THE LINK BETWEEN CCE AND SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS IN THE UK
As the new academic year gets underway, we’re reflecting on one of The Guardian’s highlight piece ‘Hundreds of children thrown out of school in English county lines hotspots’ – an alarming article shining a spotlight on the problem exclusions can cause for young people who are, as a result of being out of school, targeted by gangs.
Although suspensions and exclusions are permitted as a ‘last resort’ in accordance with schools’ behaviour policies (as outlined in recent updates from the Department for Education), it is deeply concerning that a considerable proportion of excluded students have already been assessed as vulnerable, and therefore likely to be those in need of the most support. Young people with special educational needs are also 5 times more likely to be excluded.
Indeed, the BBC’s recent ‘file on 4 programme’ revealed that there were more than 1,200 suspensions and exclusions of children assessed by social services to be grooming targets in England’s four largest drug-exporting regions between 2021 and 2023, according to data obtained from 37 councils across London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
It is a well-known fact that any young person can become a target of criminal activity however it is also widely recognised that exclusion all too often results in criminal exploitation due to the loss of structure and “ring of protection” that attending school provides.
Therefore one clear focus must be on providing the support needed to keep children in education.
At Gamechanger our aim is to provide schools and local authorities with early intervention programmes and strategies designed to achieve positive behaviour outcomes, support students’ personal development and ultimately keep children in education.
Our Child Criminal Exploitation ‘Impact’ and ‘Intervention’ programmes provide two different entry points to suit the needs of different groups of students. Both programmes not only raise awareness of CCE and County Lines, but also support positive behaviour change through the participation of Gamechanger Challenges which provide students with the skills needed to develop their confidence, emotional strength, trust, respect and communication.
CCE Impact and Intervention programmes have been successfully delivered throughout the UK to schools within local authorities including; Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley and Harts council as well as alongside West and South Yorkshire Police.
To find out how your school or local authority area could benefit from our programmes, please get in touch.
