For decades, the school exclusion rates have been a cause for concern within the English education system. We have witnessed a steady increase in the numbers of pupils being excluded since 2012. Evidence suggests that some children are more likely to be excluded from school, a significant number will have had the social, emotional and behavioural…

The study presents data drawn from semi-structured interviews with five young people permanently excluded from schools in North East England. The research aimed to investigate the risk factors that lead to the children using illegal drugs, to determine the drivers and implications for drug misuse and the carrying of knives into school. The…

At Rushton Manor School, a small independent school in the South West of England, the proportion of young people with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC), a form of Social, Communication and Language Need (SCLN), was substantially higher than regional averages: 15% at the school versus 5.4% in primary schools and 8.7% in secondary schools regionally…

Some children may only be able to express feelings of anxiety, frustration, stress or sadness through angry behaviours, which may prove challenging for schools (Barnes et al., 2016; Shechtman and Tutian, 2016). This is problematic when considered in relation to research evidence highlighting the negative impact such behaviours may have upon social…

This paper presents the results of the evaluation of the 20-month Story Links project delivered by the University of Chichester in collaboration with the Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). Story Links is a ten-week intervention that involves…

This article focuses upon the relationship between social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and learning. It argues that, while inclusion is desirable in principle, it can be highly problematic in practice. Further, it explores the contested nature of the concept of SEBD and the nature of support for pupils categorised as such. The…

The focus of the study reported in this article is the behavioural response of pupils with Asperger syndrome to light and sound intensity and the development of ways to help them to cope with such sensory stimuli. A number of practical ways of minimising the negative effects of various sensory stimuli are noted: (1) the establishment of "a place…

In this article Denise Chilvers and Angela Cole describe a school-based study which is located very much in an action-research idiom. Starting from a questioning, but collegial, stance on identifying positive interventions for children who challenge, the authors illustrate how theory and reflection on practice can lead to significant innovations…