In this paper we explore how Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) conceptualise vulnerability and risk, and how these conceptualisations inform their responses to students at risk of exclusion from school. The literature typically makes a distinction between within-child and systemic or structural factors. We draw on interview data from…

This paper considers the experiences of education for girls at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream secondary schools in England. The number of girls being permanently excluded from school is a growing issue, and data suggests that girls are being excluded at a percentage rate which exceeds boys, yet they have continued to receive…

Aim: This systematic literature review aims to explore the effectiveness of school-wide interventions in reducing disciplinary exclusion from mainstream secondary schools. Rationale: In England, head teachers have government support to use exclusion as a disciplinary sanction if deemed necessary (Department for Education, 2017a). Research has…

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…

In England, there is a lack of qualitative data exploring the approaches used across age phases and types of schools seeking to provide alternatives to school exclusion. The study used thematic analysis and semi-structured 1:1 interviews with 46 headteachers to determine the strategies employed in their contexts. Three themes were identified:…

Grade repetition is one of the bottlenecks to Uganda's vision of producing skilled human capital to transform the nation's status from peasant to middle class. This study explored how education stakeholders perceived the implication of students' grade repetition at a secondary school level. I employed a qualitative approach with an embedded…

This Campbell systematic review examines the impact of interventions to reduce exclusion from school. School exclusion, also known as suspension in some countries, is a disciplinary sanction imposed by a responsible school authority, in reaction to students' misbehaviour. Exclusion entails the removal of pupils from regular teaching for a period…

This article draws on findings from the first cross-national study of school exclusion in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It casts new light on the crucial aspects of children's education that lead to school exclusion. It investigates the reasons for the UK disparities, as well as the policy and practice in place. The focus of this article is on…

Behaviour management is an influential educational cliché in Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and US. In practice, efforts to control student conduct in schools frequently utilise a manage-and-discipline model: a misinformed but deeply rooted set of interconnected notions about how to ensure an orderly and productive classroom. Students…

This article draws on findings from the first cross-national study of school exclusions in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It sketches factors associated with the past research with reductions in exclusions. It then reports interview data gathered in England in 2018 from five specialist officers working in two Local Authorities and a senior…

There has been a growing interest in the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in school settings by educational psychologists in England. This small-scale study set out to explore the effectiveness of a school-based, eight-session CBT intervention for 12-13-year-old children with externalizing behavioural difficulties. Twelve pupils were…

English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is…

In this column, Crisis Management in the Schools Interest Group members summarize recent crisis management publications. The first article summarized was a meta-analysis of the risk factors associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among adults. The second study looked at the presence of life stressors among students who were expelled…