Colleagues from across the education sector are invited to join a virtual learning café run by the Youth Endowment Fund. This is part of our Evidence in Practice series, which sits alongside our Toolkit giving you opportunity to hear from policy experts and practitioners on relevant research and practice.

The session will focus on the work and learning from the Department of Education’s ‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’ (SAFE) Taskforce. This programme delivers targeted interventions to reduce truancy, improve behaviours, and reduce the risk of individuals failing to enter education, employment or training (NEET).

We will be joined by:

Ed Boggis, Department for Education

Ed is one of the DfE policy leads for the SAFE (Support Attend, Fulfil, Exceed) programme. SAFE has established school-led taskforces in 10 areas to invest in evidence based interventions that reach children early on, re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. His role includes working with partners across education, health, justice, care and youth services on how the model is effectively delivered, and how ongoing insight from the programme can inform wider policy.

Alice Lyon, Department for Education

Alice is a Senior Research Officer in the Serious Violence Research & Analysis team in DfE. Her role involves working with DfE colleagues to collect and use metrics on SAFE implementation and working with the YEF to support the independent evaluation of the SAFE programme. The latter involves feeding into the evaluation plans, reviewing research materials, and ensuring that findings can go onto inform policy decision-making.

Anna Wallace, SAFE Commissioning Lead, Bradford

Anna Wallace has 20 years teaching and leadership experience, working in schools across West Yorkshire that serve communities with high social and economic deprivation. Areas of responsibility have included strategic leadership for subject areas, alternative provision, quality management and stakeholder management.

Ginny Thorne, SAFE Commissioning Lead, Haringey

Since April 2022, Ginny Thorne has overseen the commissioning of 5 operational interventions. As a Strategic Commissioner, she is responsible for overseeing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Alternative Provision, School Improvement services, and Section 75 Health programmes.