This pilot was recruiting, but is now fully recruited. 

This pilot will involve the set-up of two new ​‘trauma-informed short-term Managed Intervention Centres’ (MICs) by Ormiston Academies Trust. The centres will be designed to help young people in mainstream secondary schools who are at risk of permanent exclusion and may have already had a number of suspensions. The aim of the intervention is to prevent those young people from entering alternative provision, by providing early intervention within a mainstream setting, rather than resorting to exclusion as a last option. 

At the heart of the Managed Intervention Centre approach lies the philosophy of Trauma-Informed Practice, as outlined in the ARC (Attachment, Regulation, and Competency) framework.

To ensure effective implementation, all MIC staff, and key staff at referring schools will receive 2‑days training in the ARC trauma-informed framework delivered by an ARC licenced trainer. The ARC framework identifies important childhood skills and competencies which are routinely shown to be negatively affected by traumatic stress, attachment disruptions, and adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Schools and staff are taught to apply the ARC model, understand how trauma can affect pupil behaviour, implement and review strategies to support pupils, and adapt school policies to embed a trauma-informed approach. 

The managed intervention is intentionally short term, lasting a maximum of five weeks. This duration has been carefully chosen as it aligns with a school term, allowing students to maintain a sense of attachment to their school community, whilst being long enough to break poor habits of behaviour, and practice new improved habits. 

While at the centre, students will have daily scheduled lessons in core subjects and a bespoke PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) curriculum.

Typical pupils referred to the MIC will include those who: 

• Have significantly greater incidences of negative behaviour when compared with their peers, as indicated by referring school’s measures of behaviour
• Have received multiple suspensions
• Have not improved their behaviour in response to strategies put in place by referring schools.

Referring schools complete a standardised referral form with key background information on the pupil’s history of behaviour and external agency involvement.

There is a full induction process for students and their parents/​carers, outlining expectations for their time at the centre. The Lead Contact from the mainstream referring school (who is known to the young person) attends the induction meeting with young person and their parents/​carers. Daily attendance is reported to the referring school and there are weekly updates on student behaviour/​progress. The Lead Contact attends the end-of-placement meeting, reviews the placement, and discusses the trauma-informed re-integration plan with centre staff.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) are partnering to commission a number of research projects to find out which approaches are most effective in enabling pupils at the highest risk of absenteeism and/​or exclusion from school to attend, positively engage with, and remain in school/​college, to improve their attainment and reduce the likelihood of them becoming involved in violence.

The managed intervention approach is a combination of an internal inclusion unit and offsite provision. The common practice of inclusion units has been highlighted by DfE with over half of secondary schools using them. However, there is a need for evidence with regards to best practice for inclusion units, as noted by The Timpson review into school exclusion (2019).

The costs of alternative provision are high. A 2018 market analysis of alternative provision found that the average cost of a full-time placement in AP for one academic year was £18,000. An intervention that reduces the rates will carry a significant cost benefit to schools.

The new centres will follow the model used by the Westminster Education Centre (WEC). The WEC has been working in London since 2013 and has been part of Ormiston Academies Trust since 2021. This pilot is an opportunity to apply the manualised WEC approach to other regions of England, adapt it for the context of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and develop more robust evidence on the approach.

Since September 2014, 491 students have been referred to WEC from mainstream schools. 89% of these have successfully returned to their mainstream school after their placement setting. Long-term follow up data has been obtained for 200 students who left WEC from 2018 onwards. 69% remain in mainstream education or have completed their education in a mainstream school. 20% have been referred to alternative provision, 4% have been permanently excluded, and 7% have been removed from school rolls.

An independent evaluation of the programme will be carried out by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI).

The Trauma-Informed Short-Term MIC approach is being independently evaluated as a pilot. This means that is will be delivered to a small number of settings to develop and refine the approach and test its feasibility.