Schools working more closely with health, social and care services could help to reduce suspensions and exclusions, according to a new report.
The RSA (Royal Society for Arts) has published its findings from a three-year pilot project looking at ways to make the education system more inclusive.
It warns that rising mental health needs and a shortage in specialist services have overwhelmed all parts of the system, meaning an “unprecedented burden on teachers and school staff in meeting young people’s needs”.
The report, seen by Tes, calls for a “systematic multi-agency response” to this rise in mental health needs.
It links the increase in mental health issues among young people with higher rates of suspensions and exclusions, with the report’s author warning that both students and teachers feel a sense of “blame and shame” over exclusions.
Mehak Tejani, education systems lead at the RSA, said: “Whilst we found pockets of good practice within and across settings, partners in education, health, social care and local government are working in silos, causing inconsistency of provision, and not addressing the ‘blame and shame’ felt not only by the many young people at risk of exclusion but also the professionals who feel they can’t effectively support these young people.”
She added: “Ways of working are isolating and ineffective, and there is sometimes a self-fulfilling narrative about unfairness in the system. Our report aims to change that.”
School exclusions ‘are a social justice issue’
The report suggests that “a clear goal to make the system more inclusive is for schools and local services to work together more effectively to enable early identification of, and timely response to, needs”.
But it adds that multi-agency collaboration will not solve everything. On school exclusions, the report says: “We know that the majority of exclusions are due to persistent disruptive behaviour and require other system-level considerations around curriculum and assessment, school culture and teacher training and development.”
The RSA is working to reduce exclusions in a pilot project in three local authority areas: East Sussex, Oldham and Worcestershire.
Its report says: “An inclusive education system is one where every child matters and matters equally. School exclusions thus remain a social justice issue. We know that permanently excluded pupils are unlikely to be admitted to a state-funded mainstream school within three years of their exclusion, and this disruption in their education has long-term negative impact on their health and wellbeing, future educational and life opportunities and outcomes.”
The RSA highlights how there was a six-year peak in the suspension rate in the autumn term of the 2021-22 academic year, “with an uncharacteristic rise in exclusions within primary settings”.
And it warns that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), pupils who have grown up in poverty, pupils who have a social worker, and those from certain minority ethnic groups - such as Gypsy, Roma and traveller and black Caribbean communities - are all more likely to be excluded than their peers.
It describes this situation as a “serious call for change”.
The report also includes testimony from young people, families and education professionals.
Billie, a Year 10 student, told researchers: “They have the wrong idea of me and treat me differently. A lot of the time I don’t want to go into school because if I don’t go in, I can’t lose any positive points. But if I do go in then I lose them.”
Caroline, a parent of a primary school child, said: “I went into school and met with the head and told them that my child wasn’t coming back. The relief on their shoulders was visible, and there was no persuasion or trying to persuade me to keep them there. Now we’ve gone somewhere else and seen how it can be done differently, just with a bit of understanding and care.”
One head mentioned in the report said that working with the RSA had improved his school’s work with outside agencies.
They said: “One of the things that came out is trust with other services - you sometimes feel people have their own agenda. [Understanding their perspective] helped us to trust a bit more.”
Ms Tejani added: “Disruption to a young person’s education has long-term implications for health, wellbeing and future opportunities, and is known to disproportionately affect already disadvantaged pupils, such as those with SEND, those in the social care system or pupils from certain ethnic minority backgrounds.”
Department for Education figures published in November last year showed that in the autumn term of 2020-21 suspension rates in English schools climbed above the levels seen before the pandemic, though permanent exclusions remained lower.
