The majority of children permanently excluded from schools are those who already have a history of adverse childhood experiences and have been traumatized. It is perverse that the children in most need of stability, understanding and support are those who are far more likely to be rejected by the very people who are paid to look after them in loco parentis and prepare them for adulthood. Currently many more children have been deeply traumatised as a result of their experiences during lockdown. They are returning to some schools that may not understand how to support the healing process needed to enable them to re-engage with learning. This conference explores this issue and suggests strategies to help all professionals who work with vulnerable children to help keep them in schools rather than excluding them.

A VIRTUAL ONE DAY CONFERENCE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE FOLLOWING DELEGATES: -

Head Teachers and Senior Leaders

Head Teachers and staff of Virtual Schools

Teachers

Lead Members for Children’s Services

Directors of Children’s Services

Educational and Clinical Psychologists and other Child Therapists

Managers and Senior LA Officers engaged in work for Looked After Children (LAC)

University researchers

All adults interested in the education, safeguarding and welfare of vulnerable children.

Programme

10.00 - 10.10

Sylvia Duncan (Chair of IRCT)

Welcome and introductions

10.I0 - 10.40

Patrick Finegan ( Head of Looked After and Vulnerable Children Royal National Springboard Foundation)

“Why Permanently Exclude Children from Schools?”

Patrick will put forward a case for permanent exclusions to be no longer tolerated as they are unnecessarily cruel and have proven to be damaging to the life chances of vulnerable children. He will propose alternative strategies that are often ignored.

10.40 – 10.50 Q&A

10.50 - 11.10 Fallout Group Discussion.

11.10 - 11.40

Andrew Wright (Virtual School Head & Chairman of ARC)

“Looked After Children”

Andrew will discuss the practical problems facing schools and Virtual Schools as vulnerable children return to school. He will deal with the issue of avoiding exclusions by advocating for more understanding of attachment and trauma as set out by ARC (Attachment Research Community).

11.40 - 11.50 Q&A

11.50 - 12.10 Fallout Group Discussion

12.10-12.20 Comfort Break

12.20- 12.50

Janet Rose (Principal Norland College)

“Supporting vulnerable children through Emotion Coaching”

Janet will outline how Emotion Coaching might support vulnerable and traumatised children, particularly in relation to the impact of COVID on their lives.

12.50-13.00 Q&A

13.00-13.20 Fallout Group Discussion

13.20-13.40 Lunch

13.40-14.10

Kate Cairns (Training Director Kate Cairns Associates)

“Responding to Trauma-driven Behaviour: social exclusion or community resilience?”

Trauma-driven behaviour, in all its many manifestations, is socially challenging. It often leads to social exclusion. Yet such exclusion is damaging not just to the traumatised person but also to the community doing the excluding. Human communities are only genuinely resilient when they can operate from a base of compassionate reason, absorbing and transforming the disruption of trauma so that individuals can recover and the whole community can thrive.

14.10-14.20 Q&A

14.20-14.30 Fallout Group Discussion

14.30-15.00 Closing Plenary

PREVENTING THE PERMANENT EXCLUSION OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN