Management Information Sheet
Inclusion Helpline
From Monday 8th January 2018 we are having a one term trial of an Inclusion Helpline.
Any school or academy can ring the helpline for advice and support around inclusion – especially children at risk of exclusion. Please Note: This is not the number to ring for advice about permanent exclusion (see below for further details).
The Helpline is for school leaders (usually head teachers or heads of school) to get some advice, support and challenge around the inclusion of children and young people at risk of exclusion. Advisers from the Vulnerable Groups Achievement and Access Service will be answering the calls and will ask questions to gain a clear understanding of the issues and context, before making some suggestions, regarding possible solutions and ways to support the child/young person, and if appropriate, signpost you to some external providers.
The Vulnerable Groups Achievement and Access Service does not commission places or provision, so the Helpline should not be used to ask for funding or for a special school place.
We will want to evaluate the effectiveness of this pilot, so will ask you to complete a short survey two weeks after your call, to assess whether the advice, support and challenge was useful and resulted in any change for the child/young person.
Whilst calling the Helpline is voluntary, we do hope that you will use it, and any advice given is followed for a significant period of time to see if it’s successful in preventing an exclusion. If after this period, permanent exclusion still seems like the only option, please contact Louise Hodgson, Exclusions Officer, with any enquires on 01603 303333.
We hope that the first we hear about a child/young person isn’t when Louise notifies us they have been permanently excluded. No school or academy wants to exclude a child for a fixed term period or permanently, and we hope that this Helpline will be one of a number of support mechanisms which will significantly reduce the number of exclusions within Norfolk.
Mark Adams
Head of Education Vulnerable Groups Achievement & Access Service
- The Helpline phone number is 01603 307736 and will be open from 8.30am until 4.30pm each weekday during term time
Any school or academy can ring the helpline for advice and support around inclusion – especially children at risk of exclusion. Please Note: This is not the number to ring for advice about permanent exclusion (see below for further details).
The Helpline is for school leaders (usually head teachers or heads of school) to get some advice, support and challenge around the inclusion of children and young people at risk of exclusion. Advisers from the Vulnerable Groups Achievement and Access Service will be answering the calls and will ask questions to gain a clear understanding of the issues and context, before making some suggestions, regarding possible solutions and ways to support the child/young person, and if appropriate, signpost you to some external providers.
The Vulnerable Groups Achievement and Access Service does not commission places or provision, so the Helpline should not be used to ask for funding or for a special school place.
We will want to evaluate the effectiveness of this pilot, so will ask you to complete a short survey two weeks after your call, to assess whether the advice, support and challenge was useful and resulted in any change for the child/young person.
Whilst calling the Helpline is voluntary, we do hope that you will use it, and any advice given is followed for a significant period of time to see if it’s successful in preventing an exclusion. If after this period, permanent exclusion still seems like the only option, please contact Louise Hodgson, Exclusions Officer, with any enquires on 01603 303333.
We hope that the first we hear about a child/young person isn’t when Louise notifies us they have been permanently excluded. No school or academy wants to exclude a child for a fixed term period or permanently, and we hope that this Helpline will be one of a number of support mechanisms which will significantly reduce the number of exclusions within Norfolk.
Mark Adams
Head of Education Vulnerable Groups Achievement & Access Service