Building on earlier research led by Prof Kiki Messiou, which included schools in this country and internationally (https://reachingthehardtoreach.eu/), a  pilot study with a network of schools in Southampton was carried out in 2022-2023. The pilot study was funded by Research England Participatory Research (UKRI) and involved collaborative action research within a network of five primary schools in Southampton: Mason Moor Primary School, Redbridge Primary School, St Mary’s Primary School, St John’s Primary School and Wordsworth Primary School.

The main research question for the study was: “How can we promote inclusion in schools through an engagement with pupils’ voices?”

Participatory research approaches (e.g. visual images, unfinished sentences, posters etc) were used to engage with students’ voices in each of the schools. The study led to the co-creation of professional development materials and resource people in the city of Southampton.   Building on the understandings gained in this pilot, the School Voices Research-Practice Partnership was developed.