Emily Carr – Executive Lead for School Improvement at Inclusion Quality Mark
I started my career as a primary teacher, working in mainstream schools before becoming a leader in a number of Pupil Referral Units, across the North East. I was quickly recognised for my leadership ability and secured a position as headteacher of a Teesside PRU. For over six years, I led the school in successfully achieving several sought after, national accolades including the IQM Flagship Award; the Leeds Carnegie Mental Health Award at Gold standard and the SMSC Gold standard award.
My experience at both primary and secondary stage gave me an insight into what is successful at all age groups and a strong understanding of transition between key stages. My passion and drive have always been to improve the life chances of disengaged and disaffected learners by supporting them to develop academically, socially, and emotionally. Through my success, I have been sought out by other educational establishments to provide school improvement and development, and now enjoy working across a number of settings providing both strategic and operational support. When I am not working in this role, I also work as part of the Senior Leadership Team for the Inclusion Quality Mark, as Executive School Improvement Lead, supporting schools in providing an inclusive offer for all.
I am passionate about supporting educational provisions and I am a secondary school governor and a Chair of Governors of a primary school. With over 15 years’ experience of working in AP, PRUs, Specialist provisions and mainstream schools, I am in the strongest position to be able to offer consultancy and leadership support to schools and settings that have the ambition to be outstanding, and the commitment to make a positive impact on vulnerable children and their families.
As suspensions and exclusions continue to rise at a concerning rate, it is time for school leaders to think carefully about what they can do to support those who are struggling, whilst maintaining high standards and an engaging and ambitious curriculum offer for all. The latest government data, released 21st November 2024, highlights that suspensions have increased compared to previous autumn terms. There were 346,300 suspensions in the autumn term of 2023/24. This represents an increase of 98,900 compared to the previous autumn term, which had 247,400 suspensions. It is also higher than the pre-pandemic autumn term (2019/20), when there were 178,400 suspensions. Permanent exclusions have also increased compared to previous autumn terms. In autumn term 2023/24 there were 4,200 permanent exclusions, this is an increase of 1,100 compared to autumn term 2022/23 when there were 3,100. It is also higher than the pre pandemic autumn term (2019/20) when there were 3,200 permanent exclusions. The most common reason for both suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour. We are also seeing an increase in children experiencing less visible forms of exclusion, such as managed moves, internal exclusions, internal truancy and persistent absence and reduced timetables. We need to look to understand what is causing this increase and unpick the reasons children are demonstrating these behaviours.
The legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis, rising childhood poverty and increased pressure on public services has had an impact on how schools run and how children who are struggling are supported. There are many different factors that can cause students to become disengaged and demonstrate behaviour that leads to exclusion from school. From poor mental health to trouble at home, to poor self-esteem and unidentified SEND needs, the causes vary greatly, but all causes require schools to create a sense of belonging, and an offer and curriculum to engage and allow ALL pupils to achieve success.
When a child is struggling to engage and to access learning due to issues in the home, experiencing adverse childhood experiences, missing significant periods of school, having unmet needs or facing struggles with their mental health, their relationship with education can soon become negative. With the rise of issues such as poor attendance, a cut to mental health and support services, and an increase of disruptive behaviour, it is imperative that schools look to support all children in building positive relationships with learning and ensuring that we reduce the amount of children leaving school with significant challenges and hurdles in their future.
The attendance crisis is further evidence of the need to create a culture of belonging. With one in five pupils in England persistently missing school, it is imperative that we create a sense of belonging and build bridges to support all children in experiencing success. We need to build bridges and break barriers.
For many learners who have experienced significant disengagement from learning, the solution isn’t simple. It is likely that they will experience multiple periods of disengagement throughout their schooling. It is therefore the role of schools and our staff to learn from each occasion and support children with a supportive, systematic approach. We need to improve schooling for these children via a graduated response. The new government, and indeed Ofsted, are beginning to focus more closely on ‘inclusion’ and stating this is a priority, but questions remain as to how this will happen and what this should look like.
We want to support schools, who currently may feel helpless, with solutions. The IQM framework allows schools to develop a systematic approach to inclusion. Drive, commitment and adaptability are front and centre to the IQM way of being. The framework allows schools to review the quality of their whole school inclusion and identify areas that need further developing. Culture is key in this. It is imperative that the context of schools is understood and used when planning next steps. A one size fits all approach does not work. We need to plan for our context and our cohort, and work with colleagues from across the education sector to develop our understanding of what may work in our individual settings.
Staff need to understand their learners and ensure that changes are made to have a positive impact on outcomes for all, particularly the most disaffected. We know that education can transform lives and we therefore need to develop a holistic approach to our offer and our curriculum. There must be a commitment to maximising outcomes for students – not just academically, but socially and emotionally.
Over the coming weeks, we are going to be sharing a range of articles from our IQM family, who will give details of their inclusive offer and how they have supported children in their care. You will have the opportunity to hear from mainstream colleagues, leaders in PRUs and Specialist settings, and also a Local Authority leader.
You will then have the opportunity to join free webinars in the new year to hear more about the offers outlined in the articles from the following colleagues:
● Mark Tilling, High Tunstall College of Science, maintained secondary school:
Creating an AP offer in a secondary school.
● Amy Marshall, Easington Colliery Primary School, maintained primary school:
Creating a Nurture Hub in a primary school.
● Emily Greenhalgh, Hopefields Independent Secondary School: Preventing EBSA
(emotionally-based school avoidance) and having a Nurtured heart approach.
● Donna Walker, The Link School KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4 maintained PRU: Creating a
holistic curriculum to engage and aim for success.
● Dirk Pittard, St Wilfrid’s Delta Academy Secondary PRU: Preventing exclusion
High impact multi-agency intervention to prevent exclusion.
● Peter Hines, Perryfields Primary PRU: Positive behaviour cultures.
● Lisa Ingleby, Durham LA: Working with unregistered AP providers to ensure
safety and quality for all.
We look forward to interacting with you!