Reintegration guide for school leaders

Schools should support children and young people (CYP) to reintegrate successfully into school life and full-time education following a suspension or period of off-site direction. They should design a reintegration strategy that offers the CYP a fresh start; helps them understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others; teaches them how to meet the high expectations of behaviour in line with the school culture; fosters a renewed sense of belonging within the school community; and builds engagement with learning.

The decision to issue a suspension or exclusion is never one that is taken lightly. It provides an opportunity for reflection, to rethink support, implement effective strategies and make reasonable adjustments. If the underlying function / need of behaviour is not addressed then it is likely that the cycle of behaviour will repeat and result in further suspensions. Spending time and effort at this point thoroughly considering how best to support this CYP to succeed in school is the most effective approach to reintegration following exclusion; reintegration needs to be productive and meaningful, not simply a return to school following exclusion.

Even though reintegration doesn't formally start until the CYP returns, it should be a continuation of the communication and support that your school provides while they are away. Effective planning and preparation will make the process of the CYP's return to school easier for all involved:

• Make sure the CYP and family understand the reasons for suspension and the purpose and aims of a reintegration meeting. If families have English as an additional language (EAL) or belong to Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) community, additional steps may need to be taken to support understanding (it is important to note that different EAL groups e.g. Asylum seekers, refugees, children who have received education in another country, children who have had very disrupted schooling, etc will have very specific and different needs and this must be considered when supporting a family to understand the reintegration process).
• Provide the CYP with schoolwork over the suspension period and make sure they follow an equivalent curriculum.
• Maintain regular contact over the suspension period.

Where necessary, schools should work with relevant staff and multi-agency organisations, such as teachers, pastoral staff, mentors, social workers, educational psychologists, EAL/GRT advisers or the Safer Schools team, to identify if the CYP has any pastoral, SEND and/or health needs or safeguarding risks, as these will need to be considered at the reintegration meeting to ensure a needs-led strategy.

Successful reintegration is dependent on your whole school ethos, culture and attitudes. If you feel that there are changes that your school needs to make at a whole school level to be able to fully support a successful reintegration strategy, then please contact our Early Intervention and Prevention team at inclusionandsend@norfolk.gov.uk for further support on whole school approaches to inclusion and belonging.

CYP views

The CYP's view of the behaviour incident needs to be into account before deciding whether to suspend or exclude. CYPs need to be given the opportunity to express their views as part of the reintegration process - with the support of advocates (such as a parent or social worker), if needed - unless their age or understanding mean it's not appropriate to do so. There are a number of ways CYP views can be collected, please see resources saved in our padlet here.

Some CYPs may not be able to verbalise their thoughts and feelings because of their age, stage, or additional needs. If this is a barrier to finding out how they feel, then other approaches can be used e.g. visuals/feelings faces/scaling charts/choice boards etc. For EAL CYPs such as refugee or asylum seeker children who have experienced little or no schooling or those educated in systems very different from our own, an interpretation service e.g. Language Line should be used in order to facilitate a two-way communication to ensure there are not cultural misunderstandings.

If a CYP is not able to share their views during the reintegration meeting, another approach should be used - this could be a separate 1-1 chat with a member of staff using the roots and fruits structure and may need to utilise additional resources i.e. emotions cards or social stories.

Tools

• A model letter which can be sent to parents ahead of the reintegration meeting (Word doc, 26 KB). This model letter to parents aims to support parents to be in a position to be positive and proactive in working collaboratively with your school to secure positive outcomes for the CYP.
  • This model letter should be translated appropriately for those families who have EAL with additional considerations around those families who may need the information presented differently i.e. if the family have low levels of literacy then a phone call may be more appropriate than a letter.