In 2021 the RSA's Education Team was looking to develop its work around school exclusions, building on their highly regarded Pinball Kids project and report.

Working from a hypothesis that greater multi-agency collaboration at the local level will lead to a more inclusive local education system with reduced rates of preventable exclusions, the team developed and launched a three-year action research pilot with three aims: To develop and support multiagency collaboratives of professionals working together to improve their joint approach to inclusion; to contribute to local and national learning around multiagency collaboration in this area; and to establish a scalable model for local collaboration between agencies that contributes to a more inclusive local education system.

The RSA is delivering Preventing School Exclusions in Oldham, East Sussex and Worcestershire, facilitating and supporting multi agency groups in each area to explore a specific research question intended to test and refine how they might foster a more inclusive local education system.

RSA has brought in an independent evaluator for this work, and are continuously sharing learning and insights through a National Learning Cohort of over 30 local areas.

Together with Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Porticus Foundation, Treebeard is providing restricted funding across three years to support the costs of delivering this programme.