Adela Kay, Assistant Headteacher at Aspire Virtual School, has conducted in-depth research on a variety of pressing issues affecting children and young people within our community.

This month, Adela examines key developments shaping the experiences of children and young people, including home education safeguarding challenges, attendance and attainment patterns, delays in child sexual abuse cases, support for children with complex needs, relational practice, brain injuries in youth justice, and outcomes for children in care.

Below you’ll find summaries and links to the latest research and reports relevant to our work with children and families.

Elective Home Education

NSPCC Learning has published a report exploring the challenges local authorities face in safeguarding children educated at home. Key findings include:

• Many families choose home education because mainstream schools are unable to meet their children’s needs.

• Elective Home Education teams are under-resourced to meet the needs of a growing cohort.

• The child’s voice is under-represented in current practice.

Recommendations for the Department for Education include updating and strengthening national guidance to reflect the scale of home education, and providing stable, sufficient funding for local authorities.

Locally, we are seeing increasing numbers of children becoming electively home educated, including those known to social care. This continues to pose significant safeguarding challenges.

📌 Read here: Tipping point: Tackling the challenges in safeguarding children educated at home

 

Attendance

FFT and the DfE have published analysis on attendance in Year 11 and its impact on attainment. As expected, Attainment 8 scores reduce as attendance dips. More interestingly, the research also considers long-term attendance patterns and the compounded effect these have on outcomes.

Given the increasingly forensic national focus on attendance—particularly following the introduction of new codes and View My Education Data—this feels like the first of many reports reinforcing the clear link between attendance and academic achievement.

📌 Read here: Exploring the relationship between Year 11 absence and GCSE results – FFT Education Datalab

 

Child Sexual Abuse

The NSPCC has highlighted growing delays in court proceedings for child sexual abuse and exploitation offences. Ministry of Justice figures show that nearly 7,000 cases are currently awaiting trial, being tried, or awaiting sentencing—a 9% rise on the previous year.

These delays have significant emotional and psychological consequences for children who have experienced abuse. The NSPCC is calling for criminal justice agencies to fast-track proceedings and invest in specialist support for young victims.

📌 Read here: Nearly 7,000 child sexual abuse cases stuck in courts

 

Deprivation of Liberty Orders and Young People With Complex Needs

A new report calls for a shift from crisis-driven, restrictive interventions toward early, sustained, and integrated support for children with complex needs. It highlights:

• The importance of investment in local provision

• The need for robust regulation

• Trauma-informed approaches

• Multi-agency collaboration

The report also outlines the different routes into secure children’s homes and DOLs orders, and the systemic barriers that make prevention challenging. It is a lengthy document, but I have an executive summary available if people would like it.

📌 Read here: Improving the outcomes of looked after children and young people in complex situations with multiple needs, at risk or subject to a Deprivation of Liberty

Social Pedagogy / Relational Practice

This month’s research spotlight was on relational practice. Increasingly, this aligns with what we see referenced in the developing Ofsted framework—particularly around support for vulnerable pupils.

Relational practice goes beyond understanding a child’s academic progress or behaviour; it focuses on understanding the context of their lives, what shapes their days, and what influences their wellbeing. Many schools are already embedding these approaches.

There is also a growing evidence base supporting the role of trusted relationships in improving outcomes for looked after children.

📌 Read here:

Relational Practice – webinar 2: what research tells us
Relationships Project – Creating the conditions for relationships to flourish

 

Brain Injuries in the Youth Prison Population

Research continues to emphasise the exceptionally high prevalence of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the youth justice population. Studies suggest:

• Up to 82% of young offenders have evidence of a brain injury

• Around 18% have current post-concussion symptoms

This has significant implications for behaviour, risk, rehabilitation, and long-term outcomes. It also intersects with high rates of neurodiversity, communication difficulties, and socio-economic disadvantage within the youth justice system.

📌 Read here:

Traumatic Brain Injury: a potential cause of violent crime?
How can prisoners with brain injuries be better supported?

Children in Care and the Youth Justice System

The Children’s Commissioner for England has released a new report exploring the experiences of children in care who come into contact with the criminal justice system. For children born between 2000 and 2002, the findings show:

• Nearly half of care-experienced children receiving a caution or conviction had their first contact with the justice system after entering care.

• Children living in children’s homes with a Black or mixed ethnic background were most likely to receive a caution or conviction.

The report calls for improved safeguarding responses for children who offend and for updated statutory guidance to reduce the criminalisation of children in care.

📌 Read here: The criminalisation of children in care

 

Wishing you all a restful half-term.

 

Best wishes,

Adela