Discrimination, Education, Family, Young People

Spotlight on:
School Exclusions

Ben (not his real name) shares his story of being excluded from school in EachOther's forthcoming film – Excluded. Illustration: Jon Sack
Letter from the Creative Director
On Human Rights Day 2020, we released 'Excluded' – a documentary amplifying young people's views on the complex issue of school exclusions. The project began in 2018, when I saw young people had held a protest against exclusions on the London Underground and I wanted to find out what had driven them to risk arrest. The more we heard the stories about exclusion from young people, the more I was convinced the film should only feature their voices. We hear so often about school exclusions from politicians, journalists and teachers but rarely from the people they affect the most. I wanted to give them the floor to enable them to show that they have credible and compelling ideas about what needs to change – and how much they chime with the thinking that underpins compassionate education approaches like the ‘Nurture’ programme in Glasgow. The film is a key moment for EachOther - because the co-production of this film has made us want to do more of these sorts of projects - where the people affected by the issue get to decide how their story is told. We hope you find something in the film that is useful and we'd love to hear from you if you've used the film in any way. It'll help us make more!
Dr Sarah Wishart

When you exclude a young person from school, you interfere with their right to education. But this is rarely the only human rights violation they face.

Excluded pupils are at risk, for example, of being drawn into serious youth violence – as both victims and perpetrators – are overrepresented in the prison system and often have their home life and private life disrupted.

EachOther’s first long-form documentary only features the voices of young people – those who are most affected by exclusion – who share their stories and views on this complex issue.

We also employed affected young people as consultants and researchers on the film. Their voices and solutions, concerns and experiences are at the heart of this work.

To use this film as a resource in presentations or teaching – please get in touch with us and we can send you a HD version.

We are very happy for it to be used but we need to know how it’s being used for our reporting on this project. Email: Sarah@eachother.org.uk

Resources on the web

Advocacy Academy website
Advocacy Academy website Pipeline to Prison Tube map Education Not Exclusion

The Excluded Series

In the build up to our documentary launch, we ran a series of stories highlighting other important perspectives on school exclusions: teachers, headteachers, parents and youth workers. Read them below.

Long Read

School exclusions explained

How Schools Can Curb Exclusions With Compassion
9 min read
Excluded

Young people's right to be listened to

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) protects young people’s the right to be heard.

Children tend not to have as much power as adults – with age limits on the right to vote and children usually not having as much money. But Article 12 says they still have the human right to have opinions and for these opinions to be heard and taken seriously.

In making Excluded, EachOther is standing up for young people's right to be heard on the issue of school exclusions.

Separately, we asked Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, how she thinks the nation fares in respecting this right.

Find out more

Excluded: Meet head teacher Stephen Stone

/ 3 Dec 2020

The Lowdown

In September 2020, EachOther visited Glasgow's St Roch's school – which is at the heart of a compassionate approach to education.

We spoke with head teacher Stephen Stone about the school's unique ethos, it's approach to school exclusions and more.

Behind the scenes

The process behind 'Excluded' was just as important as the end product. Young people shaped the film from the get go. Find out more about how that all worked below.

Resources and organisation

No Lost Causes
No Lost Causes

A youth-led movement fighting for a more compassionate education system. They believe understanding the situations of students is important, which is the main reason they focus on reforming key aspects of the education system.

Find out more
Includem
Includem

A Scottish charity supporting children, young people, and their families, who are facing difficult challenges in their lives. Their trust-based, inclusive model of support is centred on the needs of each young person.

Find out more
Siarad Da
Siarad Da

Siarad Da supports professionals to improve their understanding and skills to better manage people with challenging behaviour and social communication difficulties and disabilities.

Find out more
Equaliteach
Equaliteach

An equality training organisation working with education settings in the UK to deliver workshops & training for staff & young people.

Find out more
The Advocacy Academy
The Advocacy Academy

The Advocacy Academy is a youth movement working to unleash the power of young people to create a more fair, just, and equal society. We give young people with lived experience of injustice the knowledge, the skills and the confidence to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time - from breaking gender binaries to building affordable housing, to ending sexual violence on our streets.


Find out more!
From Twitter

#ExcludedFilm review in @SchoolsWeek - a documentary made by young people highlighting the devastating effect being excluded can have on a school pupil. It features the voices of young people, with solutions discussed.
Link to the doc is in the review.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/excluded-a-young-people-led-documentary-on-school-exclusions/

4* review in @SchoolsWeek today for @EachOtherUK's #ExcludedFilm on #SchoolExclusions and #HumanRights: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/excluded-a-young-people-led-documentary-on-school-exclusions/ Thanks to @Right2Succeed's @CathMurray_ for your take on @SarahWishart's documentary-with-a-difference. Check the film out here: https://bit.ly/ExcludedFilm

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