Excluded for good?
I always find this a curious time: a new year has started, but for those of us who set our clock by the academic calendar it doesn’t feel like it. As such, I find this a good time to focus my conversation on issues where long-term data shows a clearer picture, and this blog from FFT chief statistician, Dave Thomson does exactly that by setting out to answer a crucial question: What happens to the permanently excluded?
A look through the 18/19 data gives a fascinating and indeed shocking insight into the journeys (or lack thereof) for those who could easily be described as the most vulnerable children in society. Pupils who were excluded between years 7 and 10 were unlikely to return to state-funded mainstream schools. “Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of those excluded in year 8 in 2018/19 were attending mainstream schools in January 2021,” reveals Thomson’s analysis.
It’s a better situation for primary pupils, who Thomson finds were more likely to return to the mainstream sector, particularly at secondary transfer. “60 per cent of pupils who were in year 6 when excluded in 2018/19 were attending mainstream schools the following January.”
However, and rather worryingly, this data trawl also shows that pupils who were reintegrated into mainstream secondary schools after a permanent exclusion were more likely to be attending schools rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ than ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.
Exclusions are a very thorny issue, so any intervention that seeks to better inform debates and decisions is very welcome. Given that these are pre pandemic figures and that exclusions have significantly increased since, the sense of urgency conveyed here makes it all the more important.
The big questions
I enjoy the range of people who feature in the Confederation of School Trusts blog. This post by Big Education CEO, Liz Robinson is particularly timely in relation to the exclusion figures discussed above as well as the estimated 30 per cent of pupils who are not succeeding in school (at least in terms of our traditional measures).
As a school and system leader, Robinson works to ‘change the story’ about how education is delivered in England. Formerly as headteacher of Surrey Square in Southwark, and now as CEO of a MAT, she is on a mission to challenge narrow definitions about the purpose of school and to promote and enact more holistic approaches.
Here, she writes eloquently about our education system’s journey from the every child matters agenda of the late nineties to its “explicit and consistent” focus since 2010 on “stripping out some of the broader aspects and doubling (tripling?) down on the academic element of school provision”.
Her views very much gel with my own experience of the landscape over the past twenty years, and this time of year is a perfect opportunity to embrace her challenge: to keep asking the big questions, and to support our teams and networks to do the same.
The power of belonging
At nearly two hours long, I have to admit I thought I might not find the time to listen to James Mannion’s latest instalment of the Rethinking Education podcast. However, once I started listening to his interview with Jaz Ampaw-Farr, I couldn’t stop.
In this episode, Ampaw-Farr takes us unflinchingly through her horrendous experience as a young person in the care sector. She explores how that has shaped her thinking and setting out the power of “withness” in a jaw-dropping 2906 keynote addresses.
Her views on how the education landscape appears to be “watering the circle in the square”, leaving the corners dark and dry are all the more interesting because Mannion has given her the time to set out that personal backdrop. And that makes her suggestions for how we can reframe our language and practices to meet the needs of all our pupils truly poignant. Refreshing, honest and at times brutal, the result is entirely uplifting. A must-listen.
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