Exclusion can be the beginning, not the end

IT’S Friday afternoon, and staff are gathered in the staffroom to speak to Sam, 19, who has visited and is filling us in on what he’s been doing since he left St Matthias four years ago.

No knife crime, no stint in prison – just a genuinely lovely young man who has trained as an electrician and who has hopes and dreams for his future.

When asked what he thought of his nine months at the school for those who’ve been excluded or are at risk of exclusion from mainstream schools, he said: “St Matthias made me a better person. I was a so-and-so before but the focused teaching and 1:1 support helped make a difference. It made me more mature and ready for life.”

The current headlines linking exclusions and knife crime, criticising Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provisions, tell one tiny part of a bigger picture.

We can’t blame the media, but we have to pick up the pieces with our parents and pupils. We have to convince them an exclusion is not the end of the road but the beginning of a different journey.

While Bristol is bucking the trend by reducing secondary permanent exclusions, we can see increasing pressures on schools that risk undermining the achievements made so far.

There isn’t a typical pupil who is excluded but some are more at risk; those with additional learning needs, who may struggle with literacy and are falling behind in their progress. They are able to access less and less support in mainstream settings because of finan- cial cuts to schools’ SEN budgets and a reduction in mainstream staff dedicated to supporting them.

When pupils are referred to our Learn@ Alternative Provisions, we carefully assess their learning and speech and language needs because we know many come to us with undiagnosed and unmet needs. We can support pupils’ social needs so they can begin to learn in a classroom and, with targeted teaching and expert support, can thrive.

Can you imagine headlines blaming A&E for knife crime injuries? That wouldn’t make sense, so why are schools like ours blamed for wider issues in society? What we do is work towards understanding and supporting the individuals behind the headlines.

The job of managing the behaviours of pupils whose needs are beyond what mainstream schools can cater for is hugely challenging.

However, the rewards of working with pupils like Sam are boundless.