Agenda item

A Member commented on the benefits of working with charities such as ThinkForward and organisations that provided pastoral support alongside the development of the parental toolkit to be re-presented to the Board in autumn 2024, noting also that a skills audit would be circulated soon after the reappointment of the Board at the April Court meeting (see action point 4).

The Board noted that the kind of behaviour that could result in exclusions (for a small minority of children) could often be detected at primary school level, and that the interventions would be useful at that point as well as at secondary level – noting rising levels of concern at national level around behaviour, parenting and attendance that had been exacerbated by lockdown restrictions and increasing levels of social media use. 

Members commented on the importance of ensuring that any organisation interested in working on schools in that capacity should be carefully examined to ensure the right message was being communicated (including, for example, emphasis on avoiding involvement in gang or criminal activity).