There is a clear link between school exclusions and vulnerability/propensity to youth violence.
School behaviour policies can be very powerful when supporting inclusion, particularly in relation to violence/weapon carrying in school. A focus on robust risk assessments can enable schools to keep young people involved in carrying knives in mainstream education where it is deemed appropriate and safe to do so.
One local authority study into a cohort of school-age knife crime perpetrators showed that none of the young people were in mainstream education. Neither did they have access to a positive role model.
A zero tolerance approach can inadvertently place the young person involved in greater risk. For example, if a child caught in possession of a knife is excluded, this increases their risk of disengagement from education and the development of potentially new associations with other at-risk children, recognising that the distinction between perpetrator and victim can be blurred and inconsistent over time.
The BCSP has agreed a joint programme of action with schools to include knife crime in safeguarding plans, as no schools are immune to the risk of this form of violence. A strong focus on primary-aged young people in the transitional stage between years 6 and 7 is a key point at which to embed a positive narrative against violent crime and risk-taking behaviour before they become subject to greater peer pressure and influence from others.
Service providers have been commissioned through the London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF) to deliver at primary and secondary school level in Bexley, and VRU funding has helped tackle risks associated with fixed term and permanent exclusions in some secondary school settings. The VRU funding has been assigned to those primary schools in Bexley, where there has historically been a higher proportion of permanent exclusions once those children have reached secondary school. The VRU is focused on upskilling staff in dialogic teaching methods with a focus on oral. The project is now at an advanced planning stage where the schools identified are engaged.
The Behaviour, Safeguarding and Attendance subgroup of the Bexley Strategic Education Partnership has over the last year reviewed the Fair Access Protocol and Managed Move protocol. Changes have been made to these to allow greater oversight of the progress and Managed Moves, reviews and milestones within the system. A focus of the subgroup has been the promotion of consistent positive role model within a child’s life and consideration to any unmet Special Educational Needs (SEN) for children at risk of suspension or permanent exclusion. A key part of this strategy has been to re-model the gateway panel to the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), which has been rolled out since September 2023.
Further intervention will be targeted toward local colleges where a small proportion of the cohort is of an age where they can be/already be deeply involved with gangs, serious violence, or organised crime.
