School exclusion can have a detrimental effect on young people, their family and even their former school. In this blog, the effects of school exclusion on young people and the consequences on their mental health and education will be discussed. We believe that preventing school exclusion is better for young Read more…
The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has committed to providing 2 million pounds towards significantly reducing exclusion rates in London schools. Why are exclusions becoming a ‘habit’ in schools? In an article published on the 6th of September 2022 on BBC News [1], the director of the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit Read more…
The South London borough, Southwark, is the first to pledge to follow a no-exclusion policy in the UK [1]. Schools signing up for an inclusion charter pledge aim not to exclude other than in cases where other pupils are at risk of harm. A trauma-informed approach Southwark council are supporting Read more…
“Young people aren’t the leaders of tomorrow. They are the leaders of today and tomorrow.“ Kathy Calvin – Former Resident and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation. In our past blog, we shone a light on the lack of youth input in policies that affect them directly. Following Read more…
Many governmental departments, schools and youth organisations centre many of their policies based on the ‘best’ interests of young people’s well-being and development. But, how much of this is actually shaped by the young people it aims to help? Do these policies genuinely reflect what the youth voice is saying? Read more…
The UK government’s educator regulator, Ofsted, has released a catch-up report [1] following up on the decline in young people’s development. This report looked at the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ofsted’s leading cause of concern is pupils’ mental health problems, stress among teachers, and ongoing school absences due Read more…
Success for individuals is primarily thought to be down to one’s motivation. Modern-day society has shaped us to believe that no matter our personal situation, our own self-drive and motivation will help us to overcome any obstacle we face. Although many successful people come from working-class backgrounds, their journeys were Read more…
In England, the English government decide what children should be achieving at certain stages of their education and then all children are assessed at the end of each key stage to see if they are meeting the national standards. The key stages There are 4 key stages: Key Stage 1 Read more…
On a day to day basis you probably come across and meet a wide range of people who come from all corners of the world. Being able to connect and communicate with people from all backgrounds is now shifting from a soft skill to a necessary skill in the workplace. Read more…
Photo by Yan Krukov When working with young people, it is essential to build trust and rapport. Developing a successful rapport means that you and the young people have mutual respect for each other. This allows working towards a common goal with both sides committed and open to communication. Developmental Read more…
Christmas is upon us and while lots of us will be getting ready for festive cheer, it isn’t always a time of joy for many young people. The harsh reality for some Child Poverty Action Group estimates that roughly in every class in the UK, 9 children in every class of 30 will be living Read more…
This week is Grief awareness week. So, we want to share a story that shows how grief impacts young people. In 2019 we had a workshop heavily disrupted by a young person. She refused to take part in any activities, threw her writing equipment across the room and verbally abused Read more…
What is a learning difference? There are several common learning differences and they are dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia and dysgraphia [1]. As a teacher, or someone that works with young people it is important to be aware of how learning differences can impact someone. Therefore, we have summarised several learning differences below with an explanation of how Read more…
True ‘intelligence’, covers many, many different qualities. As Einstein once said, ‘If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll live its whole life believing that it’s stupid’. The truth is, we’re all ‘intelligent’; just in different ways, at different things. Why is this important to know? Because our education system does not always recognise this. There’s a whole list Read more…
At one end of the school to prison pipeline is the student. A young person whose life has been turned upside down. At the other are the people making the laws for our education system: the elected government and its civil servants. So, in the latest in the school to prison pipeline series, Read more…
We’ve had a rough couple of years, haven’t we? We don’t think anyone will look back on 2020/2021 and say ‘oh yeah, had such a great time that year’. It’s been pretty difficult, and it’s been even more difficult for young people. Being young can be challenging at the best of times, throw in a pandemic and it’s just… well, Read more…