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This article draws on findings from the first cross‐national study of school exclusion in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It casts new light on the crucial aspects of children's education that lead to school exclusion. It investigates the reasons for the UK disparities, as well as the policy and practice in place. The focus of this article is on a detailed analysis of the policy context in Scotland, where official permanent exclusion reduced to an all‐time low of just five cases in 2014/15. This is much lower than in Northern Ireland and Wales and in stark contrast to England, where exclusions have increased substantially since 2012. Our analysis seeks to understand Scotland's success in reducing exclusion and offers new insight into the ways in which national policies and local factors more generally shape schools and their practices and the consequent impacts for children and young people more broadly in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on findings from the first cross-national study of school exclusions in the four jurisdictions of the UK. It sketches factors associated with the past research with reductions in exclusions. It then reports interview data gathered in England in 2018 from five specialist officers working in two Local Authorities and a senior officer working for a national voluntary organisation. The officers describe good practice but also national, local and school level developments contributing to a deteriorating situation. These developments include unhelpful government guidance and regulations; school accountability frameworks affecting curriculum and leading to the neglect of Special Educational Needs; loss of Local Authority powers and funding resulting in reductions in support services. Data gathered for this study in other UK jurisdictions suggests that in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to a lesser extent in Wales, a practice that avoids school exclusions has persisted more than in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Collaborative inter-agency working is of paramount importance for the public protection agenda worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the findings from a research study on the inter-agency working within adult support and protection (ASP) roles in the police, health and social care.Design/methodology/approach This realistic evaluation study with two inter-related phases was funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. This paper reports on Phase 1 which identified existing gaps in the implementation of effective inter-agency practice by reviewing the "state of play" in inter-agency collaboration between the police and health and social care professionals. In total, 13 focus groups comprising representatives from Police Scotland (n=52), Social Care (n=31) and Health (n=18), engaged in single profession and mixed profession groups addressing issues including referral and information exchange.Findings On analysing context-mechanism-outcome (CMO), gaps in joint working were identified and attributed to the professionals' own understanding of inter-agency working and the expectations of partner agencies. It recommended the need for further research and inter-agency training on public protection.Research limitations/implications This unique Scottish study successfully identified the inter-agency practices of health, social services and police. By means of a modified realistic evaluation approach, it provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges that professionals face on a day-to-day basis when safeguarding adults and informed strategic recommendations to overcome the barriers to good practices in organisational working. The methods used to determine CMO could benefit other researchers to develop studies exploring the complexities of multi-causal effects of cross-boundary working. The use of the same case study in each focus group helped to neutralise bias. However, the voluntary nature of participation could have resulted in biased perceptions. The limited numbers of health professionals may have resulted in less representation of health sector views.Practical implications This paper reports on a Scottish study that focused on the coordinated and integrated practices amongst the police, health and social services' professionals who support and protect adult members of society at risk of harm and has implications for their practice.Social implications Whilst the focus of this study has been on ASP, the conclusions and recommendations are transferable to public protection issues in many other contexts.Originality/value Studies on the joint-working practices amongst police and health and social services' professionals who support and protect adult members of society at risk of harm are uncommon. This study investigated professionals' perceptions of gaps and concerns pertaining to integrated working by means of a realistic evaluation approach. It recommended the need for further research and inter-agency training on public protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has recently said, ‘Improving school attainment is arguably the single most important objective in this programme for Government’ (Parliamentary address, 1 September 2015). Scotland’s levels of academic attainment have become an increasing focus for debate amid continuing concerns that children living in the most deprived areas in Scotland are ‘6 to 13 months behind their peers in problem-solving at age 5; 11 to 18 months behind their peers in expressive vocabulary at age 5; and around two years of schooling behind their peers at age 15’. The link between educational disadvantage and low levels of attainment is well documented in many countries, but particularly troubling in the United Kingdom, where overall levels of inequality are greater than in many other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, including Sweden. This article draws on recent research in three fields of interest, namely student participation, home–school relationships and relationships within school, to explore the challenges for education in improving overall attainment. It considers how these fields of interest connect with each other and with issues of inequality and, finally, argues that they each have the potential to offer a new set of ‘guidewires’ for tackling this challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour in schools is an enduring public policy concern not only within the UK, but internationally also. Current concern should come as no surprise as behaviour is intimately connected with policy priorities for schools, namely raising standards of attainment and promoting social cohesion. Clearly, standards are threatened where disruptive behaviour takes place and teacher time is spent on maintaining an orderly classroom rather than on the formal curriculum. This article reports findings from two major surveys of perceptions of behaviour commissioned by the Scottish Government. It locates the work in the Scottish policy context and describes the contextual framework used to guide the collection and analysis of data. It highlights a positive move in perceptions particularly amongst secondary school teachers and suggests why this may be so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper evaluates how the enhancement of positive environmental impacts has been considered and developed in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) reports since the SEA Act in Scotland was introduced in 2005. Fifteen Environmental Reports on strategic actions prepared between 2006 and 2009 were scrutinized for this study, one of which pertained to national policy and the rest to responsible authority programmes, plans or strategies throughout Scotland. A four point scale was developed to evaluate the extent to which environmental enhancement promotion or measures were considered in the Environmental Reports: Thorough, Fair, Minimal and Absent. Results found that nine out of the 15 Environmental Reports studied were graded as ‘minimal’ or ‘absent’. The paper concludes that in order for SEA to achieve its full potential, in addition to considering mitigation measures for negative environmental impacts, SEA practitioners and decision makers must begin to realize and exploit potential enhancement opportunities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study that investigates the crayfish detection ability of sampling methods along the River Clyde in southern central Scotland. It found no single technique was successful in detecting crayfish in 100% of the sites known to contain crayfish. It suggests that three-run electrofishing and kick sampling are the best candidates for incorporation into a crayfish detection protocol.

The article discusses the findings from the two-year evaluation of a national pilot to introduce Restorative Practices (RP) developed from restorative justice in Scottish schools. Particular emphasis is placed on the possibilities for change offered by RP to young people who experience difficulties in school. A research project that found RP to be effective particularly when school staff were willing to explore their own values is given. According to the author, the findings suggest the important role of integrating conferencing in the RP framework.

In 2004, the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) established a project to pilot restorative practices (RPs) in schools in three local authorities (LAs) in Scotland. The pilot project was one strand of the Scottish Executive's range of initiatives to promote Better Behaviour Better Learning in Scottish schools and was to run from 2004 to 2006. In parallel with the pilot project, SEED commissioned a team from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to evaluate the initiative. That evaluation was collaborative and flexible and took account of differences between the eighteen pilot schools and also of the varying aims schools had in implementing RPs. This paper will draw on data emerging from the evaluation to compare and contrast the experiences of schools as they tried to work in ways which were more restorative and less punitive. The first part of this paper will define RPs and will discuss the nature and distinctiveness of these approaches as they have been used in different settings. The paper will then examine RPs in relation to the experience of schools in the Scottish pilot. Did successful implementation depend upon the existing ethos of the school? Or were RPs themselves a vehicle by which schools could develop a more positive ethos? Three case studies in implementing RPs will be offered. These will be used to exemplify how some schools changed their practices as a result of implementing RPs incorporated RPs into existing practices did not change at all These varying experiences of the case study schools will be used to probe notions of restorative and retributive approaches in relation to school ethos. Finally, the paper will explore the capacity of RPs to transform school ethos and, in general, will consider the conditions necessary for this to happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools in the UK looking for solutions to concerns about indiscipline have been enthused by the basic premise of restorative practice; the need to restore good relationships when there has been conflict or harm; and develop a school ethos, policies and procedures that reduce the possibilities of such conflict and harm arising. In 2004 the Scottish Executive funded a national pilot project on restorative practice and commissioned a team at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities to carry out a two-year evaluation of the pilot. In this paper, we discuss staff and pupil understandings and offer some exploration of the underpinning principles of restorative practice as it has developed thus far in schools. We explore the successes and challenges schools experienced and discuss the potential contribution of restorative practices for schools in challenging times. Finally we relate our findings to some critical arguments about the meaning and purposes of discipline and control in schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the Additional Support for Learning Act (2004) has been a significant milestone in Scotland's understanding of issues of inclusion. The Act is already beginning to have a significant and far-reaching impact on the work of schools; requiring staff to reconceptualise what was traditionally known as 'special needs' and asserting a much more complex and dynamic view of the potential barriers to inclusion. This paper explores the experiences and changing understandings of key staff (pastoral care, learning support, behaviour support) in three mainstream secondary schools as they worked to translate the new legislation into a coherent, holistic and sustainable set of practices. The paper raises some critical and timely questions about the tensions between competing priorities and roles and responsibilities for those working in education in such challenging times but also offers comment on the emerging potential of the legislation for building new confidence and capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the life of the Scottish Catholic community during the pontificates of Pius IX and Leo XIII with the aim to stimulate the reader's interest in the example of a wider Scottish Catholic experience. Some surveys regarding pilgrimages to Rome that merit inspection are presented including the broad survey of Judith Champ of the pilgrimage to Rome from England and Brian Brennan's survey of pilgrimage from France to Rome.

In 2002, the Scottish Executive Education Department launched a national debate on schools for the 21st century. The debate elicited over 1500 responses and it is estimated that 20,000 people took part. This paper describes the main themes arising from the debate, highlighting the support for comprehensive education and the high level of trust in the quality and professionalism of teachers. The agenda for change was in terms of greater flexibility and choice in the school curriculum and of the need for well-built and well-resourced schools. The paper discusses this approach to policy formulation in the context of voter disengagement from politics and suggests that the Scottish Executive should attempt to sustain civic participation in education policy-making as a way of developing a new politics in Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to this article, the definitions of racial harassment, adopting symmetrical and asymmetrical perspectives, are reviewed and the term racist harassment is proposed. A study of harassment about Glasgow in Scotland adopted a combined statistical and case-study approach. The experiences of black people of racist harassment in Glasgow in 1988 are documented through the presentation of survey results. The Housing Department of Glasgow recognized harassment but its active response was confusing. Transfer of victims and action against perpetrators are discussed in the article. None of three case-studies on harassment extracted from Housing Department files was satisfactorily resolved. Other cities show alternative, effective responses. Racism in Scotland, both interpersonal and institutional is examined. In Glasgow, racism created interpersonal harassment and an institutional failure to respond.

Alcohol use and abuse play a major role in both crime and negative health outcomes in Scotland. This paper provides a description and ethical and legal analyses of a novel remote alcohol monitoring scheme for offenders which seeks to reduce alcohol-related harm to both the criminal and the public. It emerges that the prospective benefits of this scheme to health and public order vastly outweigh any potential harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the study conducted by the authors related to glasgow supported self-management trial (GSuST) for patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It states that the study included patients in the west of Scotland who had been admitted to hospital with an acute exacerbation of COPD.