Thank you!
Tier here.
The response to the BBC Radio 4 episode of Life Changing with Dr Sian Williams has been huge. Indeed, it has been difficult to keep up with all the emails and messages (over two hundred!) whilst also navigating life! I do believe I have responded to everyone, though it is possible I might have ended up in your spam folder, do please check, or nudge me for a response.
I was also featured on the BBC All England Show with the fantastic Becky Want. This was an immense privilege as it meant I got to be heard on both BBC Leicester and Northampton, as well as many other local BBC stations!
A word to the emails. Many have been heartbreaking to tell you the truth. Parents and guardians telling me about the rejection their child is facing, many totally out of school with little hope for a way forward. All the time, very clear that the child is bright beyond measure. Others, older, but still struggling from the affects of exclusion. Amidst this, there have been other success stories, though notably, mostly coming to people much later in life, clearly stultified by earlier experiences and the inculcation of shaming messages from those tasked with their education and care. We must extend our network and tell these stories, so we can inspire meaningful change in practices of exclusion.
To update you on the progress of Excluded from School, I have had some great conversations with so many people. Parents, heads, people with lived experience, educational psychologists, the list goes on. I have been very kindly invited to talk at many schools and to advise a variety of stakeholders. The next step here is to register as a charity. Our aim is to put lived experience at the heart of advocacy and delivery for excluded people. If anybody is interested in getting involved with this, please do get in touch. We will need all sorts of help, particularly fundraising, however, the first step is twofold: building a vision and bringing on trustees. If you have ideas, share them. If you are interested in being a trustee, or can recommend someone, get in touch!
In the meantime, I will be attempting to update the website (volunteer helpers very welcome!) and include a forum where people can engage on the topic and seek support. I will also be putting together a toolkit for parents/guardians and young people, which will answer frequently asked questions we receive via email. Finally, my first blog post will be arriving on Friday, which will give a little more detail to my experience, the reaction and the vision for Excluded from School moving forward. I have spoken to some of you and would welcome writing from all to add to the monthly newsletter. Lived experience, professional experience, whatever, I would really like to feature your writing and foster positive engagement. So do please send in any submissions by replying to this email.
Finally, thank you all for sending me such positive feedback on my interview, your kind words and most of all, your patience in awaiting my responses.
Speak soon, Tier