Page 6 - Who is losing learning IPPR Briefing & Podcast March 2025

5. Proposed Solutions and Recommendations:
•Shifting from Punishment to Support: The reports advocate for a move away from a solely punitive

approach to behaviour, recognizing that many challenging behaviors are indicators of underlying needs.

•Early Intervention and Recognition of Need: Utilizing the exclusions continuum as an early warning
system to identify struggling children and provide timely support is crucial.

•Data-Driven Practice: Schools should use data on student experience and lost learning across the
continuum to inform strategic responses and evaluate the impact of interventions. Ofsted should
increase its focus on this data use.

•Inclusive School Environments: Creating schools where all children feel a sense of belonging and
where inclusion is central to the school's ethos is essential.

•Addressing Unrepresentative Schools: The Department for Education and local authorities should
identify and address schools whose cohorts do not reflect their local communities, ensuring fairer
admissions and inclusive practices.

•Investing in Staff Training: Prioritizing professional development for school staff in areas such as
understanding and supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities, mental health
needs, and working effectively with families and communities is vital.

•Improving Inter-Agency Collaboration: Government must address the fragmentation of services for
children and families, establishing a shared outcomes framework and improving access to mental
health and speech and language support.

•Increased Oversight of Pupil Movements: Legislation is needed to provide oversight and
accountability for all pupil movements off-site and off-roll to ensure decisions are always in the child's
best interest.

Quotes:

•"By focusing on reducing repeat exclusions and escalations up the continuum and attempting to
reintegrate students who have experienced each exclusion, schools can support earlier recognition of
need and intervention."
•"Every school should use data on student experience and lost learning across the continuum to develop
a strategic response to all children’s needs. Ofsted should increase its focus on the strategic use of
student experience data and lost learning data in school improvement."
•"When we understand our communities better, we can help foster a true sense of belonging – one that

inspires more children to engage with their education, feel connected to their school, and thrive within
it."
•"The Department for Education should make sure this is reflected in its suite of professional
qualifications, and trusts and local authorities should prioritise professional development in this area."
•"Alongside investment, it is crucial that all services supporting children share collective responsibility
for children and young people’s outcomes. Too often, children’s services are working to different goals,

incentives and funding structures, which hinder their effectiveness and mean services work in silos."
•"The Department for Education should introduce legislation that provides oversight of pupil movements
off site and off roll."