The SecEd Podcast: Preventing suspensions and exclusions

This episode considers what schools can do to spot vulnerable students at risk of suspension or exclusion and how we can intervene to pull them back from the brink.

Official figures show the number of suspensions and exclusions is increasing year-on-year, not least due to persistent disruptive behaviour.

Related factors seem to include unmet mental health and SEN needs, poverty, safeguarding issues, trauma, criminal exploitation, social media, and more.

In this episode, we chat to a secondary school headteacher and a virtual headteacher to find out what they are seeing on the ground.

We ask what preventative actions schools can take to keep students in school and what the signs are that we need to be alert to that a student is on a suspension/exclusion trajectory.

We discuss a graduated response to supporting students and the role of the school environment and climate for learning, including how routines and expectations can help and "teaching" behaviour.

We also touch upon potential interventions for students at risk, including pastoral support plans, unmet needs, a change of curriculum, family support workers and more.

We also ask how we can support students who have been suspended to help them reintegrate into school life successfully, including running reintegration meetings.