
to take action against schools that they suspect of o-rolling pupils. For example,
one school that had been rated Outstanding since has been rated Requires
Improvement in a Ofsted report that raises concerns about pupils spending too
much time in isolation and there being insucient oversight over pupils leaving the roll
of the school to go to the academy group’s alternative provision. Ofsted’s challenge
to schools who o-roll pupils is undoubtedly positive, but is not the same as proactively
encouraging schools to develop inclusive cultures.
Research from Ofsted comparing high- and low-excluding primary schools in socially
deprived areas found the school’s philosophy was one of the main determinants of
its exclusion rate. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a school was less likely to exclude if the
. Nye, P. and Thomson, D. () ‘Who’s Left , part one: The disadvantage gap is bigger than
we thought’, FFT Education Datalab. [online] December. Available at: www.teducationdatalab.org.
uk///whos-left--part-one-the-main-findings/ [Accessed January ].
. Ofsted () Inspection of the Farnley Academy. [online] Available at: www.files.ofsted.gov.uk/v/
file/ [Accessed January ].
. Ofsted () The exclusion from school of children aged four to seven. [PDF] Available at: https://
dera.ioe.ac.uk///The_exclusion_from_school_of_children_aged_four_to_seven%B%D.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 53 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
leader did not believe that exclusion was purposeful or even morally defensible, and if
sta had very positive relationships with pupils based on them valuing each individual
and wanted to help them succeed. This chimes with our understanding of an inclusive
education: an approach thatconsiders and supports the needs of all students.
The promising development that might encourage more schools to pursue this inclusive
ethos is guidance in the revised Ofsted inspection handbook that schools ‘should have
an inclusive culture that supports arrangements to: identify early those pupils who may
be disadvantaged or have additional needs or barriers to learning; meet the needs of
those pupils, drawing, when necessary, on more specialist support, and help those pupils
to engage positively with the curriculum; [and] ensure pupils have a positive experience
of learning and achieve positive outcomes.’ Our recommendation to Ofsted from this
report is that inclusion should carry explicit weight in the grading of a school as it did
in an earlier iteration of the inspection framework in order that the framework fully
reflects the guidance to inspectors. Under the framework in the early s, inspectors
received comprehensive guidance on evaluating ‘how inclusive the school is’ which was
the first criterion for assessing the ‘overall eectiveness of the school’.
During school visits for this project, teachers and students expressed the importance of
being flexible and responsive to the needs of students in various ways including:
“Everyone’s got different problems so you can’t just make one
solution for everyone” (young person)
“Real inclusion is about adapting our systems to adapt around you.
Rather than focusing on whether children are ‘school ready’, we
should be considering whether schools are ‘children ready’”
(Rohit Naik, Hope School).
An inclusive school puts in place school-wide practices that ensure the environment
is one in which all pupils can thrive. imple actions such as school guidelines to ensure
presentations and resources are dyslexia-friendly, can begin to embed this vision into
each lesson. Another important factor given how common it is for pupils to be
excluded on the grounds of persistent disruptive behaviour is considering the benefits of
positive behaviour management to creating a cohesive school community in which the
risks of exclusion are limited.
It is worth noting that interviewees reported that many pupils struggle with the
transition from primary to secondary schools because there is often an abrupt change in
ethos between the two educational phases. Transition between primary and secondary
school can be an especially dicult time for some children, particularly those who have
relied upon a strong relationship:
. Ofsted (). School inspection handbook Handbook for inspecting schools in England under
section of the Education Act . Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//School_inspection_handbook_-_section_.pdf
. Oce for Standards in Education (). Evaluating educational inclusion: guidance for
inspectors and schools. Available at: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk///Evaluating%Educational%
Inclusion%-%Guidance%for%Inspectors%and%Schools%%PDF%
format%.pdf
. British Dyslexia Association () Dyslexia friendly style guide. Available at: www.bdadyslexia.
org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friendly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide [Accessed
January ].
. Cole, T. () ‘Policies for Positive Behaviour Management’, in C. Tilstone and R. Rose (eds.),
Strategies to Promote Inclusive Practice. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids54
“Knowing the children...people wonder what happens between
primary and secondary but it’s quite simple if you compare the
form tutor who knows their 25-30 pupils to the maths teacher
who sees 200-300 pupils in a week.”
Interviewees felt that there needs to be a support system in place so that the children
still feel “held on to”. Research supports the experience of interviewees who felt
that issues, particularly conduct problems, occurred due to the stress of having to
adapt quickly to a new environment: bigger classes, more rooms, and often stricter
behaviour policies. Therefore, transition work should be considered an ongoing
process, not confined to the first few weeks, especially in cases of more vulnerable
students who may require longer to adjust.
Some students may specifically require intervention, or additional support, around
literacy and numeracy catch-up as they start secondary school. In , percent of
students began secondary school below the ‘expected standard’ in reading. These
students are more likely to experience a more dicult transition to secondary school,
with potential for a range of lasting eects, such as lower self-esteem and persistent low
attainment, as they struggle to keep up with peers. The ‘catch-up’ premium allocated
by the government for pupils who do not reach expected standard in maths or English
by the end of primary school is intended help schools provide additional support.
While some trials such as Accelerated Reading demonstrate promise, there is still a lack
of well-evidenced interventions. In fact, some approaches such as summer schools have
been found to have little impact, despite the resources and time dedicated to them. A
well-managed transition can prevent declines in wellbeing, motivation and attendance.
However, it requires a shift in thinking about the relationship between primary and
secondary, as well as a commitment of time and resources.
The following case studies illustrate where schools have gone ahead, as many have, in
promoting inclusive approaches and visions without incentives from the accountability
system. This includes exciting approaches to transition support for pupils, such as
having trained primary teachers in secondary school. In order to embed inclusion in
every school, however, the promising first steps of Ofsted and local authorities need
to be supported, strengthened and sustained. This comes by changing policies so
that inclusive practices, like those in the case studies, are rewarded in a similar way to
academic results, rather than feeling like a risk by leadership.
. Theriot, M. T., and Dupper, D. R. () ‘Student Discipline Problems and the Transition from
Elementary to Middle School’, Education and Urban Society. Available through Sage Journals: https://
journals.sagepub.com/doi/./ [Accessed January ].
. McLellan, R. and Galton, M. () The impact of primary-secondary transition on
students’ wellbeing. Nueld Foundation. [PDF] Available at: www.nueldfoundation.org/wp-content/
uploads///McLellan-Final-Report-June-.pdf
. Gov.uk. (). National curriculum assessments at key stage 2 in England, 2019 (revised). [online]
Department for Education. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file//KS_Revised_publication_text__v.pdf [Accessed February
].
. Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N., and See, B. H. () ‘What works and what fails? Evidence from seven
popular literacy ‘catch-up’ schemes for the transition to secondary school in England’, Research papers in
education. [PDF] Available at: www.dro.dur.ac.uk///.pdf
. Department for Education () Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium: guide for
schools. [online] Available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/year--literacy-and-numeracy-catch-up-premium-guide-
for-schools [Accessed January ].
. See, B. H. and Gorard, S. A. () ‘Improving literacy in the transition period: a review of the
existing evidence on what works, British journal of education, society and behavioural science. [PDF]
Available at: http://dro.dur.ac.uk///.pdf?DDD+dedss
. Scottish Government () Primary-Secondary Transitions: A Systematic Literature Review. [PDF]
Available at: www.gov.scot/publications/primary-secondary-transitions-systematic-literature-review/pages//
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 55 Preventing school exclusions
In addition to our examples of schools demonstrating best practice in creating an
inclusive ethos, we also include examples of local authorities that have supported
schools locally to co-create a shared vision for inclusivity. This has even been formalised
in places like Newcastle through a partnership that takes collective responsibility for the
most vulnerable learners, sharing expertise between schools and providing challenge
where needed to ensure that all schools uphold the values of the partnership.
Innovative practice in creating inclusive school cultures
School case studies
Passmores Academy, Harlow
Passmores Academy is a comprehensive secondary school in Essex with
1,116 pupils on roll. Of these, 4.8 percent have an EHCP and 14.7 percent
receive SEN support (compared to national averages of 1.7 percent
and 10.8 percent respectively). Passmores is the lead school in The
Passmores Cooperative Learning Community multi-academy trust. You
may recognise the school’s name from the Channel 4 documentary series
‘Educating Essex’, in which it featured.
The centrality of inclusion to Passmores Academy’s vision is mirrored
in the physical space of the school building. Passmores’ Inclusion Hub
(pictured) stands at the very centre of the school’s large atrium, designed
specifically to ensure that “pastoral support is accessible and visible to
all”. Inside the Hub, students receive targeted academic and pastoral
support to ensure each one’s needs are met.
Support on oer includes a bespoke maths, literacy and science curriculum
for students requiring additional support, delivered by primary-trained
teacher, Dawn Moore. During our visit, Dawn explained that secondary-
trained teachers do not always have the tools to support a student with low
literacy and numeracy comprehension. She felt that in a less supportive
school her students would likely become disengaged, manifesting in poor
behaviour and putting them as risk of behaviour sanctions, which might include fixed-
term or permanent exclusion.
The school’s commitment to inclusion is also evident in its daily operations, which
are flexible enough to provide the support required by each student. This is facilitated
by an Inclusion Panel, who meet weekly to discuss individual student’s needs and to
put a personalised plan in place for each. As Tina Baldwin, leader of the STEP Team,
which oers early intervention for students demonstrating poor behaviour, explained,
at Passmores “we do absolutely everything we can to keep [students] here”. She gave
the example of a Year student who, owing to a turbulent relationship with her form
tutor, registers for the school day at the Inclusion Hub. The same student told us that
she probably wouldn’t be in school if it wasn’t for the relationships, she and her family
have with sta at the Inclusion Hub.
Passmores’ approach to creating an inclusive environment can also be seen in its
specialist provision, namely its on-site Autism Hub. The school receives funding to
. Gov.uk () Passmores Academy. [online] Available at: www.compare-school-performance.service.
gov.uk/school//passmores-academy/absence-and-pupil-population [Accessed January ].
. Jestico + Whiles () Projects: Passmores Academy. [online] Available at: www.jesticowhiles.com/
projects/passmores-academy/ [Accessed January ].
Inclusion Hub at Passmores Academy
Pinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids56
deliver specialist provision for students with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but regularly
have more on roll, for whom they find funding
within the school’s own budget. Each student
at the Autism Hub receives a tailored timetable,
splitting their time between mainstream and
Hub classes as required. During our visit to the
Hub, co-principal Vic Goddard highlighted
the importance of creating a calm learning
environment with clear transitions through the
school building. A few minutes before the start
of the next lesson, this was demonstrated as
students put ear defenders on and lined up at
the door with sta members, ready to move into
the school for their next lessons. Crucially, Vic
stressed that these everyday inclusive practices
benefit all students, not only those with ASD: “if a classroom is set up to cater for an
autistic student’s needs, it’s set up to cater for every student”.
Towers School and Sixth Form Centre, Ashford
Towers School and Sixth Form Centre is a comprehensive secondary school in Kent,
serving students aged 11 to 19 years old. It is a standalone academy with 1,083 pupils on
roll and serves more pupils eligible for free school mealsthan the national average (31.6
percent compared to 27.7 percent).
During our visit, principal Richard Billings explained that at Towers School inclusion
means “providing an education for every single student and never going down the
route of permanent exclusion”. In order to achieve this, Towers has an extensive
‘welfare’ oering for its students, provided at its dedicated Welfare Centre (pictured).
Unlike at Passmores Academy in Essex where the Inclusion Hub sits inside the main
school building, Towers’ Welfare Centre is located in its own distinct building on the
school site.
The Welfare Centre oers interventions such as resilience training, anxiety and anger
management groups and support for self-harm. While some students choose to self-
refer to the Welfare Centre, others are referred by their welfare manager, a non-teaching
member of sta responsible for the wellbeing of a specific year group. Welfare managers
meet with students weekly, are on-hand at break and lunch times, and have direct email
and telephone contact with students and their families. The students we spoke to were
appreciative of the support on oer from welfare managers, who they felt “try to get to
know you”. During our visit, Year welfare manager Anmari Clarke explained that she
had recently been out visiting their incoming Year cohort to find out about their needs
and family circumstances.
Sta use BehaviourWatch software to record and monitor pupils’ attendance, behaviour
and interventions that they have accessed. This software has been adapted from abase
model so that sta are able to attach full narrative notes, something welfare sta
explained is useful when they are making referrals to social work and other services.
Senior leaders explained to us that, at Towers ‘inclusion’ means having one set of
rules and expectations for all students. This builds on the school’s ethos of being
‘strict because we care’. Principal Richard Billings told us that they have seen students
. Gov.uk () Towers School and Sixth Form Centre. [online] Available at: www.compare-
school-performance.service.gov.uk/school//towers-school-and-sixth-form-centre/absence-and-pupil-
population [Accessed January ].
Welfare Centre at Towers School
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 57 Preventing school exclusions
with ASD and ADHD “flourish” under this ethos, as they benefit from having
firm boundaries in place. Students we spoke to were generally positive about the
environment for learning these boundaries help to create, but did highlight that certain
rules – such as the requirement for students to spend part of their lunchtimes sat in
tutor groups – did not suit everybody.
Co-op Academy Leeds and Co-op Academies Trust
Co-op Academy Leeds is a comprehensive secondary school and Sixth Form in
Harehills, Leeds. The school serves 900 pupils and has a higher than average number
of students with English as an additional language (73 percent compared with 16.9
percent) and eligible for free school meals (62.1 percent students compared with 27.7
percent). The school is part of Co-op Academies Trust, a MAT with 24 schools across
the north of England.
For Co-op Academies Trust, being inclusive means that a school must serve its local
community and all within it. Schools within the Trust are expected to work to Co-op
ethical values: openness, honesty, social responsibility and caring for others. These
values run through each Co-op academy’s approach to inclusion. We visited Co-op
Academy Leeds, a school that has made inclusion central to its vision in various ways to
meet the needs of all students, despite increasing external pressures.
During our visit, head teacher Jonny Mitchell explained that under budgetary
constraints, he has used the ‘what if absent’ principle to prioritise the kinds of support
that students cannot do without: a full-time Safer Schools Ocer (funded jointly
by the school and the police), a school counsellor, English as an additional language
(EAL) teachers and interpreters. Jonny has also invested in arts teachers, as he believes
subjects such as performing arts can develop students’ confidence, and continues to
oer alternative qualifications, such as ASDAN and Prince’s Trust, even though these go
unrecognised in ocial league tables.
The school has also developed its own alternative provision, ‘Frank’s Place’ (named
after former CEO of the Co-op Academies Trust, Frank Norris), for students who
struggle in a mainstream setting. This provision is located o-site on a nearby business
park, approximately . miles away from the main school site. Although it is separate,
students are expected to adhere to the same rules and wear the same school uniform
as those at the main site. One Year student told us that because of this, “you still
feel as if you’re in the school”. Students at Frank’s Place have the same wide range of
subjects and qualifications available to them as their peers in the mainstream school.
. Gov.uk () Co-op Academy Leeds. [online] Available at: www.compare-school-performance.
service.gov.uk/school//co-op-academy-leeds/absence-and-pupil-population [Accessed January
].
. Co-op Academies () Our Academies. [online] Available at: www.coopacademies.co.uk/about-
us/ouracademies/ [Accessed January ].
. Co-op Academies () Our Values. [online] Available at: www.coopacademies.co.uk/about-us/
our-values/ [Accessed January ].
. ASDAN focuses on developing students’ personal, social and work-related abilities. It oers a range
of qualifications for students working at dierent levels, including some equivalent in size to GCSEs and A/
AS-Level options. Although ASDAN qualifications are not included in school league tables, research has
found “statistically significant association with improved attainment in GCSE qualifications”, particularly
for students with SEND, from BAME communities and those eligible for free school meals. See ASDAN
() ‘Building a culture of achievement: the impact of the pursuit of CoPE (the Certificate of Personal
Eectiveness) on GCSE attainment and engagement in learning’. Bristol: ASDAN. [PDF] Available at: https://
asset.asdan.org.uk/becac [Accessed January ]; The Prince’s Trust qualifications are aimed
at recognising skills, qualities and attitudes valued by employers, such as presentation skills and customer
service. Students can complete units or the full programme to earn the Prince’s Trust Award, Certificate and
Diploma in Personal Development and Employability Skills (PDE). See The Prince’s Trust () Prince’s
Trust Qualifications. [online] Available at: www.princes-trust.org.uk/about-the-trust/qualifications [Accessed
January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids58
For instance, a student we spoke to was studying for seven GCSEs, where in a previous
alternative provision setting, he was only oered English and maths. Having this range
of opportunities available to him and, crucially, support from teaching sta to access
them, has helped to rebuild his confidence, so much so that he now aspires to go to
college and train to become a psychologist.
Local authority approaches
to supportive inclusive schools
Child Friendly Leeds
Leeds City Council aims to be a ‘Child Friendly City’ which they define as “the best
city in the UK for children and young people to grow up in – a place where children are
valued, supported, enjoy living and can look forward to a bright future”. When Leeds
first set out its vision, thousands of young people of all dierent ages were asked what
they thought would make Leeds a better city for them to play, live and grow up in and
their feedback was collated to form ‘ wishes’.
A strong and growing network of Child Friendly Leeds ambassadors, made up of
representatives from businesses, schools, and third sector organisations, support this
ambition and the wishes. Some ambassadors make financial or in-kind contributions
to improve the lives of vulnerable children and young people in Leeds through, for
example, oering enrichment opportunities for lookedafter children and care leavers,
activity days for foster families, and by sponsoring prizes and events such as the annual
Child Friendly Leeds Awards. The awards celebrate the achievements of young people
and the individuals and organisations who support them.
Ambassadors are supportive of Leeds City Council’s focus on improving the ‘ As’
for all children and young people in the city. These are to:
•Attend their school or education setting regularly
•Achieve socially at school, e.g. through having friends, a good relationship
with atleast one trusted adult, and participating in extra-curricular activities
•Attain – to be supported to reach their academic potential.
Norwich Inclusion Charter
As part of the Opportunity Areas initiative, Norwich produced an Inclusion Charter
which outlines its commitment to improving inclusivity. This includes partnerships
between schools and agencies, commissioned work with young people and families, and
development of school action plans to support inclusion. The Charter is part of their
aim to reduce the level of exclusions by two thirds from to . Although there
is limited data, the commitment appears promising with a drop from permanent
exclusions in / to in / – a significant decrease compared to other areas
of Norfolk.
Lincolnshire Learning Partnership
In , Lincolnshire County Council started to develop the Lincolnshire Learning
Partnership, which aimed to create a school-led improvement system based on a shared
. Leeds.gov.uk () 12 Wishes [online] Available at: www.leeds.gov.uk/childfriendlyleeds/cfl-the-
story/-wishes [Accessed February ]
. Norwich Opportunity Area () Norwich Inclusion Charter. [PDF] Available at: https://
norwichopportunityarea.co.uk/inclusion/
. Norfolk County Council () Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions. [powerpoint] Available at:
http://www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk/view/ncc [Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 59 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
moral purpose between local schools and the local authority. The partnership would be
spearheaded by a board that would meet six times per year and include representatives
from primary, secondary and special schools and the Council.
The Sta College – the organisation that provides professional development to those
working in local authority children’s services – provided support to the founding
board members to develop their shared purpose and design their governance structure
and working practices. Over the course of two residentials, they established the
following principles:
•All children and schools in Lincolnshire are our collective responsibility
•Every child and school are known, valued and supported to achieve
•No school is more important than an individual child’s needs
At the time of the development of the partnership and its board, Lincolnshire was
considered one of the highest excluding local authorities in the country: in /,
the permanent exclusion rate for the county was . times the national average. The
partnership were able to be part of a working group tasked with developing a new
Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy to “build resilience across all schools to support all pupils,
promote collective responsibility and reduce exclusion”. This included designing a new
‘ladder of behaviour intervention’, which outlined the commitment all schools would
make to identifying and meeting behavioural needs in schools and the point at which
additional intervention would be oered. Thanks to the work that had been done through
the partnership to develop a sense of collective responsibility, the implementation of the
Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy has been successful. Lincolnshire's permanent exclusion
rate has decreased substantially in recent years. It was in line with the national average in
/. At the time of publication of this report, permanent exclusions for / were
down by a third compared with the same time in the previous academic year.
Newcastle Promise Board
Newcastle City Council identified a need for a formal partnership between schools
across the city to enable them to have a unified voice in and provide mutual support
around school improvement. Throughout , an initial group of representatives of
local schools and the council were supported by The Sta College to develop a vision
to create “a city where we all share responsibility for providing the best educational
opportunities for all our children and young people”. They called this the ‘Newcastle
Promise’. The promise came from a collective agreement that:
•Education is the pathway out of poverty, especially for our most
vulnerable pupils
•We have a shared moral purpose that we do not leave any school behind
•Collaboration makes all of us stronger
This promise was proposed to all head teachers who subsequently agreed to create a
board that would ensure that schools were represented, and collectively supported and
challenged, to deliver the vision.
. Gov.uk. (). Per manent and fixed-period exclusions in England: 2013 to 2014 – Local authority
tables. [online]. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-
england--to-
. Lincolnshire County Council. (). Inclusive Lincolnshire: a strategy to build resilience across all
schools to support all pupils, promote collective responsibility and reduce exclusion. December .
. Newcastle City Council. (). Newcastle Promise Board. Services to Schools. [webpage]. Available
at: http://www.servicestoschools.org.uk/Services/
. Newcastle City Council. (). The Newcastle Promise (full). [online]. Available at: http://www.
servicestoschools.org.uk/Pages/Download/df-eae-f-f-cf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball KidsPinball Kids Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids60
The Board is made up of local authority representatives and school leaders who
represent a geographical area or a school trust. They meet six times per year and discuss
issues including patterns in exclusion and home education and work to develop shared
approaches that the partnership can implement. The Board have a strong commitment
to promoting the principles of inclusion within all Newcastle schools, and an Inclusion
sub-group has been established to focus on this. The subgroup also meets six times
per year and includes representation from health and social care alongside school
leaders and local authority representatives. Their work to date includes developing
an Inclusion Quality Framework for schools in the city. The criteria to become an
‘advanced’ school under the framework include having “bespoke systems in place to
prevent exclusions” and “supporting other schools in relation to exclusions through the
sharing of best practice”. The meeting minutes show schools sharing their exclusions
data and best practice. Feedback from this group is shared at meetings of the
Newcastle Promise Board.
Every pupil is assessed early and
continuously for learning and social
and emotional needs and appropriate
support can be provided
Timely assessment can enable interventions to be put in place that support a pupil to
be successful at school. On the contrary, if learning and social and emotional needs
go unidentified, they could manifest as challenging behaviours and subsequently lead
to exclusions. Indeed, it seems that many pupils whose needs have gone unidentified
turn up in alternative provision. An educational psychologist interviewed for this
project reported that they spend a lot of their time assessing students for mental health
needs after they have been excluded and arrive in alternative provision schools. “We’ve
become a reactive, rather than a preventative service, which is incredibly frustrating
really”, she said. Throughout our research, two areas of need were repeatedly identified
as risk factors for exclusion if not identified and supported: speech, language and
communication needs (SLCN), and adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and trauma.
Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)
Research has highlighted the links between late identification of learning needs and
exclusion. Specifically, concerns have been raised over the number of children with
speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) being excluded.
. Newcastle City Council. (). Newcastle Promise Board: Inclusion subgroup. [webpage]. Available
at: http://www.servicestoschools.org.uk/Page/
. Newcastle City Council. (). Inclusion Quality Framework: A self-evaluation tool for schools
and settings in relation to SEN, disability and vulnerable learners. [online]. Available at: http://www.
servicestoschools.org.uk/Pages/Download/bbf-eb-dde-d-beeca
. Inclusion subgroup minutes are available via Newcastle City Council. (). Newcastle Promise
Board: Inclusion subgroup. [webpage] http://www.servicestoschools.org.uk/Page/
. Clegg, J., Stackhouse, J., Finch, K., Murphy, C., and Nicholls, S. () ‘Language abilities of
secondary age pupils at risk of school exclusion: A preliminary report’, Child Language Teaching and
Therapy. Available through Sage Journals: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/./
[Accessed January ].
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 61 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
Without identification and support, pupils with auditory working memory deficit
struggle to process verbal information including classroom instructions. This can
manifest as ‘not following’ rules, and this special educational need has been linked
to exclusion. One study found that pupils excluded from primary school had poorer
auditory working memory than their peers. The same study found that excluded
pupils were significantly impaired in verbal communication (such as struggling to
express themselves) compared with non-excluded peers, and these pupils had more
emotional symptoms such as having many fears or being easily scared.
Similarly, a study of secondary pupils who had experienced a least three fixed-term
exclusions and were therefore deemed at risk of permanent exclusion found that for a
‘high proportion’ of these pupils, ‘language diculties are a factor in their behaviour
problems and school exclusion’. These pupils did not have a statement for their needs
(they had not been formally identified) and they were not currently receiving speech
and language therapy. One had previously had therapy for a stammer, but the study
noted that the other participants may not have been referred for assessment and support
specifically because they did not have a presenting speech diculty. The Centre for
Social Justice suggests that the issue of SLCN going unidentified is heightened due to a
lack of requirements for measuring and monitoring communication skills in primary
and secondary schools, meaning these needs go unrecognised.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and trauma
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) such as abuse, neglect and witnessing domestic
violence – sometimes referred to as childhood trauma – can present in the classroom
as disruptive behaviour, due to the complex social, emotional and mental health needs
that they can involve.
ACEs can cause lasting trauma which has a range of impacts, including being more
at-risk of poor mental health. Secondary analysis of the British Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Surveys found a bi-directional association between psychological distress
and exclusion; being excluded may contribute to a deterioration of psychological
wellbeing, just as underlying or developing psychological issues increase the risk of
exclusion. While ACEs do not have to determine a child’s future, these children
may require more support developing resilience and maintaining their wellbeing. In
schools, they may struggle more with developing relationships with adults, controlling
emotional responses, and coping with large amounts of information. Sometimes
this can manifest in behaviours which could lead to exclusion, such as disruptive or
destructive behaviours. Research suggests that trauma-informed practice in schools,
particularly around behaviour, can help students feel safe and develop the necessary
relationships with adults to succeed in school.
. Ripley, K. & Yuill, N. (). Patterns of language impairment and behaviour in boys excluded
from school. British Journal of Educational Psychology, , -. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.
org/a/dcecdaaeaadfefb.pdf
. Clegg, J. et al () op cit.
. Eastman, A. ().No excuses: a review of educational exclusion. [online] Centre for Social
Justice. Available at: www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/core/wp-content/uploads///CSJ_Educational_
Exclusion.pdf [Accessed February ].
. Ford, T., Parker, C., Salim, J., Goodman, R., Logan, S. and Henley, W. () ‘The relationship
between exclusion from school and mental health: a secondary analysis of the British Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Surveys and ’, Psychological Medicine. [e-journal] Available through Cambridge
Core: www.doi.org/./SX [Accessed January ].
. NHS Health Scotland () Tackling the attainment gap by preventing and responding to Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACEs) [PDF] Available at: www.healthscotland.scot/media//tackling-the-
attainment-gap-by-preventing-and-responding-to-adverse-childhood-experiences.pdf
. Education Scotland () Nurture, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma infor med practice:
Making the links between these approaches. [PDF] Available at: www.dera.ioe.ac.uk///inc-making-
the-links-nurture-ACES-and-trauma.pdf
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A lack of understanding, identification and support for mental health needs is costly to
both the individual and the public purse. For example, it is estimated that ‘late intervention’
for young people who have suered trauma or adversity costs at least £.bn each year
in England and Wales as problems arise, and potentially worsen, throughout their life.
In the case of ACEs, there is a risk of poorer health outcomes and increased risk-taking
behaviours in later life, therefore school is a crucial time to make a dierence.
Early identification in practice
The need for early assessment and intervention is recognised in the SEND code
of practice. It states that schools must have a “clear approach to identifying and
responding to SEN” as “identifying need at the earliest point” can improve long-term
outcomes. This includes communication needs, such as SLCN, and the social,
emotional and mental health needs that ACE and trauma may involve.
However, identification of these needs requires expertise. For schools with tight budgets,
or who have diculty recruiting, sta trained in these areas can be hard to come by
which means referrals to educational psychologists can be missed. However, especially
in certain areas, the number of educational psychologists is not adequate to cover rising
caseload, and this can lead to delays in assessment. As an assistant head teacher noted
during one of our workshops, this can mean that sometimes students’ needs are not
identified “until breaking point”.
There may also be other important contextual factors in a young person’s life that
put them at risk of exclusion beyond a formal learning or social emotional need.
These may be factors in the young person’s life outside of school, both intra- and
extra-familial. Recently developed by the University of Bedfordshire, the ‘contextual
safeguarding’ approach aims to keep young people safe by identifying forms of harm
they may be exposed to in their wider social environment beyond the family including
online bullying and harassment, violence in parks or on streets, anti-social or unsafe
friendships. Interviews for this project suggest that contextual safeguarding could
be particularly important for young people experiencing repeated or long fixed-term
exclusions as during their time outside of school – especially when sucient school
work is not provided and they are not supervised – where they are at risk of exposure to
malign social influences. Young people who had been fixed-term excluded from school
described how “falling into the wrong crowd” during that period led to disengagement
with school when they returned. This suggests that a pupil’s return to school following
suspension is an important moment for review and support.
Training for teachers in supporting pupils with additional needs
Some interviewees for this project highlighted that the move from university-based
teacher training to school-based training left less time for trainees to learn about
approaches to supporting pupils with additional needs. Indeed, in /, percent
. House of Commons Library () Early Intervention, CBP-, [online] July. Available at:
www.researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP- [Accessed December ].
. NHS Health Scotland () Tackling the attainment gap by preventing and responding to Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACEs) [PDF] Available at: www.healthscotland.scot/media//tackling-the-
attainment-gap-by-preventing-and-responding-to-adverse-childhood-experiences.pdf
. Department for Education and Department for Health () Special educational needs and
disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years. [PDF] Available from: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_.
pdf
. Department for Education () Research on the Educational Psychologist Workforce. [PDF]
Available at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file//Research_on_the_Educational_Psychologist_Workforce_March_.pdf
. Firmin, C. (). Contextual safeguarding: an overview of the operational, strategic and
conceptual framework. Institute of Applied Social Research. November . Available at: https://csnetwork.
org.uk/assets/documents/Contextual-Safeguarding-Briefing.pdf
Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids 63 Preventing school exclusions Preventing school exclusions Pinball Kids
of those starting teacher training were entering school-based programmes, compared
with just percent in /. On the other hand, there could be benefits to on-the-
job learning with those pupils – it will depend on the school placements that trainees
undertake as to whether they get that chance. As it is, only percent of newly qualified
teachers (NQTs) reported feeling well-prepared to teach pupils with SEND.
Participants also noted that schools were struggling to find time for continuing
professional development in the context of sta shortages and cuts to school budgets.
This could lead to a lack of confidence or knowledge in supporting SEN eectively,
particularly for teaching assistants. Although teaching assistant (TA) qualifications are
available, these are often gained during employment; for inexperienced TAs in schools
where the SENCO has limited capacity and there is limited funding for additional
training, they may not fully understand the support that certain students require, and
this can be a barrier to eective working. It follows that if pupils’ needs go unmet, this
may increase the risk of them displaying behaviours that lead to exclusion.
While Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and the Teachers’ Standards include an awareness
of the ‘physical, social and intellectual development of children’, there is arguably no
focus on specific impacts of trauma, mental health issues, or attachment diculties on
development and learning. Workshop participants suggested that this was required
to “understand the journey” of children who could be at-risk of exclusion. However,
in an RSA-commissioned NFER survey of teachers and school leaders, only one in ten
chose training in these areas as most helpful to reducing exclusions, while the top choice
( percent) was being able to refer pupils to a trained mental health practitioner at
school. This could reflect that teachers feel that meeting additional needs of pupils
should not be their responsibility, it could be an indication that they do not feel they
have enough time for training, or could suggest dissatisfaction with training they have
previously received. Regardless of the explanation for this finding, it is clear that a
two-pronged approach is needed: training and professional development that enables
teachers to signpost to other services where needed, and greater availability of those
other services when that need arises.
The most popular training option proposed to teachers in the RSA was further training
on behaviour management. A randomised control trial of online training for teachers
to develop empathic response to student misbehaviour produced promising results,
halving the number of exclusions in the selected American school districts. While ITT
guidelines include advice on ‘normalising good behaviour’, given the pressures of the
curriculum, it could be helpful to emphasise how developing and supporting positive
. Foster, D. (). Initial Teacher Training in England. Parliamentary research briefing. Available at:
www.researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN/SN.pdf; and www.gov.uk/government/
publications/itt-performance-profiles-management-information--to-
. Department for Education () Newly qualified teachers: annual survey 2017. [PDF] Available
at: www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file//
NQT__survey.pdf
. Department for Education () SEN support: a survey of schools and colleges. [PDF] Available
at: www<