An Illuminative Evaluation exploring access to, and use of Alternative Provision as a preventative approach to secondary school exclusion. What is the role of the Educational Psychology in this context?

Abstract

This research is an Illuminative Evaluation (IE) exploring the access and use of Alternative Provision (AP) as a preventative approach to secondary school exclusions in one Local Authority (LA) in the West Midlands. The research also explores the role of the Educational Psychologist (EP) in this context.
Longitudinal studies highlight both the short- and long-term implications of both permanent and fixed term exclusion on young people (YP) and their families (Pirrie et al., 2011). The number of fixed term exclusions have increased in recent years as has the demand for AP. The demand often means AP is oversubscribed, putting a strain on this sector to deliver high-quality provision (House of Commons Committee, 2018). Much of the literature in this context focuses on the quality of provision (McCluskey et al., 2015; Pennacchia & Thompson, 2016), little is known about the ‘referral processes’ (Mills & Thomson, 2018), how YP arrive at AP (Trotman et al., 2019) and the role of the Educational Psychologist in this context (Bagley & Hallam 2015).
To explore how AP is used and accessed through the Alternative Provision Panel (AP Panel) in one LA, the social constructivist and collaborative methodological approach, IE was selected. Four LA professionals, three EPs, and two AP professionals were interviewed. This was combined with an analysis of LA documentation. In accordance with IE, findings were collaboratively presented to the LA to allow for joint problem solving and the development of the next steps.

Date of Award	2 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	John Franey (Supervisor) & Rob Green (Supervisor)