Thanks for your feedback. I agree that the question (as I had drafted it) would need far more than 1750/2000 words. Therefore, I will focus only on Virtual School Heads (VSH) and disregard Designated Teachers.                                   As a title, I was thinking:

My basic structure is:                                                                                                                                                                     1.     To summarise the legislation which underpins the role of VSH.

2.     To discuss some the issues Looked After Children currently face in schools.

I have a list of areas I could discuss, but to focus my discussion, I was intending to discuss a few (but not all) of the following:

Poor exam results/not being entered for exams               

Exclusion from school

School admissions policies which prevent LAC young people from enrolling with them

delays in school transfers/gaps in education

being placed in low performing schools

low expectation from teachers

lack of support to deal with emotional issues/special educational needs

3.     I then intended to discuss how the role of the VSH is intended to address the above issues. Again, I have a list of topics, from which I will pick the ones I feel to be the most vital in terms of inclusion:

Help schools to develop positive/inclusive cultures

training staff/raising awareness among staff of the issues facing looked after children

send young people to high performing schools

ensuring recognition of achievement

helping young people to make links with the local community

helping young people to have positive aspirations and helping them to work towards them

 

I hope that seems a bit more tightly focused. Regards,  Khurram 

How does exclusion work to aid inclusion in the classroom?/ How do zero tolerance behaviour policies aid inclusion in the classroom? 

Start with a description of a zero tolerance behaviour policy – can I use a particular school’s policy as an example? 

Descriptions of the different types of exclusion - internal exclusion (ironically enough in my son’s school this is called inclusion), fixed term temporary exclusion, permanent exclusion, pupil referral units etc. 

The effect of exclusion on the child excluded (personal, short and long term effects), and the rest of the class. This is where I would start to look at the class and school as a whole. Does exclusion work to aid inclusion for the individual or the class/school as a whole?  

I would like to add a comparison between zero tolerence policies and more progressive school’s policies. As I mentioned in my email to you Joe, I had started to look at Summerhill School in particular as this seemed as progressive as schools can get. I couldn’t find a ‘behaviour policy’ on the school’s website, however, reading through their policies, they do have rules and they have excluded children in the past. I will have to read further to find out their reasons for exclusions. 

Conclusions will be based on my findings of course.