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.

For September’s research, Adela explores a range of issues affecting children and young people, including exclusions and suspensions, staff wellbeing, child sexual abuse, support for children with disabilities, online violence against women and girls, and education in youth custody.

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

Exclusions and Suspensions in 2025/26

FFT have analysed data from their attendance figures for exclusions and suspensions during the last academic year. Their figures suggest an overall drop in suspensions at secondary school, but a slight rise at primary. The difference between disadvantaged students and their peers being suspended or excluded is still depressingly large.
I do want to qualify that, though. When behaviour is so extreme that it requires a suspension or exclusion, it can also raise a concern that may need a social care referral. As with the disproportionality we see in attendance, some difference may therefore be expected.

📌 Read here: Exclusions and suspensions in 2025/26 – FFT Education Datalab

 

Staff Wellbeing

For the last year or so, I have been attending sessions run by Pooky Knightsmith, a child psychologist who speaks about wellbeing and neurodivergence. I have found her sessions enlightening, but also practical, with things to take away and use. I think professional development should be all about how we can use that knowledge in our practice.
She recently shared slides and notes from a talk to a staff body about wellbeing and connectedness. We are coming into autumn: the summer holidays seem a distant memory, Christmas feels a long way off, and the days are getting darker. It is important that we make sure our teams feel supported and connected.
The resource includes notes, slides and access to a free staff wellbeing survey.

📌 Read here: Staff Wellbeing as an Ecosystem: Slides and Notes – Pooky Knightsmith

 

Child Sexual Abuse

The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse has published a whole-school approach framework with step-by-step guidance to help educational settings improve their response to child sexual abuse. If you haven’t had an opportunity to look at it, it is well worth considering. It is designed to help you review how well your setting understands, prevents and responds to child sexual abuse, and to support your improvement activity.

📌 Read here: Whole-School Approach Framework – Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse

The Centre has also published a report on the experiences and needs of parents and carers of sexually abused children. It draws on existing research and looks at the importance of parental support, the impact of abuse on parents, and the barriers they can face in accessing appropriate and timely support. Until I read this report, I hadn’t fully considered the impact a disclosure can have from the non-abusing parent’s perspective.

Key findings include:

• Parents and carers can experience psychological and practical impacts that significantly affect their capacity to support their child.
• These impacts can differ depending on factors such as sex, ethnicity and past experiences of abuse.
• Higher levels of parental support were associated with improved mental health and resilience in children.

📌 Read here: The Experiences and Support Needs of the Parents and Carers of Sexually Abused Children: A Knowledge Review

 

Children Who Have Disabilities

The Department for Education has published a statistical analysis of the characteristics and social care journeys of children in need with a disability in England, including children in care and care leavers.
The data shows that 14% of children in need on 31 March 2025 had a recorded disability, a figure that has remained relatively stable since 2015. Among children in need with a recorded disability, disability or illness was most commonly identified as their primary need (45%), but a large proportion had abuse or neglect recorded as their primary need (31%). For looked-after children with a recorded disability, 57% had abuse or neglect listed as their primary need. Autism was the most commonly recorded disability.
I found this data interesting. When I joined the virtual school and started working more closely with social care, one of the biggest changes in my thinking was about how social care works. As a parent, and possibly as a DSL, I had viewed social care involvement as a judgement on parenting. In fact, many families need support to manage children’s needs that would be challenging for any parent, however competent. I think these statistics, particularly that autism is the most commonly recorded disability, tell their own story about the difficulties some families face.

📌 Read here: Children in Need: A Focus on Disability – Department for Education

 

Online Abuse and Misogyny

Refuge and the End Violence Against Women Coalition have published a report examining the scale, nature and impact of online violence against women and girls in the UK.

In a survey of 2,000 women and girls aged 16 and over, 36% reported experiencing some form of online violence, rising to 47% among those aged 16–24. This younger age group reported higher levels of harm across every category measured: 38% reported experiences of misogyny and sexual violence online; 30% reported harms suggestive of coercive control, stalking, monitoring or harassment; and 31% reported image-based sexual abuse.

The report’s recommendations include:

• Strengthening the Online Safety Act so Ofcom’s guidance on violence against women and girls becomes a legally enforceable Code of Practice.
• Requiring online services to build safety into their design.
• Expanding civil routes to justice for victims and survivors of image-based sexual abuse, alongside greater prevention through education.
• Introducing an online safety commission or ombuds role to provide specialist support and advocacy.
• Taking a stronger regulatory approach to AI, including chatbots, that prioritises the safety of women and girls.
• Improving the criminal justice response through mandatory training for police and prosecutors.
• Providing sustainable funding for specialist support services through a share of Digital Services Tax income and fines levied under the Online Safety Act.

📌 Read here: Online Violence Against Women and Girls Report – Refuge and EVAW

Youth Custody

HM Inspectorate of Prisons has published a report on the experiences of 12–18-year-olds in England and Wales. It draws on inspection data, surveys and interviews with children in four young offender institutions and one secure training centre between April 2025 and March 2026.
The report finds some progress overall, but improvement in most establishments was slow and fragile. Children still spent too long in their cells, 39% of those surveyed had felt unsafe at some point, and violence remained a regular feature of life in children’s establishments.
It is particularly concerning that education continues to be inadequate for many of these young people. If we want them to leave custody able to find employment or further training, they need appropriate and relevant opportunities while they are there. Education is grouped with time out of cell in the report, rather than given a separate section. The finding that education remains inadequate at 75% of young offender institutions is really concerning, as is the narrow range of what is offered, particularly for the youngest children who should be following the national curriculum.
We know that children in the youth offending population have higher levels of educational need and may have had disrupted educational journeys due to suspensions and exclusions. That makes it even more important to address shortfalls and give them access to good-quality education and training while they are in custody.

📌 Read here:

• Children in Custody 2025–26 – HM Inspectorate of Prisons
• Feeling Unsafe Inevitable for Many Children in Youth Custody, as Poor Standards Persist – HM Inspectorate of Prisons

Best wishes,

Adela