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 October’s research, you’ll find summaries and links to key reports that highlight national concerns around attendance, children missing education, and the socioeconomic factors impacting vulnerable children. These resources are intended to help equip you in addressing these issues. These reports provide important insights into the current challenges our young people face and offer guidance on how we can better support vulnerable children within our schools and communities. The topics covered include:
- Attendance
- Children Missing Education
- Sex and Relationship Education
- Looked After Children
- Infant Mortality
- Extra-Familial Harm Prevention
- Knife Crime and Neglect
- Young Offenders Institutions
Attendance
The FFT has released a blog post regarding the use of new attendance codes: Usage of New Attendance Codes – FFT Education Datalab. This is an early analysis of what the impact of the new codes might be. Initial findings suggest that the new codes may have, overall, increased attendance percentages in both primary and secondary schools.
Children Missing Education
The Children’s Commissioner report, published in September, continues to press the importance of getting young people back into the classroom post-pandemic. The report, Children Missing Education – The Unrolled Story, originates from the Attendance Audit, which highlighted procedures around children missing education. It examines how Local Authorities record children missing from education and notes that few are taking proactive steps to prevent children from going CME. The report also links higher levels of CME with factors such as deprivation, higher levels of SEMH, involvement with social care, and/or having additional learning needs.
Sex and Relationship Education
A recent podcast highlighted the preventative approach that effective SRE education provides in protecting young people from sexual and relationship abuse. It is crucial to make children aware of what a healthy relationship looks like to support safe and loving relationships as they reach adulthood. This is particularly important for vulnerable children who may not have experienced healthy relationships in their lives. The podcast discusses the preventative role SRE plays: Podcast: Teaching Sex and Relationships Education with Talk Relationships — A Discussion with Teachers Hosted by NSPCC Learning.
Additionally, resources are available for young children through the PANTS Resources for Schools and Teachers by NSPCC Learning. These are designed to keep very young children safe from sexual abuse; while the linked resources target ages 3-5, there are also resources available for EYFS/KS1/KS2.
Looked After Children
The relationship between poverty and children entering the care system has been studied by Together Trust Charity. A report published last week examines how factors such as abuse, neglect, deprivation, education, race, health, and welfare policies are interconnected. Recommendations for policy change include recognising poverty as a primary driver behind children entering care rather than just a contextual factor. Exploring the Link Between Poverty and Children Entering Care in England: Insights from Our Research.
Infant Mortality
A recent report examines the factors contributing to infant mortality, which is significantly higher in the most deprived quintiles. Contributory factors include preterm birth, smoking during pregnancy, young maternal age, and maternal depression. The report calls for structural efforts to reduce socio-economic inequalities. Although infant mortality isn’t directly within our remit, as a borough, we are exploring support for the most deprived babies, including initiatives like the potential baby box scheme and the PEEP programme for slightly older children. The full report is available here: Maternal and Pregnancy Factors Contributing to the Association Between Area Deprivation and Infant Mortality in England: A Retrospective Cohort Study – The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. A lighter summary can be found in The Guardian article: Targeted Support Could Reduce Infant Mortality Gap Across England.
Vulnerable Adolescents at Risk of Extra-Familial Harm Resources Hub
For council colleagues, please take note of the Vulnerable Adolescents at Risk of Extra-Familial Harm Resources Hub, an excellent resource for advice on harm to children beyond the home. Created by the Youth Justice team, the resources are comprehensive and would be valuable when considering influences beyond the family that might impact challenging cases.
For colleagues outside the council, this hub is currently only available on the intranet. However, a review of available resources is in progress, and broader resources will be shared in the next communication.
Knife Crime and Neglect
As part of the neglect strategy, recent efforts have examined CCE/CSE and the impact of neglect on knife crime. Articles on this topic may be of interest to schools and youth justice colleagues, including: Research & Analysis Bulletin 2022/03: Promising Approaches to Knife Crime – An Exploratory Study. This study recommends more trauma-informed and individualised work, with fewer standardised knife crime programmes and a broader support framework. Four promising approaches for avoiding knife crime were identified: diversionary activities, strengths-based approaches, knife crime programmes, and ancillary interventions. However, evidence of the effectiveness of these approaches is limited.
Another article, Risk Factors Associated with Knife-Crime in the United Kingdom Among Young People Aged 10–24 Years: A Systematic Review, highlights that higher levels of deprivation and unemployment correlate with increased knife crime. For education colleagues, several studies explored how school exclusion impacts involvement in knife crime, including cases where exclusions were related to the presence of knives on school grounds.
Young Offenders Institutions
A report published at the beginning of October on education quality in YOIs reveals concerning trends. Some of our most vulnerable young people, often with barriers to learning, end up in YOIs. The report indicates a decline in both the quality and quantity of education provision over the past decade, with young people in YOIs spending more time in isolation. This system is unlikely to improve life chances, which is troubling. A Decade of Declining Quality of Education in Young Offender Institutions: The Systemic Shortcomings That Fail Children – GOV.UK.
Best Wishes,
Adela
