Projects
School exclusions
Although now reducing, the number of children excluded from school is still three times what it was a decade ago. This is a cause of widespread concern. We have undertaken two major projects on this subject.
An assessment of the trends, causes and possible solutions
This project brought together interested teachers, academics and politicians to discuss the issues and resulted in a pamphlet covering:
- Who is excluded.
- How many are excluded.
- Why are they excluded.
- Why is exclusion from school so important.
- What can be done about exclusions from school.
View/download the full report.
Exclusion of girls
Although most attention has been on the groups over-represented in exclusion figures, particularly boys, this study chose to focus on girls since they have been largely overlooked in school exclusion prevention strategies and research. Nevertheless, statistics for 1997/98 reveal that almost 2,000 girls were permanently excluded from school (DfEE 1999). Furthermore, there is growing evidence of unofficial exclusions and self-exclusions, an option which young girls may be more likely to employ.
The practical focus was to assist Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to develop support strategies relevant for female school pupils, including those from ethnic minority groups, and to reduce the numbers of exclusions of all types amongst this group. The study had two specific objectives:
- To identify examples of LEA and inter-agency support strategies for young females and to provide analysis of the costs and the outcomes of such interventions.
- To examine the views of young females at risk of exclusion from school, and their parents/legal guardians, with regard to the appropriateness, accessibility and the effectiveness of the current sources of help.