ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report would not have been written without the help and support of a great many people. We are very grateful to the teachers, headteachers and support staff who completed a long and quite complex questionnaire. The results from this exercise form the main part of the report. The visits to 15 primary and secondary schools allowed us to supplement the information from the surveys through interviews and focus groups with staff and pupils. We were warmly welcomed by staff and some staff in small schools gave up their lunchtimes or breaks to talk to us. We greatly appreciated the hospitality provided in all the schools and the time and trouble taken to ensure we collected all the information required. Schools have many competing demands on their time and we were grateful for the helpful way in which they and their pupils participated in the research. Our 32 local authority respondents also took time out of their busy schedule to speak to us at some length about policy and practice in their area.
Having collected and analysed a great deal of data, our Research Advisory Group provided helpful comment and advice as the report took shape.
Fiona Eldem stepped in at the last minute to help us present the report in a professional manner, when our research secretary was ill. We are grateful to her for her skill and good humour.
Pamela Munn
on behalf of the research team
November 2009.