Exploring mainstream secondary school leaderships’ views and practices on the inclusion and permanent exclusion of students with social, emotional and mental health needs: a tension between performative pressures and inclusive practice.

In the academic year 2019/2020, 6,500 children and young people (CYP) were permanently excluded from school; almost one-third of this population were identified with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs (Department for Education [DfE], 2021a). For many, this disciplinary sanction leads to academic, social, health and financial disadvantages in addition to exacerbating their mental health needs (DfE, 2021a; Ford et al.,2018; Gill et al.,2017). The responsibility for decisions made to permanently exclude rests mainly with school leadership (DfE, 2012, 2017; Kulz, 2019). Therefore, this research explored the views and practices of senior leadership teams (SLTs) concerning the inclusion and permanent exclusion (PEX) of students with SEMH needs, using focus groups from three mainstream secondary schools in a local authority (LA) with a high PEX rate (DfE, 2016a, 2021b). A thematic analysis identified the overarching theme that 'SLTs grapple with their sense of agency over the inclusion and PEX of students with SEMH needs'. The discussion has been framed within Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory and has highlighted the tension between performativity and inclusion at various levels in the ecosystem. Within the macrosystem and exosystem, inclusion is inhibited by academic pressures, covert deficit discourses of disability and limited distribution of LA funding. Nevertheless, members of SLTs seek to promote inclusion within the mesosystem and microsystem by pursuing collaborative inter-organisational relations and facilitating containing relationships between the young people (YP) and significant others. Implications highlight that complex interactions within the ecosystem affect senior leaders sense of collective agency to promote the inclusion of students with SEMH needs, contributing to PEXs (Bandura, 1985, 2018). Recommendations include the DfE to perhaps acknowledge the systemic causes of PEX then provide policy and funding to support inclusion. At the school level, SLTs may wish to share effective strategies and utilise educational psychologist support for training, supervision and the development of inclusive systems.