Independent UK education editorial Evidence · leadership · action
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System 02 / 06
SEND, disadvantage, attendance, behaviour, wellbeing, safeguarding, family support and access to education.
The verified connected-pressure cohort contains 486 schools across 160 trusts where high place need and rural or access pressure converge. Leaders should test local access, transport, connectivity and specialist capacity; the cohort is not a pupil-level deprivation or funding judgement.
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Latest analysis, features and news
School Connection editorialSystem 02 editorial desk
Flagship analysis
Overall and persistent absence fell in 2024/25. Severe absence rose. Behind that split is a harder leadership question: can the system understand what is keeping a pupil away, coordinate the right help and remain involved long enough to know whether it worked?
Flagship analysis
The 2026 schools white paper points towards earlier, more consistent support close to home. For leaders, the immediate question is not whether inclusion is desirable. It is whether workforce, space, funding and local services can make the entitlement real.
Analysis
School Connection's current verified cohort connects 486 schools across 160 trusts where high place need and rural or access pressure converge. It is context for leadership investigation, not a pupil-level deprivation or funding judgement.
Analysis
From 1 September all school and college staff should read Part One, with Annex A removed. The simplification matters, but leaders still need to prove understanding, reporting confidence and consistent action across every role and site.
Feature
Early-years expansion is a whole-school capacity decision. Statutory quality, safeguarding, workforce, space and transition must move together. This rebuilt feature focuses on the capacity chain behind safe, inclusive school-based early years.
44 published editorials connect to this system.The desk presents five priorities and refreshes as new work is published; every editorial remains available in the archive.
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