Joining the dots – linking education to circumstance

What happens when a child is excluded from school? How is their educational journey completed? What can schools, parents and professionals involved with children in education do to intervene sooner, to help prevent exclusions? What is the profile of children excluded from school? Can we do more to support groups who are more likely to face exclusion?

Schools play a vital support role in the lives of children and young people, a role brought sharply into focus by the Covid pandemic. Bringing data together, we can join the dots in each student’s journey, linking their education to their circumstances to help improve their outcomes. For more context on the statistics provided in this blog, please take a look at our related white paper, which you can download for free.

Disadvantaging the disadvantaged

When we take a closer look at the numbers behind school exclusions, it becomes clear that children already born into disadvantaged circumstances are further disadvantaged by the education system. Children from the 10% most deprived areas of the UK are more than twice as likely to experience exclusion from school as other children (7.1% of these children experiences exclusion, compared to 3.4% from elsewhere). This extends beyond those areas, too. In 2017/18, 13.65% of children eligible for free school meals were excluded from school.

It’s a clear pattern. These children, too, are far more likely to be identified with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 25% of children with identified SEND are also eligible for free school meals. The link between their circumstances and their education is obvious. If you’re from a deprived background, you’re far more likely to be identified with SEND and far more likely to be excluded from school. The already disadvantaged face a greater uphill battle than their peers.

In 2019, some 78,150 children were looked after in England. Alarmingly, that number has risen 28% over the previous decade. 56,160 were officially placed with foster families. When factoring in children living with relatives, e.g. grandparents, this number rises to much closer to 200,000.

How can education help?

Besides the obvious point around providing stability, structure, relationships and food, the role of schools requires careful consideration when it comes to supporting vulnerable members of society. The school admissions process can be haphazard and manual, with children missing spots at their preferred, often their most convenient, schools.

Failure to identify a child’s circumstances can lead to missed opportunities which carry knock on effects into a young person’s life. It’s a topic we’ve explored through Lara’s Story, which you can watch here:

Walk in their shoes – Lara’s story

Joining the dots

By creating a complete, holistic record of every child and young person, authorities and schools can join the dots in each story. Understanding this story is fundamental to improving outcomes. Where c.50,000 children are missing education across the UK, how can we identify them, those that have fallen through the gaps?

This is also in the realms of youth justice, since there are c.50,000 children involved in county lines gang activities. The similarity in those numbers cannot be coincidental.

We can easily identify, via basic data analysis, where the children who fall through the gaps are most likely to be. By extending our analysis, by painting a complete picture, we can begin to make appropriate provisions and improve outcomes for these young people.

As we can see in Lara’s Story, often innocent judgements can have severe consequences for young people and their families. As we approach a cost of living crisis, with rising energy bills and rising inflation, many families will feel the pinch. Little things like paying for the bus can quickly become unaffordable. The compound affect of this is material to a young person’s life.

Simply linking circumstances to a child’s education drives understanding. This understanding can be used to improve outcomes. And it can be done simply, too, via a central, accessible record. Where schools, parents and professionals can record and share information, joining the dots is made easy. You can then start to join several dots, creating rich data insight to inform future practices and roadmaps, understanding the best way to handle young people in specific circumstances.

Data informed practice extends from education through youth justice. Improving outcomes for young people is the combined target.

You can read our whitepaper, Joining the dots: The power of technology systems to transform outcomes for vulnerable children and young people here.