Rationale

1. “How do my placement school’s policies, procedures and provision support pupils at-risk of exclusion?”

2. Rationale • PGCE trainee who undertook the SEND strand of the course. • Worked at a special school for EBSD students. • Experienced the attitudes of excluded young people once they had permanently left mainstream education. • Personal history and childhood. PS FSM = 3.5 times more likely to be excluded.

3. Findings • Students who have been identified are supported through the on-site inclusion unit. • This provision includes: skills and engagement groups; reduced timetables; targeted withdrawal and report cards. • Interventions last for 12 weeks in the first instance with the option for a renewal. • External provision is accessed but all three interviewees identified funding as a stumbling block for this provision. • Places on externally provided services are extremely limited: only 9 spaces each year for the major services provided.

4. Recommendations • Develop a positive reward system, in collaboration with the students, that provides a realistic way of rewarding positive behaviours. • Continue to deliver excellent on-site provision and refine the intervention programme. • Build links with other local schools to share best practice and provision. • Invest time in training the whole staff in inclusive practice to minimise the incidence of negative behaviours in-class, as well as to create a positive school culture built on praise rather than punishment.

5. The value of PGCE research?