Press Releases

With more than 9,000 permanent exclusions per year at secondary level and rising numbers of fixed period exclusions, new research shows that 'fresh start' managed moves are an effective way to keep children in education who might otherwise be excluded.

A 'managed move' allows schools or other settings to work collaboratively with all concerned - the student, their family and the education community - to address the root cause of the problem and find the most appropriate programme or placement for the child's needs.

This is the message of a new book from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (to be published on Friday 14 December). In Managed Moves: A complete guide to managed moves as an alternative to permanent exclusion, Adam Abdelnoor, CE of Inaura the inclusion charity, explains how children at risk of being 'lost to the streets' through permanent exclusion can be given 'a plan for recovery'.

Abdelnoor guides schools through the advantages and practice of carrying out successful managed moves and advises schools and local authorities how to implement the DCSF's strategy of bringing all schools into learning partnership groups with the autonomy and flexibility to match children's needs to local resources.

A new survey from Inaura has found that about 100 managed moves are already being implemented in England and Wales every week of which between half and three-quarters appear to be successful. But the survey revealed a wide range of interpretations of the process and there is as yet no national strategy for regulating it. Headteachers expressed concerns about training and an insufficient range of alternative provision, nevertheless two out of three reported positive experiences of using managed moves.

"Managed moves are not a soft option. They can provide real opportunities for personal learning and change," says Pam Iles, Headteacher of St Dunstan's Community School in Glastonbury. "Schools need to be encouraged to be visionary enough to look for new ways of restarting the learning of our most challenging young people. Only by looking at the real needs of such young people and planning ways of meeting them will we prevent the cycle of failure that is harming the well-being of so many communities."

"Managed moves look to the future rather than to the past; they offer a plan for recovery", said Adam Abdelnoor. "The act of exclusion, which rejects people, breaks social links and risks losing the child to the streets, is unhelpful. It takes the child out of a context in which we can engage with them, intervene and help. It also marginalises the child and their family, which can trigger more resentment and antisocial behaviour.

"A successful managed move leads the child to safe supervised surroundings where their educational, social and developmental needs are addressed. This will reduce youth offending and antisocial behaviour, and subsequent problems such as crime, suicide, dysfunctional relationships and an inability to engage with the world of work."

"Keeping young people in school, and not losing them to the system altogether, is central to our aim of supporting positive experiences in young people's lives," said Andrew Barnett, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK). "School is an essential part of a young person's development and this book outlines how teachers and others can work together, giving young people a fresh start, with the minimum of disruption, when things are not working out for them where they are."

Ends.

Adam Abdelnoor is available for interview and can also arrange interviews with headteachers or families who have participated in managed moves.

For further information on this release or to request review copies contact:
Felicity Luard or Louisa Hooper on 020 7908 7618/7604 or info@gulbenkian.org.uk

Notes for editors

1. Managed Moves: A complete guide to managed moves as an alternative to permanent exclusion by Adam Abdelnoor is published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The book can be downloaded free from www.gulbenkian.org.uk from Friday 14 December. Copies of the book (£8.50 + p&p, ISBN 978 1 903080 07 8) can be ordered from www.centralbooks.co.uk .

2. A Survey of Managed Moves in England and Wales, 2006, is available from 14 December and a Summary from 7 December at www.inaura.net/research.

3. Definition of Managed Moves: A school management process which enables pupils to make voluntary, supported moves from one education setting to another.
   · Mostly used as an alternative to permanent exclusion, but may also be used to bring children from special or alternative settings into mainstream schooling.
   · A managed move from one mainstream school to another is sometimes called a 'fresh start managed move'.
   · The process is most effective when facilitated by an impartial agent.

4. Adam Abdelnoor is the founding chief executive of Inaura the inclusion charity. A chartered psychologist and qualified teacher with 30 years' experience in education, he has worked with children at risk of exclusion since 1989. He is also a senior visiting research fellow in the Department of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University and the author of Preventing Exclusions (Heinemann, 1999).

5. Calouste Gulbenkian was an Armenian born in 1869. He became a British citizen, conducted much of his work in Britain, and finally settled in Portugal. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation was established in Lisbon in 1956, a year after his death. The UK Branch of the Foundation, based in London, has a history of working across the UK and Ireland, initiating or supporting pioneering developments in the fields of Arts, Education, Social Change and Anglo-Portuguese Cultural Relations. The Foundation has a long tradition of influential work on educational issues in the UK, including initiatives on bullying, children in care and PSHE. Recent Foundation publications Creating Chances and Serious Play have promoted its support for the development of arts projects in Pupil Referral Units and Learning Support Units, and current priorities include human scale education and cross-cultural understanding in schools and youth organisations. For more information visit www.gulbenkian.org.uk or contact info@gulbenkian.org.uk.

Case Study
Jerry had made good progress at school until Year 9 when he became withdrawn and argumentative. He disliked writing and in Year 10 found it hard to keep up with the increased workload. As a result his attendance rate fell, and he began to lose his temper and storm out of class. Although Jerry's tutor had a good relationship with him and was able to talk to him about his anxieties, other teachers were stressed by Jerry's truculence and the disruption his outbursts caused. The school tried different learning support strategies to help him. However, Jerry's family life also became difficult and he started staying over with friends when things were bad at home.

The headteacher recognised that Jerry was not coping with the combined pressures of mainstream school and his home life. He contacted his local authority inclusion team who arranged school and home visits by a Managed Moves facilitator. Jerry was initially opposed to the idea of moving elsewhere, but the facilitator encouraged him to talk about what he liked to learn and what he hoped to do when he left school. Jerry didn't really know, but he did say he wanted to work out of doors and with his hands. She was able to offer him an alternative programme based at the local Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) for three days a week, with one day a week spent in college on a vocational course and the possibility of work experience with the maintenance team at a local National Trust property.

At a managed move conference attended by the headteacher, the head of the PRU, and Jerry and his parents, the facilitator made sure the discussion was very realistic. Jerry was offered a choice between keeping to an agreement about his future conduct in order to stay in school, or taking up the new programme based at the PRU. At first, Jerry insisted that he could keep to the agreement, but as others round the table, including his parents, pointed out how tough it would be, and how much the new programme suited him, Jerry decided to make the move. A short agreement was drawn up and all parties signed it.

Because Jerry had made a choice about his future he felt more positive about the move. His attendance was excellent, and his characteristic determination helped him to achieve an ASDAN gold award based on his work experience, four GCSEs, and the offer of a trainee placement with the National Trust when he left college.